Current economic and political uncertainties, coupled with the impacts of climate change, mean that supply chains are being redrawn, input costs are rising unpredictably and the rules of global trade are shifting in real time. 

For finance professionals, the pressure is on to deliver clarity in the fog of uncertainty, offering strategic insight and financial agility when both are in short supply. ICAEW has a range of resources on tools and approaches to support members in navigating testing times.

Useful tools

In high-pressure environments, it can be easy to overlook some of the tried and tested business strategy tools at your disposal. But they can act as a useful jumping off point for action. ICAEW offers information on:

• PESTEL
• Porters Five Forces
• Resource based view 
• Strategy maps
• Success mapping
• SWOT analysis  

Managing risk

Alongside support on individual tools, ICAEW offers a range of resources looking more broadly at ways to ensure safety and compliance in an organisation when juggling multiple priorities. The community has also hosted a webinar on enhancing risk management, setting out the benefits of first-line risk and control functions. The webinar, which is available on demand, looks at more effective use of firm-wide resources to manage risk and how to ensure more consistent and higher-quality risk management assessments. 

The Data Analytics Community provides practical insights on how low-code analytics can provide dynamic risk assessments in an on demand webinar, meanwhile the Audit and Assurance Faculty have a series of guides on reverse stress testing. Alongside outlining what reverse stress testing (RST) is and how it differs from traditional stress tests, the team have outlined how to undertake RST and how entities and auditors use the tool. 

Finally, boards can provide a valuable resource to organisations in navigating turbulent times. ICAEW’s Corporate Governance team have outlined the role of boards in managing risk, as well as created guidance on how accounting and finance firms could benefit from creating shadow boards.

Planning in uncertainty

ICAEW also has resources to help support members in how to approach planning in uncertain times. For example, one article covers what you need to know about scenario planning, including the seven steps to take and top tips to ensure your plans are effective.

Members can then benefit from the insights of Jeremy Bentham, who ran energy company Shell’s scenarios team from 2006 to 2022. Read an article where he draws on his experiences to explain how hypothetical scenarios can improve decision making.

Meanwhile, the Excel Community has an on-demand webinar which looks at the importance of scenario planning in financial modelling to make effective decisions, and the Corporate Governance team has created support for boards on scenario planning.

Sustainable strategies

For organisations wanting to get to grips with mitigating their environmental impacts and adapting to the impacts of climate change, ICAEW has published support on integrating sustainability into strategic management. 

• sustainability risk management;
• systems thinking and scenario analysis; and
• transition planning.

For those wanting more information on transition planning, you can hear practical support on achieving net zero discussed at London Climate Week and support on aligning transition planning with financial planning.