Tough times? It’s time for financial talents to shine

With the continuing global economic downturns, the Eurozone crisis, the shift of the power towards the East, the day-by-day technology innovation, increasingly complex demands are being placed on finance functions. Finance professionals are expected to provide a larger mandate, from their traditional role of transactional and cost efficiency to analytical and decision support stage for the business. The question is “Will they survive or even better, sail through the storm smoothly?”

It may sound that finance professionals will have to take on a larger amount of work to cope with these challenges. However, as mentioned in the latest report by CIMA/AICPA in partnership with Hays, a global recruitment firm, “The fast-track to leadership: the challenges, opportunities and action plan”, finance professionals have never had a better opportunity to progress their career. Finance talents are becoming the backbones of companies today in providing insightful and strategic leadership. "Companies also are beginning to realize that if they can effectively partner their finance professionals with their business professionals, they will make better decisions. They will create a sustainable business.", said Arleen Thomas, CPA, CGMA, senior vice president, management accounting, AICPA.

As urgent as the demand for financial talents, those working as finance professionals have yet to tap in their growth potential. This is reflected by the fact that up to 68% of CFOs report the ability to find the right skills is progressively more difficult the higher the roles are within the organisation. On top of that, companies are also finding it difficult to retain real finance talents.

In order to help finance professionals seize the opportunity to shine, the report provides 8 must-have skills and experiences today:

• Finance specialism – the fundamentals
• Information for insight
• Commercial and business acumen
• The two Cs – communication and collaboration
• Experience of major projects and strategic initiatives – in and out of finance
• Local and global perspectives
• Leadership
• Strategic vision

Download the full report and get ready to climb your finance career ladder.