Skills for the Finance Professional of the Future

Finance is a profession where the core skills seem to have been set for a century, but that’s all about to change.

As well as variance analysis, investment appraisal, marginal costing, absorption costing, break-even analysis and, more recently, spreadsheet skills, it’s only recently that the skills demands on accountants have increased. Suddenly, employers are looking for their finance professionals to have more than just accountancy skills. There are five key areas of skills development for finance professionals preparing for the future:

1. Data visualisation

Fixed format management reports are out, and interactive dashboards are in. Skills in Microsoft BI, Tableau and other packages are becoming increasingly important for career progression.

2. Coding

Many accountants are learning Python and other coding skills to enhance their data analytic capabilities. The blending of finance and technology opens up several career paths for the accountant of the future.

3. Sustainability

IFRS S1 and S2 on the disclosure of sustainability risks are now in force, and for companies listed on a stock exchange in the European Union, the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive also applies. As a result, accountants are well placed to offer their expertise on sustainable investment analysis, procurement, operations and performance measurement to companies looking to reduce their negative environmental, social and governance impacts.

4. People skills

Traditionally, accountants may have been seen as introverts, but the new breed of accountant needs to be as much a people person as a technical person. Ideally, they will be able to collaborate with people of all disciplines, lead investment analysis teams, help coordinate business plans, and support decisions for engineers, operations managers and marketeers.

5. Business partnering

Many finance professionals work in businesses, supporting line managers. Finance business partnering is difficult to do well because it is a balance between becoming part of the operation and remaining focused on an overarching finance strategy, with standardised finance processes to maintain efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Finance business partnering can improve business performance and requires people skills and the ability to make data accessible to non-financial colleagues.

So, the accountant of the future needs to be a communicator, a collaborator, a facilitator, a negotiator, an interpreter, and a change agent - as well as retaining excellent finance and analysis skills. A world-class finance function needs the structure to continuously develop the skills of its people in all these directions.