Finance professionals can retain enhanced relevance gained in pandemic, but most don’t believe it will last
THE role of accountancy and finance professionals has dramatically evolved in the pandemic but only one in three think their current elevated status will be an enduring change, according to a global survey we did recently with PWC called Finance Functions: Seizing the Opportunity.
The finance profession has experienced a ‘five years in five months’ evolution due to COVID-19, as organisations increasingly looked to accountants to plot a path of financial stability in challenging business conditions.
Interviewees for our research stated that teams were feeling fatigued and jaded, having worked harder in the last 12 months than they have ever done before. Adapting to 100% remote working has also proved difficult and draining for many, but our report also sees new ways of working beginning to emerge that increase productivity, collaboration and employee engagement.
The increased focus on financial and strategic skills, such as planning, forecasting and scenario analysis, has given accountants a seat at the leadership table as senior executives have called on their skills to ensure survival and to maintain the balance sheet.
However, the unrelenting demands of the last year have placed a strain on the mental health of finance professionals globally, and the report warns that they must ensure their own well-being if they are to remain valuable. The research shows the most significant issues facing their organisation, with 48 per cent globally rating mental health concerns the priority — the figure for the Caribbean was slightly higher at 50 per cent. Finance leaders need to continue to manage this issue, especially as they plan a potential return to the office.
Just 18 per cent said environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) considerations were the priority, raising a concern that issues such as the climate crisis have taken a back seat while organisations firefight the global pandemic. However, stakeholder interest in this area is growing rapidly and finance teams have an important part to play in explaining the organisation’s journey.
The report recommends a plan of action for accountants to retain their newfound status in organisations and capitalise on new opportunities.
Accountants must concentrate on investing in their own capabilities in data, technology, innovation, collaboration, and strategy to remain as pivotal in the post-pandemic era. Those organisations that had already started to adopt a digital transformation strategy managed the pandemic better. Finance functions have responded well to the challenges of the pandemic. In many cases, their reputations have been enhanced, and there are opportunities ahead to build an even more relevant function based on data, insights and collaboration.
The risk comes if finance teams continue to focus purely on financial measures when cashflow ceases to be the issue. There is a risk that organisations will revert to their pre-pandemic practices, so embracing change and developing new skills are essential.
It’s clear from this report that we can see finance teams stepping up to the challenge of COVID-19. They are gaining
greater respect, and taking a seat in boardrooms. That’s because their insights bring value to discussions and decisions that need to be made to tackle a wide range of business issues.
As we say in this report, we all now need to look at what we can learn from the pandemic, about how can finance maintain this renewed relevance and status within the organisation, and how does the function need to evolve to capitalise on the opportunities with which it is now presented.
Undoubtedly, finance professionals need to continue to invest in developing fresh skills as the “new normal” takes shape. They need to recognise that it is essential to continually invest in themselves. Successful careers of the future will have a multiplicity of skills, but having foundations in technology, data and strategy as well as being able to interact and collaborate effectively are keys to this.
Now is the time to seize the opportunities ahead — that’s why we titled the report the way we did, to show that going back to the old way of doing things is no longer feasible. Ultimately, our report’s findings reveal a positive story, one where finance functions have been shown to have responded well to the challenges of the pandemic. In many cases their reputations have been enhanced and grown, and long may that continue.