“[Finance is] much more involved in the day-to-day business — understanding our customer base, our channel management, marketing activities, supply chain, logistics, inventory control, quality, and so on.”
The roles of the CFO, finance executives and the finance organization as a whole have changed significantly in the last five years.
In a recent Ernst & Young study, 79% of senior business decision makers indicate that finance is now either much more or somewhat more strategically involved than it was a half-decade ago. And yet when asked, only 47% of senior business decision makers wanted finance to play a bigger role.
Within many organizations, the business still sees finance more as a barrier to success, with an overly-conservative posture that stifles the organization’s growth. Often, the disconnect stems from a misalignment of priorities. The business recognizes that finance is working hard, but if their priorities do not match, the business does not see the value that finance can provide.
The finance organization has finally earned a seat at the decision-making table. However, to maintain that seat and to be viewed as a valued advisor, finance needs to extend beyond the fundamentals that the business already expects. The function needs to grow ahead of its roots and keep pace with rapidly changing business priorities. Otherwise, the business will leave finance behind.
Our series, 5: insights for executives, explores the questions:
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| The answers in the issue are supplied by: |
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 | Anne C. Ilsemann
Partner — Americas Advisory
+1 212 773 7129
|  | Thomas G. Cucuzz
Americas Advisory Finance Competency Leader
+1 248 797 5078 |
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