21 9f]o^gjeg^Zmkaf]kkhYjlf]jaf_ Finding people with these abilities is not easy. Zlatko If organizations are to succeed in turning increasing amounts Todorcevski, CFO at Australian-headquartered supply chain of data into better strategic decision-making, then finance logistics company Brambles, believes that finance functions functions will have to make business partnering even more often struggle to get the right people to serve as partners to of a priority. CFOs must have a team of highly credible finance the wider business. He says that those chosen are often more executives who are capable of acting as finance’s interface with inclined, or better suited, to act in a controller role: “Their its internal clients. This team’s role will include helping to align natural inclination is to get into financial reporting without the work of the analytics teams with business priorities, and necessarily having the ability or desire to sit back and think helping leaders to understand the implications of their data. about what’s happening in the market.” Our research shows that 67% of CFOs worldwide believe that He also argues that many who do have the right skill set for “improving business partnering between finance and the the partnering role often find themselves unable to take it on. business” is a major priority for the finance function. It is a “Because of the lack of clarity around [the partnering role] — priority for organizations of all sizes, but a particular focus for and how their [own] roles have been developed or how their large and complex organizations. organizations have been constructed — they’re actually being tasked with developing statutory accounts, filing tax returns, ;`Yjl-2Business partnering a priority for all running a whole bunch of analysis on a country basis Improving business partnering between finance and business units or functions and so on.” is a significant or critical priority for tomorrow’s finance function To build that partnering capability, CFOs must: 71% 64% 68% • Shift what is expected of finance business partners, from challenging budgets to challenging business models • Find and reward those who combine subject matter expertise with the right abilities and skills to challenge business units’ strategies CFO at large CFO at medium-sized CFO at small organizations organizations organizations (>US$5b annual revenue) (>US$500m-US$5b) (US$100m–US$500m) ey.com/dnaofthecfo