Today’s CFOs need to transform their Finance function strategically. Top CFOs are re-calibrating control and are focusing on opportunities that create value. Reducing their reporting relationships, investing in operations, and pushing Finance professionals closer to business decision-makers, CFOs are strategically transforming the Finance function.
How ACS can help with developing a winning finance strategy?
As today’s finance functions work hard to provide even deeper value to their business, they are shifting their focus outward to activities that support better decision making and performance.
They must create efficiencies to gather and process basic financial data, and continue to deliver traditional financial outputs – while at the same time redeploying limited resources to strategic activities.
What are the business goals & aspirations?
Understand goals and aspirations of Finance
Understand strategic context
Where do we play?
Assess performance and capabilities
Understand stakeholder expectations
At ACS, we deploy a robust, data-driven approach for conducting Finance Strategy engagements with a set of clearly defined objectives, activities and outcomes that takes you from strategic alignment, development of a clear Finance vision and a defined set of actions to achieve the vision. The approach consists of the following steps:
How will we win?
Define the Finance vision and strategic objectives
How will we configure?
Define Finance operating model
Identify & prioritize change initiatives
How will we implement?
Develop roadmap and high level business case
Mobilize for implementation
What results can you expect
There are a number of benefits a Finance Strategy Assessment can bring to a company. Whether they impact your organization (both Finance and/or enterprise), policies & processes or the underlying technology, a Finance strategy assessment helps to pave the road for a sustainable Finance transformation. Below is a list of potential benefits:
Defining a clear picture of where Finance wants to go
Clarifying the change initiatives that needs to be implemented to get there
Developing an actionable Finance transformation road map that prioritizes and plan the change initiatives
Less dependency on individuals, increased job satisfaction and higher morale as well as better opportunities for retaining, developing and attracting the right people
An easy way to understand and communicate where the Finance function is heading
A balanced focus on control, efficiency, performance and execution
Build on insights from business context, stakeholders expectations and own performance and capabilities
A realistic view on where to invest to improve Finance – and where not to…
Set target performance levels that are ambitious, yet realistic in the given time horizon
It integrates worldwide best practices
Pushing Finance people closer and closer to business decision-makers
To align and resource the Finance function to serve the needs of the business better
Focus on opportunities to create value
At ACS, we work with our clients to enhance the operation of their finance functions, their value to the business, and to position their finance teams for lasting success.
We focus on the key elements of transformational change required to position finance as a trusted advisor. Specifically:
Establishing a Finance Target Operating Model that defines the finance organization of the future
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Deploying EPM Solutions to enhance the return on investments in ERP systems; data warehouse tools and business intelligence capabilities to provide a comprehensive, integrated decision support platform that can enable finance teams to provide significant business support and value
Harnessing Business intelligence tools and data analytics techniques to provide more meaningful, forward-looking financial forecasts, predict and manage risk, and identify new market opportunities
Developing cost models that allow finance organizations to understand the cost of activities, providing greater insight into funding decisions
Supporting an efficient public sector through financial management services targeted at budgeting, reporting, financial modelling and automation. Services are designed to enhance financial processes and ensure compliance with financial reporting rules and accounting standards
Taking LEAN finance principles and practices to drive the required process efficiencies
Rethinking the use of shared services and outsourcing to implement more strategic, mixed sourcing practices and migrating certain higher-value activities
Helping clients use Robotics Process Automation services to derive both immediate and long-term value via gains in service quality, speed, consistency of results, efficiency, productivity, and agility, coupled with significant cost reduction
Aligning Risk and Finance functions to enable business decisions to strike the right balance between risk and reward considerations, and create a more sustainable financial reporting environment.
