Transforming finance

There has been much speculation about what the finance function of the future will look like. Many commentators have suggested that the strategic aspects of the CFOs' and finance directors' roles are in jeopardy.

Whether or not we believe these to be true, there is no doubt that the regulatory environment and cost pressures from inside organisations have significantly impacted on the CFO's agenda. The challenge for CFO's is to assess how their finance functions can demonstrate increased control while reducing costs, and at the same time be visibly adding the required insight to the business.

As a result, the fundamental issue for CFO's and finance directors is finding the right balance between these three critical objectives:

• maintaining compliance and control
• driving efficiency
• providing value and insight.

Finding and delivering the right balance between the three objectives – and releasing appropriate resources and investment to focus on providing insight to the business – is critical in the transformation to the business partnering role while withstanding the scrutiny of the business, regulators and investors.

If these conflicting pressures are not effectively addressed, the more visionary CFO's plans to transform finance into a more adaptive, resourceful and multi-talented function may never be realised. In fact, the only way they will be able to deal with constant regulatory change and cost pressure is to transform.

The right balance can be found - and successfully implemented. PricewaterhouseCoopers has a proven track record of helping clients to formulate the right approach to delivering positive results against these competing priorities. The finance function can then start to manage the interplay between control, cost and efficiency in direct relation to the business strategy, and at the same time, establish the structure and culture to react as the environment around it changes.