A report from the American Institute of CPAs and Oracle – Agile Finance Revealed: The New Operating Model for Modern Finance – looks at how modern financial professionals can ensure their skills will continue to be needed as the financial function adopts new digital technologies. The report, which is based on research with 483 North American senior finance professionals, asks questions such as:

• How can finance professionals adapt and survive when new digital technologies are threatening the future of knowledge work?
• What does finance have to do to remain relevant, to empower the CFO, and to enable a business to become agile?

Adopting technology

The study found that agile finance leaders are more likely than others to have fully implemented Cloud-based enterprise performance management (ERP) systems and Cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. They are also more likely to be using emerging technologies such as robotic process automation. The agile finance leaders are more effective at delivering forward-looking analysis that identifies new opportunities for revenue growth.

Five skills for financial leaders

Businesses supported by agile finance leaders are considerably more likely to report positive revenue growth and increasing profitability. The five main skills where the agile financial leaders excelled were:

1. big data and analytics experience
2. business acumen and commercial awareness
3. data visualisation skills
4. financial planning and analysis skills
5. influencing skills

The financial professionals in the study who were identified as 'agile leaders' are more likely to rate their financial function highly for these five relatively new skills. The graph below shows that business acumen and commercial awareness was the weakest skill set according to agile leaders, although this is an area that can improve if finance professionals are given the opportunity to experience different business environments. Oracle's Ivgen Guner said: “People are hungrier to do different things in a faster-paced environment... love to see folks go from one discipline to another because it makes them more valuable to the company in the long run.”

Organisational challenges

The graph below also shows how agile finance leaders (compared to other finance professionals) perceive the challenges ahead for the finance function. It shows there is a shortage of analytics skills that finance needs for forward planning. Complexity of existing technology systems and processes is also a challenge, while structural complexity is also a problem in terms of working effectively within the organisation.

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CTMfile take: Would you consider yourself to be a so-called 'agile finance leader'? The term may sound jarring but the report does highlight some of the important non-technical skills that will help corporate treasurers go about their business more effectively. The key seems to be to keep a certain open-mindedness towards new technologies and towards the organisation's wider business needs.