Building Your Optimal Finance Team
The question on everyone’s lips is ‘how can my finance team support my business in the ‘next normal’?’ Many finance leaders have embraced and implemented a shift from traditional finance and accounting to a more IT-literate attitude where data-driven insights are produced in real time to support better business decision making.
Some of the traditional aspects of accounting, finance, and strategic operations will need to be amplified in the new normal, but they will also need a more collaborative mindset that utilizes skills from other departments to support future growth.
The key to the finance function of the future: the team
The new focus for finance functions:
- Embrace technology
- Technical accounting with a focus on maintaining cash reserves
- Risk assessment
- Forecasting
- Business Intelligence
Over the past several years, businesses have been increasingly innovative by relying on digital, AI and automation tools. The finance function for many has not been exempt from this. The need for finance professionals with strong technology acumen has gone from a ‘nice to have’ to an absolute necessity.
According to the McKinsey Global Institute, 40% of finance activities, such as revenue management, cash disbursement and general accounting operations, can be completely automated for faster and more accurate reporting. However, that leaves a full 60% of finance and accounting activities that will need top-notch talent to perform them.
While many processes are streamlined by businesses using increasingly intuitive ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, securing your finance functions for the future needs to balance between implementing innovation strategies and sourcing strong technical finance and accounting skills. This means managing cash flow more stringently or aggressively by using qualified, technical accountants, who were the saving grace of the 2008 recession.
What is technical accounting contributing to the ‘new normal’?
The new economic climate means that investments will be harder to come by, supply chains have been affected and cash reserves need to be managed stringently. The focus of technical accounting on financial control will be invaluable for supporting present business functions and ensuring there is adequate budget for the future.
In this highly-regulated world where investors and shareholders are more closely scrutinizing operations, a finance team that has expert knowledge in all relevant accounting standards will help support the future of your business.
Optimal accounting and finance department functions:
There will also need to be the perfect combination of risk assessment, testing, controls and forecasting capabilities coupled with a new shift towards IT skills to support Business Intelligence (BI) with real-time data.
While this shift might be met with resistance within an existing team, when combined with an effective hiring strategy, business leaders will be able to side-step skill shortages and create a team that is open to change, adaptability and collaboration.
How do you achieve the ‘finance team of the future’?
While the new trends for highly IT-literate finance and accounting staff may not have penetrated every business in every industry, it is a good idea to build a strategy focused on incorporating some of these skills into your team. This can be done via:
- Talent acquisition strategies
- In-house training
- Greater inter-departmental communication between finance, accounting, strategy, operations and IT
If you are looking for bespoke advice on how to create a finance, accounting, and strategic operations team that is tailor-made to suit your needs for the coming quarter, our team of dedicated executive recruiters can help you build a full-time or interim team designed for success. By putting people first, we can scope out your requirements and source the right talent, ensuring efficient onboarding and sound results.
