The finance function today looks somewhat different to what it did five years ago, and that was before the launch of generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT and GeminiAI.

With technical and processing tasks being increasingly automated by software or AI, manual tasks, like bank reconciliations and data entry, are on the wane. Soft skills, such as relationship building and collaboration, are therefore more essential than ever.

As James Wright, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Accountancy and Finance at the University of Chichester explains, the larger adoption of AI technology requires ‘balancing’ the ethical side with actual usage and how technology is implemented. This, he says, will ultimately create the need for adaptability and advanced communication skills.

At the same time, the explosion of big data, often utilised for fraud detection, risk management and market trends, has been another game changer, with finance functions acting as the ‘single source of truth’. Finance teams are pulling operational and financial data to provide a holistic data analysis to guide business strategy, according to David Taylor, Associate Partner, Finance Practice at executive search, interim management and consulting firm Eton Bridge Partners.

Data literacy is therefore becoming increasingly important. “Businesses now want insight-shaped narratives. The best finance teams get under the skin of what drives performance, from pricing through to customer profitability.”

The increasingly regulatory landscape within the sector is also changing finance’s remit, especially in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) context. “This is an ever-evolving part of the finance function and not only impacts reporting, but the whole organisation’s ecosystem,” says Imran Hussain, a consultant who helps source finance for SMEs and entrepreneurs. “With Scope 3 regulations, the focus has shifted from an organisation’s carbon footprint to the whole supply chain. A UK company will now have tax liability linked to the carbon emissions of a supplier.”

Hussain predicts that future skills will be focused on technology fluency, data literacy and communication, with an ability to translate data into stories and using them to ‘persuade’.

Given these developments, what could be some essential new roles within the finance function in the next five years? 

Finance prompt engineer

Hussain believes this new role will bridge the gap between IT and finance and solve the problem of IT not being experts in accounting and accountants not being experts in IT.  “With coding becoming much more accessible to finance, we will see more accountants build workflows and apps, with relatively little coding knowledge,” he predicts.

Coding skills and knowledge of Python and SQL, for example, and the ability to critically analyse and question AI will be important, especially to mitigate against AI’s tendency to hallucinate and provide incorrect information. 

Finance storyteller

There is already a need for accountants to communicate what data and insight mean to different departments, but this will become more important. “In the future, less time will be spent doing financial modelling, budgeting and explaining the ‘what’,” Hussain explains. “The key focus will be developing a narrative around the impact these numbers have on an area in the next six to 12 months and how it changes things today.”  The shift, Hussain predicts, will be from ‘what’ to a ‘so what?’ narrative. 

The ability to sell a story that accurately represents what the data is showing will be critical. According to Hussain, it will require an understanding of the psychology of persuasion and human bias, as well as an ability to adapt language and messaging to different audiences. 

ESG finance director

Global standards, such as the International Sustainability Standards Board and Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), demonstrate that sustainability standards are becoming just as important as UK tax standards. “Environmental impact now requires the same level of scrutiny as standards for financial health,” says Hussain. In the future, it’s likely that a specialist finance director (FD) role, solely responsible for ESG, will be necessary.  

It will require the ability to identify the impact activities and processes across the business and supply chains could have on greenhouse gas emissions. Assessing risk, good judgement and big data analysis will be essential skills.

“Traditionally, an organisation analyses how the world affects the business (financial risk), but now there is increased focus on how the organisation affects the world (impact risk),” Hussain explains. “Regulators now require an organisation to stress test future robustness, including various ESG factors. If you are a business on the coast, you stress test the effects of sea level rises on your business. This will require complex modelling to translate ESG issues into tangible balance sheet numbers and associated risk levels, on both the business and how the business impacts the environment.”