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Finance transformation

Taking your finance department to the next level with the latest thinking, articles and case studies in the finance world.
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Latest on finance transformation

Read our latest features and articles on finance transformation topics, including change management, business partnering and finance function effectiveness.
From CFO to CEO: the essential leadership skills
  • Article
  • 22 Apr 2024
Many CEOs have backgrounds in accountancy, but taking the leap from the finance function to the chief executive’s chair requires a much broader skill set.
Finance function key to materiality testing
  • Article
  • 09 Apr 2024
Bringing accountants into materiality testing early on is vital not just for better reporting, but more effective ESG strategies, consultancy says.
Your transformation programme needs action (planning)
  • Article
  • 26 Feb 2024
In the latest in our series on implementing a transformation programme, Neil Cutting looks at the steps required to create a concrete action plan.
How generative AI is set to disrupt finance
  • Article
  • 20 Feb 2024
As its capabilities grow, Gen-AI is poised to shake up the finance function in general and accountancy in particular – but its risks and drawbacks cannot be ignored.
Leading digital transformation in finance
  • Article
  • 01 Dec 2023
At the ICAEW Annual Conference this year, there was an overarching focus on the opportunities and responsibilities that technology brings for finance professionals and their organisations, and how it is reshaping the world of finance and accounting.
Delivering transformation: a lesson in project management
  • Article
  • 06 Sep 2023
Finance transformation series: Neil Cutting advises CFOs and transformation leaders on the essential skill of project management.
ESG for SMEs: how to adapt your finance function
  • Article
  • 18 Aug 2023
Implementing ESG practices and procedures throughout the finance function presents team leaders with a host of challenges, as five experts explain.
Gap analysis: the transformation starts here
  • Article
  • 18 Aug 2023
Finance transformation series: getting started with a finance transformation project can be daunting, but Neil Cutting has an exercise to help you get moving
Read more

Topics in depth

Teamwork groups inclusive
Business partnering
Practical advice for those considering business partnering. Read our latest features and articles on business partnering.
Shoes and arrow
Change management
Our selection of books, articles and guides can help you implement change, get your team on board and create a culture of innovation.
Team meeting
Finance function effectiveness
Produce an efficient finance team.

Reports

Exclusive Special Report 69 - Effective collaboration
  • Report
  • 2020
Collaboration has been a trendy buzz word in business lexicon for some time now, but, as the pandemic has done with many other ‘nice-to-have’ skills, it has now become absolutely necessary to master. With your colleagues, business partners, suppliers and all other stakeholders more than likely working from home, and maybe even across different locations and time zones, effective collaboration is essential.
Exclusive Special Report 68 - Commercial insight
  • Report
  • 2020
This special report explores how to be more commercial to add value and generate profit for your firm.
Exclusive Special Report 66 - Managing change
  • Report
  • 2019
Change is inevitable, it is all around us. Brexit, political upheaval, increasing regulation and a growing protectionist agenda make it incredibly difficult to run your business. BAM are here to help, with our special report on managing change, we can help successfully guide you through inevitable change with our practical tips and hands on approach.
Special Report 66: Managing change
  • Report
  • 2019
Change is inevitable, it is all around us. Brexit, political upheaval, increasing regulation and a growing protectionist agenda make it incredibly difficult to run your business. BAM are here to help, with our special report on managing change, we can help successfully guide you through inevitable change with our practical tips and hands on approach.
The finance function: A framework for analysis
  • Thought leadership report
  • 2017
How does your finance function compare and how do you deal with the inherent tensions we highlight?
Finance in the broadest sense
  • Thought leadership report
  • 2016
Building effective finance functions is a key concern of organisations and finance professionals. At a time when many claim we face unprecedented challenges, Stanley Harding's 1963 lecture on the finance function reminds us that there are many lessons we can learn from history. This report reproduces the lecture in full and complements it with expert commentary.
Finance business partnering guide
  • Thought leadership report
  • 2014
Practical advice for those considering business partnering initiatives and those looking to improve their approach.
BPM guideline: Determining your approach to budgeting and forecasting
  • Helpsheets and support
  • 2014
Most organisations spend significant time and resources on budgeting and forecasting activities.
More reports

Webinars

Managing talent in a hybrid world
  • Podcast
  • 25 May 2023
In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss best practice in hiring, training and safeguarding talent under hybrid working.
The role of finance in achieving net zero
  • Video
  • 08 Dec 2022
Kevin Berryman, CFO of professional technical services company Jacobs discusses his passion for sustainability, and the role of the finance function in addressing climate change.
Manage change effectively
  • Webinar
  • 01 May 2019
This webinar explores how a reaction to change can impact an individual’s wellbeing and the difference having a positive mindset can make. It provides an opportunity to discuss how to accept or adjust to change and how to be open to the opportunities that change can bring.
Future proof your finance function
  • Webinar
  • 21 Mar 2017
How will engagement with technology and process automation affect the finance function in future?
Exclusive Effective business partnering
  • Webinar
  • 20 Nov 2013
A webinar for business partners on the finance function and how to contribute more to your company.
More webinars

eBooks

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Exclusive Disruption in the audit market: the future of the Big Four
  • eBook
  • 2019
  • Krish Bhaskar, John Flower
  • Taylor & Francis
A guide to the current state of the audit market, exploring failings and how it needs to change to address challenges into the future.
Exclusive Building a resilient organisation
  • eBook
  • 2014
  • James Crask, Charley Newnham, Jack Armstrong, Paul Robertson
  • ICSA Publishing
How to build a prosperous and sustainable business.
Exclusive Complete CFO handbook: from accounting to accountability, The
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Frank J. Fabozzi | Pamela Peterson Drake | Ralph S. Polimeni
  • John Wiley and Sons
An overview of cost accounting for financial executives.
Exclusive Change 2.0: beyond organisational transformation
  • eBook
  • 2008
  • Joachim Klewes, Ralf Langen
  • Springer
Consultants, managers and academics share their experience and insights on change communication.
Exclusive Finance director's handbook
  • eBook
  • 2007
  • Glynis Morris | Sonia McKay | Andrea Oates
  • CIMA Publishing
Guide to the duties of modern finance directors.
Terms of use

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

More eBooks

Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive How can managers help teams combat change exhaustion?
  • Article
  • 01 Mar 2024
  • Mollie West Duffy, Liz Fosslien
Advice on what managers should be doing to handle employee 'change fatigue' from too many organizational changes. The authors suggest acknowledging the discomfort that comes with change, devising a plan in the face of uncertainty, and adopting set rituals as a team.
Exclusive Managing financial services relationships
  • Article
  • 01 Dec 2023
  • Daniel Butcher
The CFOs of 180 Life Sciences and Healthcare Triangle offer tips for working well with banking partners and navigating M&A. They suggest ways of conducting due diligence when choosing an investment banker to partner with. They also cover M&A best practices and pitfalls to avoid and recommend questions the CFO needs to ask banking/financial services partners.
Exclusive The power of storytelling in the finance function
  • Article
  • 01 Jun 2023
  • Daniel Butcher
The CFOs of RGP and Paychex provide tips for finance professionals to improve their communication skills through storytelling. Start with analysis and interpretation to get an accurate view of the data, then weave an insightful financial narrative adapted to your audience. A storytelling sklll set can be used many ways - within presentations, meetings, reports or just everyday interactions.
Exclusive Exploring the future of controllership
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Kate Gates, Katie Glynn, Beth Kaplan
Find the right path to transformation to realize the full value from the evolving role of the controllership function. The article reports on insights from an IMA and Deloitte report, 'Stepping into the Future of Controllership', which involved a global survey and interviews with experienced finance and accounting leaders.
Exclusive Changing environment
  • Article
  • 01 May 2023
  • Antoinette Alexander
Many accounting firms are reflecting on the wins and challenges they've faced in a remote work environment and are recalibrating their operating model to effectively manage a remote, or in many cases hybrid, workforce. The article takes a look at why it is important to provide staff with remote opportunities and then dives into the best practices that firms are employing to drive success.
Exclusive Meet the CA: Fiona Dixon CA
  • Article
  • 01 Apr 2023
  • Hannah Tattersall
An interview with Fiona Dixon CA, advisory partner at HLB Mann Judd in Australia, where she has set up the firm's transformation division. She specialises in business transformation, using AI and bots to create efficiencies across the organisation. The article also covers software that can assist with building a bot and how accountants can go about developing their tech skills.
More articles

Online magazines

Some online journal titles are available only to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. To view the full range of titles available to you, please log in.
AB: Accounting and Business
  • ACCA
A magazine for finance professionals produced by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Includes news, analysis and technical updates.
Acuity
  • Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand
Bimonthly magazine from Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ). Includes news, opinion and analysis on issues relating to accountancy, business and finance.
CFO
  • Industry Dive
Online publication aimed at CFOs, publishing news, opinion and analysis. Until 2021 it was a print magazine; the Library provides online access to issues published between 1994 and 2021 via its premium databases.
Financial Accountant
  • Redactive Publishing Ltd.
The official magazine of the Institute of Financial Accountants, published six times a year. Features news, opinion pieces and articles on general topics such as health and wellbeing.
Disclaimer

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

External resources

Being the best: Inside the intelligent finance function
  • KPMG International
For its 2013 survey, KPMG surveyed approximately 440 CFOs and other senior finance executives on how finance functions are adapting to emerging business challenges.
Change management and agility
  • CIPD
A collection of resources on change management from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development which includes practical advice, research reports and podcasts.
Could you succeed as a finance business partner?
  • Robert Half
A Robert Half article looking at different definitions of what being a finance business partner entails, and the value the relationship can provide within an organisation.
Finance business partnering: Less than the sum of the parts
  • Deloitte
Deloitte 2014 report investigating the challenges and opportunities faced by CFOs in relation to decision support and business partnering, using input from 75 senior UK finance executives.
Finance matters: Finance function of the future
  • PwC
PWC paper from 2013 considering how to prepare finance teams for the future. The paper examines existing trends in the sector and looks forward to 2030.
Key competencies for finance business partnering
  • Financial Management
Article providing advice for aspiring finance business partners, covering key competencies and skills to learn. Raju Venkataraman, former CFO and Head of Strategy and Business Development for Disney in Southeast Asia, shares his experience of finance business partnering with sales.
Managing change
  • Atom Content Management
A guide to managing change for businesses, covering driving change, prioritising change, preparing for change, selling the change, implementing change and creating a culture of change.
The Deloitte Finance Benchmark: Getting back to growth
  • Deloitte
Deloitte's Finance Benchmark survey, conducted with 216 organisations in 2015. The survey identifies important opportunities for the finance function and highlights examples of current good practice.
Terms of use

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

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