Finance/business partners
As yet there are no established best practice models or processes for finance/business partners.
However, it is clear that finance/business partners should possess a broad range of wider business skills, as well as the core skills and financial disciplines of the traditional accountant.
They need to understand the relevance of the information they provide and be able to share insights, influence decisions and manage performance.
The challenge is to go beyond mere measurement and make an impact on business strategy.
Although the nature of the finance/business partner varies, an emerging ideal is that of a ‘challenging sparring partner’.
The CIMA executive report, Improving decision making in organisations: the opportunity to transform finance (PDF 1.03MB), provides valuable case studies on this subject.
Management accountants can contribute to every stage of the decision making process. They can help support the business by applying financial disciplines, such as managing for value, performance management, risk management or analytics (see left-hand menu).
More information on this topic can also be found in further reading (PDF 56KB).
