Finance will, as predicted, focus more on service, analytics, and business insights, all of which mandate new capabilities. CEOs will continue turning to Finance for an integrated view of business performance, as they did during the pandemic. Financial planners will need to bake operational components into financial models to assess potential top- and bottom-line impacts—even as the goalposts keep moving
2018 prediction
With operations largely automated, Finance will double down on business insights and service, including scenario planning, complex forecasting, and data visualization. Teams of business partners will address the most complex commercial issues, moving around the organization as needed. Information required to make decisions will appear “just in time” and be fully integrated into management
processes.
2021 reality
Agility and adaptability separated the winners from the losers during COVID-19. Faced with the pandemic’s enormous challenges, some
finance teams stepped up and others did not, but either way, business leaders going forward will expect Finance to be ready for multiple future scenarios. It won’t have the luxury of setting a single strategy and following a linear path irrespective of the world at large.
2025 implications
To bolster its capabilities, Finance will offload some responsibilities to captive locations, centers of excellence, and outsourcing vendors—putting its support partners on the hook for performing under any circumstances. Technology will also help Finance handle uncertainty and execute on its value proposition, as real-time information moves closer to reality and business analyses are generated on autopilot.
