Finance of the Future:
    Being a Resilient Digital CFO
                                      Foreword                   Executive Summary               Key Observations                 Call to Action                Key Next Steps
                 Table of contents
                     1        Foreword                                                   02             4       Call to Action                                              26
                     1.1      •  Acknowledgement                                         06            4.1      •  CFO as a co-pilot to the business model                   27
                                                                                                                   transformation and aligning cost structure
                     1.2      •  Methodology                                             07            4.2      •  Focus on dynamic planning tool for analysis               30
                                                                                                                   purposes 
                     2        Executive Summary                                          08            4.3      •  The CFO as a Chief Data Steward                           32
                     3        Key Observations                                           14            4.4      •  Double Down on System Insights – Telling a story          33
                                                                                                                   and supporting decision making
                              •  Pandemic impact to the CFO – Efficient cashflow                       4.5      •  Simplify Finance System of Record                         39
                     3.1         and virtual close should be the baseline for            15
                                 tomorrow                                                                       •  Pertinent Upskilling required by the Modern 
                              •  Achieving strategy development and changing                           4.6         Workforce                                                 41
                     3.2         business model remains a key focus                      19
                              •  Deeper Analytical Insights is key, but Data                            5       Key Next Steps                                              46
                     3.3         Management is a key hurdle                              20
                                                                                                        6       Appendix                                                    50
                     3.4      •  CFOs expected to be more involved in digital            22
                                 transformation in the next five years
                     3.5      •  Evolution from Teardrop to Kite Organisation            25
                  1    Finance of the Future: Being a Resilient Digital CFO
 Foreword
                                            Foreword                       Executive Summary                   Key Observations                      Call to Action                    Key Next Steps
                   Foreword
                   In our previous thought-leadership KPMG-ACCA-                  We concluded then that whatever the shape of                   The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need and 
                   INSEAD EMI jointly produced “Navigating the                    the future business environment, finance leaders               speed for digitalisation, cementing new ways of 
                   digital terrain: Five skillsets for Chief Financial            must exhibit flexibility and adaptability. The five            working amid a rapidly changing market condition. 
                   Officers (CFOs) to lead and thrive in a digital                competency levers discussed then serve as                      This warranted significant adjustments to many 
                   organisation”. The paper presented three possible              a guide for finance leaders as they lead their                 business models on top of the rapid technological 
                   scenarios for finance leaders that will materialise            organisations through digital disruption. These                and unyielding regulatory changes pre-COVID-19, 
                   based on the competencies (Fig 1.0)                            critical levers were:                                          as highlighted in the recent report COVID-19 Global 
                                                                                  •   Creating value from data;                                  Survey: Inside Business Impacts and Responses 
                    Figure 1.0: Three possible scenarios                          •   Leading strategically;                                     by ACCA (Fig 1.1), which juxtaposed business 
                    by 2025                                                       •   Leveraging on digital labour;                              impact when the pandemic first struck in March 
                                                                                  •   Collaborating with internal and external                   and 3 months later in June. As evident by both 
                                      Scenario 1                                      stakeholders; and                                          March (Purple bar) and June (Blue bar) data, almost 
                                      CFO roles cease to exist;                   •   Embedding cybersecurity in the organisation.               50% of respondents cited reductions in employee 
                                      replaced by CxOs or Robots                                                                                 productivity as the foremost concern of the crisis1. 
                                                                                  To be even more relevant than before, finance 
                                                                                  leaders will need to ensure they have the right 
                                      Scenario 2                                  proficiency for each lever. Since that report, the 
                                      CFO-as-a-service                            constant ebb and flow of disruption is now a norm 
                                                                                  for many businesses. 
                                      Scenario 3
                                      CFO are relevant and influential 
                                      using augment intelligence
                    3     Finance of the Future: Being a Resilient Digital CFO