#FinanceMaster

We’ve set out on the ambitious mission to predict what the finance function will look like in 2035. Part of this work is also to help you create a concrete plan to get there. In this week’s show we discuss how you could shape up a new finance transformation strategy to embark on the journey. We do this with the outset in the new vision for Finance 2035, “Think “AI first” to realize the people potential of your finance function.”. Join us on the show to start the strategizing. Will we see you there?

A lot can happen in a decade and especially with the advances within artificial intelligence it’s very exciting to look ahead. We will formulate a vision for the finance function in 2035. It will cover what a finance strategy should include, a new operating and service delivery model, the technology landscape, a capability deep-dive, and a re-imagined culture. In this week’s episode of the #FinanceMaster, we will review everything at a glance as we prepare to deep-dive into each element over the coming weeks

We're almost halfway into the 2020 decade and it's time for a status of the predictions made by McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, and others about the finance function at the beginning of the decade. This is the first show in our new series "Finance 2035" where we make our predictions of what Finance will look like ten years from now. Are we making enough progress or do we need to pick up the pace? What barriers are we facing to realize the predictions and what can we learn from these predictions to look further into the future? 

Finance Business Partnering is top of the agenda for most CFO’s It’s time for Finance to transform from a cost center to a profit driver. We do so by elevating ourselves from transactional activities to becoming value-adding business partners. In this episode, Syed Zeeshan Pervez, CFO of FLOW Progressive Logistics in KSA, Bahrain and UAE will discuss with leading advisor to senior finance and FP&A leaders, Anders Liu-Lindberg on how to drive the transformation, and the journey from being a controller to becoming a business partner and what work should look like in a profit driving finance function. 

It’s easy to predict what work needs to be done in the finance function. We can just look at the annual wheel. It includes annual reporting, month-end close, quarterly forecasting, budgeting, and strategic planning. It should prompt us to imagine life in a futuristic finance function where work is done very differently. In this final #FinanceMaster Show about the annual wheel in Finance we will therefore consider how processes in the annual wheel could be carried out in the future and what work finance professionals would be doing.

The annual wheel doesn’t allow for much free time regardless if you’re in accounting or finance. Still, it’s important to carve out time for improvement projects and in this week’s show we’ll look at when and how. If you don’t improve the processes in your annual wheel you might as well buy a hamster wheel and run it day and night – it’ll be the same feeling.

Strategic planning happens at least once per year but mostly finance teams just consolidate the data. In this episode, Anders presents a process for how to get involved in strategic planning. It’s much more than just an update to your strategy – it’s a chance to change course or emphasize on actions that are working. Finance should bring the insights to the table and drive the right strategic choices, and we will show you how to!

Most companies have started to do quarterly forecasting as they recognize the budget won’t work as a forecast for long. The challenge is that in some companies the forecasting process has become almost as lengthy as budgeting. Let’s explore how to do it differently as you should be able to do it in a week in this week's episode of #FinanceMaster. 

Enough bad has been said about budgeting – let’s explore the good parts. You can use it to drive in-depth dialogues about business developments with business leaders. Don’t use it as the ultimate truth about the future, nor should you allocate 100% of your resources. In this week’s show we will discuss how to optimize the process by ensuring management guidance and buy-in upfront to avoid changing the numbers multiple times over. History tells us the budget won’t go away – instead, let's make the most of it! Here’s a list of other good budgeting tips.

Month-end reporting is a never-ending cycle but what’s the purpose? In this week’s #FinanceMaster Show Anders explores that further. At the core it’s about informing management about past performance and discussing actions for future performance. Too often we’re stuck in the past though so we’ll give you some hacks to improve the process by breaking down the process into atoms and discuss how to make the reporting more impactful using best practice principles for executive communication.