DIGITAL

BY DESIGN
Creating tomorrow’s finance team today

#CFOReimagined
 #CFOReimagined

CFOs have
evolved for the
post-digital age. Steve Culp Eva Sage-Gavin Cherene Powell
It’s time for their Senior Managing Director
CFO & Enterprise Value,
Senior Managing Director
Talent & Organization
Managing Director
Accenture Strategy,
teams to follow Finance & Risk Consulting CFO & Enterprise Value

suit. CHROs Steve works with clients Eva helps clients transform Cherene works with

and CFOs
to help advance their business leadership mindsets, talent and global CFOs to architect
performance through innovative cultures as they harness digital the next generation of
should partner strategies, processes and
change. He contributes to a
technologies to drive innovation
and lead “in the new”. She has
finance capability, with
a focus on digitialization,
to create the regular Forbes blog and has been recognized as a Top 100 new operating models,

finance function authored extensively on the

changing role of the CFO,
HR Tech Influencer by HR
Executive for shaping the world
and innovation in service
delivery and employee
of the future. and the digitalization of
finance and risk. Steve is
of HR technology and helping
to determine its future. Eva is
experience. Cherene is
based in Minneapolis.
based in Chicago. based in San Francisco.

2 Digital by design: Creating tomorrow’s finance team today

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Introduction
Look at the priorities of any chief financial officer (CFO) and you will see
a commitment to building strong teams with the best people. But look
at budget and you will likely see that investments in creating an agile,
digitally-powered finance team are getting shortchanged.

Accenture research, coupled with our client digital investments across the enterprise. It’s no surprise, then, that many CFOs are
experience, shows that the role of the chief These priorities mean CFOs spend less time investing in their own function to embrace
financial officer continues to evolve and extend. overseeing the processing, accounting and digital capabilities at an increasing clip
CFOs are now spending more time working reporting of financial transactions. through automation, artificial intelligence (AI),
across the enterprise to create new sources of and analytics to change the fundamental
value. They are also working closely with the Leading CFOs have deliberately architected nature of work. But most lack a workforce
CEO to communicate the financial health of the this shift, with eight out of ten (81 percent) ready to maximize the value of those tools
business to the Board of Directors and financial saying that identifying and targeting areas and investments. This is akin to buying a
analysts. And to evaluate the priority, focus, of new value across the business is a key high-end racecar while being limited to
scale, timing, and returns from transformational CFO responsibility.1 driving at city speeds.

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The finance
organization reimagined
CFOs who invest in the creation of digitally to invest and why, who can utilize design But CFOs can’t do it alone. They should
savvy finance teams position their people to thinking and negotiation skills to help gain be working even more closely with their
become true strategic partners to business consensus on new projects, and who can chief human resources officer (CHRO).
leaders. Our analysis finds that finance can analyze data to help the business make better Together, they can create a truly future-
automate from 62 percent to 87 percent of decisions on growth opportunities. These new forward finance capability: redefining
today’s transactional processes. In a post-digital and expanded services require enhanced roles, empowering workers with intelligent
world, these work routines can be performed capabilities such as data modeling, predictive technologies, and developing and hiring
with limited to no human intervention.2 But this analytics, strong business partnering, working people with new types of skills.
isn’t a story about the mass elimination of capital optimization, and new business strategy
work. It’s a story of reinvention. and M&A. This creation of an intelligent finance Unlocking value takes an approach that
organization, with more complex, nuanced delivers the core skills of tomorrow’s finance
Rather than finance managers who can build roles that humans execute with the support team, today—creating a “Human+” workforce3
a traditional forecast, companies need people of intelligent machines, will separate leaders that employs humans and machines to drive
who can help advise the business on where from laggards in the near future. (See Figure 1). more powerful business outcomes.

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Figure 1.
The post-digital finance organization: Work reimagined

Plan Transact Account Control Comply Report Analyze Advise

Strategic planning Supplier payments Transaction Accounting close/ Statutory reporting Enterprise Portfolio analysis Business advisor
accounting consolidation performance
Target setting Employee payments Tax filing Performance Strategy
reporting
Asset accounting Account analysis execution support 
Financial planning Customer receipts Statutory
reconciliation Financial
Tax accounting compliance Investment M&A support 
Forecasting Cash management reporting
Error processing analysis
Policy compliance Board of Directors
Tax/treasury Management
Internal audit engagement
planning reporting

Extent to which process is digitized

Pre-digital focus of professional staff time
Post-digital focus of professional staff time

5 Digital by design: Creating tomorrow’s finance team today Source: Accenture Strategy analysis, 2019.
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Designing an intelligent
finance function
As the nature of finance work changes, In this new cross-functional model, finance in real-time to run advanced analytics on
so does the makeup of the finance workforce. teams become true advisors to the business, business challenges or to uncover trapped
As Millennials and Gen Z become the majority drawing upon core, agile pools of expertise. value in the enterprise. They build hypotheses,
of workers, they bring a desire for purpose- The new focus of finance shifts to provide using data and analytics to prove or disprove
driven work; for a personalized, diverse strategic insight to fuel growth and profitability. them. Then they focus on high-impact
employee experience; and for a collaborative The finance function of the future will team recommendations to business leaders,
workplace.4 As CFOs reimagine their operating across the company’s ecosystem to foster to directly impact financial performance.
model, and the skills that fuel it, these needs these goals, working with everyone from data Roles and competencies are completely
should be top of mind. and analytics experts to an increasing set of redefined in this new way of working.
external partners. Teams group and re-group

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Here is how this more agile way of working could be realized at the average Fortune 1000 company:

DATA & GROWTH & BUSINESS UNIT

ANALYTICS EXPERTS PROFITABILITY ADVISORS FINANCE (BUF) ADVISORS
Translate data Drive new sources of revenue Make financially savvy
into insights while optimizing profitability business recommendations

EXTERNAL PARTNERS FUNCTIONAL ADVISORS BUSINESS ADVISORS

Find third-party partners that Bring non-finance functional (e.g., HR, Influence business
contribute to value creation marketing) expertise to key decisions decisions

This is a very different way of working, and it is the future of work for finance professionals.
CFOs and CHROs should work together to create a workforce strategy that supports the
new finance operating model.

7 Digital by design: Creating tomorrow’s finance team today Source: Accenture Strategy analysis, 2019.
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Finance professionals should

not have an expiration date
The convergence of two forces—the changing nature of
43%
of business and IT
work and a changing workforce—demand a new workforce executives report that
strategy and a new people strategy. A significant portion more than 60 percent
(43 percent) of executives report that more than 60 percent of their workforce will
of their workforce will move into new roles within three years, move into new roles
requiring these workers to acquire substantial new skills
due to the impact of technology.5
within three years.

67%
While dystopian views of machines taking over human
jobs abound, they aren’t accurate. Our research shows that
workers are ready to embrace change. Almost nine out of
10 workers (87 percent) anticipate technology will improve
their work experience in the next five years.6 Two-thirds
(67 percent) of workers consider it important to develop or two-thirds of
their own skills to work with intelligent machines. Millennials workers consider it
strongly support this view (75 percent), but even 56 percent important to develop
of baby boomers do as well.7 And 85 percent of workers their own skills to
would invest their free time to learn new skills.8
work with intelligent
machines.

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Rather than marginalizing workers, the influx

of technology brings a new level of empowerment
and engagement. Finance professionals will be
highly valued for uniquely human competencies
like planning, analysis and data-based decision-
making. In these nuanced areas, creating more
time and space for humans’ emotional intelligence,
interpersonal skills, creativity and innovation can help
their companies compete more effectively than ever.

The key to building these new competencies and

behaviors is new skilling for the post-digital age.
New personalized learning platforms and AI allow
companies to scale learning and performance support
in near real-time. CFOs should proactively invest in
building skills like predictive analytics, scenario building
and experimentation—all of which rely on humans
augmented by new technologies and data-based
insights—so their teams can thrive “in the new”.

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Unleashing
your A comprehensive workforce strategy will

workforce
unleash new sources of value: greater speed
and agility, the creation of more valuable
strategic services for the business, and an
engaged finance team that is focused on

potential
a common goal—elevating finance to be
intelligence-led strategic advisors of growth
and profitability across the enterprise.
In a post-digital world every single finance role will change.
New capabilities are essential. Key to an effective workforce
strategy is deciding whether to build, buy, bot or borrow resources
(see Figure 2). Most companies will use a combination of all four
tactics to support their finance reinvention. But no matter what
approach companies take, CFOs need to invest in new skilling.
This shift in skills is certain and the time to invest is now. After all,
the cost to hire new workers with sought-after skills averages at
least two to four times the average cost of radical reskilling.9

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Figure 2.

Shaping your finance workforce:

Build, buy, bot or borrow?
Enable (Build) Recruit (Buy) Automate (Bot) Leverage (Borrow)

Even dramatic reskilling is more cost

Recruit entry-level employees 40-50 percent of traditional Assess the skill you would like
effective than recruiting, so this should
from beyond finance and work today can be automated to leverage by answering
be your focus to make your current
accounting degrees through the use of technology the following questions:
workforce successful in the future

Offer an attractive career model A thinner layer of human Do I have the scale to sustain the skill?
Focus on reskilling
with challenging work and support should be used to train,
through various options: Is the skill needed for the long term?
flexibility to change maintain, and sustain

Consider new recruiting methods

Can I build rapidly?
Formalized learning to better target critical thinking and Account and reconciliations
Can I acquire fast enough?
analysis skills for the future

Work shadowing Low-cost locations should be Do I need to leverage short

Workflows, approvals,
explored and can be used term resources to help build
Interactive challenges and document routing
across the operating model long term skills for my team?

~60% roles ~10% current recruiting ~30% roles

of future in excess of of future

11 Digital by design: Creating tomorrow’s finance team today Source: Accenture Strategy analysis, 2019.
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What pacesetters
are doing today
Investing in new skilling is a no-regrets move.
Providing differentiated, intelligence-led services
to business partners depends on investing early
in a comprehensive transformation of the finance
workforce. In the modern, intelligent finance
function, people are at the core.

The only question is the pace and scope of the investment.

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To begin, CFOs should work with CHROs

to take these first three steps:

Establish the vision Define the future Develop a future-

and strategy for a view of work proof competency
modern intelligent and workforce model and people
finance function. implications. strategy.
Finance is changing dramatically. Translate your overarching vision to Rewrite the competency model to reflect finance’s
This requires a new or refreshed the design of finance work. Make a new mandate. Create new job profiles and update
vision of the function—a forward- bold prediction about your automation existing job profiles—all roles will change. Using the
looking, inspiring perspective of and AI potential and envision a function build, buy, bot, borrow construct, define how you
the new services provided and the that represents your post-digital will transform the workforce.
elevated impact finance will have ambition. Establish a future view of
on the enterprise. the workforce and partner with HR • Invest in a comprehensive learning strategy to create
to understand workforce implications digital fluency for all people. For highly impacted and
and opportunities. new roles, create a comprehensive upskilling program.
• Create partnerships where needed to borrow talent in
the short or long term to augment current capabilities.
• Define new recruiting strategies including new
channels and skill profiles to fill the gaps and
increase the breadth of skills.

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It’s an exciting new era in

finance, with major changes
ahead. By diving in to help shape
those changes, rather than
simply reacting to them, leading
CFOs are preparing their teams
to thrive in a new era. Investing
in the finance workforce is not
only the right thing to do—it’s
key to fueling profitable growth.

14 Digital by design: Creating tomorrow’s finance team today

Join the conversation About Accenture
@Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad
#CFOReimagined range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and
operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more
than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned by the world’s largest
References
1 Accenture,
delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology
“From bottom line to front line:
The CFO reimagined”, 2018. to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their
2 Daugherty, Paul and Wilson, James. (2018). stakeholders. With 492,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries,
Human+Machine: Reimagining work in the age of AI,
Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.
3 Accenture, “From bottom line to front line: Visit us at www.accenture.com
The CFO reimagined”, 2018.

About the research

4 Ibid.

5 Accenture Strategy, “GenZ Rising”, 2017.

6 Accenture, “The post-digital era is upon us. Our CFO Reimagined research is based on online surveys with more than 700
Are you ready for what’s next?”, 2019.
finance leaders from around the globe and more than 200 up-and-coming finance
7 Accenture Strategy, “Harnessing the revolution”, 2018.
professionals (the “talent of the future”). We also conducted almost 50 qualitative
8 Accenture Strategy, “Reworking the revolution”, 2018.
interviews with CFOs, senior finance executives, CEOs and chief data officers.
9 Accenture Strategy, “Harnessing the revolution”, 2018.
10 Accenture
We selected interviewees on the basis that they worked for global, billion-dollar
Strategy, “Operate like a disruptor”, 2018.
enterprises that reflected a good mix of sectors and geographies worldwide.

www.accenture.com/CFOReimagined

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