Transforming the Finance Function
2nd Edition
Adding Company-wide Value in a Technology-based Environment
By Margaret May
Financial Times / Pearson Education
December 2002
ISBN: 0-273-65666-X
223 Pages, Illustrated, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4" 
$197.50 paper original
"By the year 2005, the finance function as we know it will have changed almost beyond recognition. Transaction processing will be simplified, standardised, routine streamlined and automated. That’s 60% of finance’s current responsibilities about to disappear."
Gregory Hackett, Co-Founder of the US-based Hackett Group
The days of the traditional number-crunching finance department are numbered. Increasingly, world class companies are demanding that their finance function add positive value instead of draining revenue. Transaction processing and control account for 84% of their total activities. The function is not only spending little time on value-creating activities such as decision support and future planning, but it is also consuming a significant proportion of company’s revenues.To rise to the challenge, finance departments must completely transform their activities. But how?
Essential reading for all Finance Directors, this bestselling briefing – now fully revised in a new edition – provides you with a complete toolkit to shift the role of the finance function from corporate scorekeeper to value generator. You will gain a thorough understanding of the extensive range of new techniques needed to fulfil this role and ensure that your finance department is central to your company’s future success.
New to this edition:
New analysis of IT, shared service centres and outsourcing, balanced scorecard,
shareholder value, beyond budgeting, best value new case studies
Contents:
PART 1 THE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY FINANCE FUNCTION Finance in the twenty-first-century
organization The process of transforming the finance function
PART 2 THE TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN FINANCE FUNCTION Shared service centres Outsourcing
Information management delivering business intelligence
PART 3 VALUE-BASED MANAGEMENT Delivering shareholder value/best value Valuing
intangible assets/intellectual capital
PART 4 BEYOND TRADITIONAL BUDGETING Scenario planning, forecasting and resource
allocation The balanced scorecard Benchmarking
PART 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Contents List of figures
PART 1 THE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY FINANCE FUNCTION 1 Finance in the twenty-first-century
organization Development of technology-driven finance from manual to 'lights
out' The challenges of the changing business environment Changing roles of
the twenty-first-century finance professionals The finance function as facilitator
of change, adding company-wide value Case studies - Leading twenty-first-century
organizations 2 The process of transforming the finance function Introduction
Establishing the transformation project Analyze the present finance function
activities/processes Develop the vision for the future of the finance function
Create the change strategy Aligh staff skills and competencies Implement the
transformation Monitor the success and results of implementation Case studies
- Worldwide excellence in finance
PART 2 THE TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN FINANCE FUNCTION 3 Shared service centres Introduction
Which processes are best suited to an SSC? Checklist of technical considerations
in establishing an SSC Phases in the implementation of an SSC Benefits of
the SSC approach Case study - SSCs at Ciba Speciality Chemicals 4 Outsourcing
Introduction IT outsourcing - risks, problems and lessons learnt Outsourcing
the finance function Application service providers Outsourcing partnerships
Case study - Outsourced shared services at the BBC 5 Information management
delivering business intelligence Introduction Defining the business requirements
Technological developments Formulating a company-wide information strategy
Knowledge management Decision support and business intelligence tools Case
study - Data warehousing at Nationwide
PART 3 VALUE-BASED MANAGEMENT 6 Delivering shareholder value/best value Introduction
Rappaport's theory Shareholder value calculation models EVA exercise EVA example
SVA options matrix Best Value Embedded value-based management Characteristics
of VBM organizations Inter-business unit charging and service level agreements
Case study - Creating corporate value at Wienerberger Case study - Value-based
management at British Aerospace 7 Valuing intangible assets/intellectual capital
Introduction Customer (relational) capital Organizational (structural) capital
Human capital Corporate reputation Enterprise risk managememt (ERM) Ethical,
environmental and social reporting Case studies - Managing intangibles
PART 4 BEYOND TRADITIONAL BUDGETING 8 Scenario planning, forecasting and resource
allocation Resource allocation Empowered organizational culture Beyond traditional
budgeting Scenario planning Forecasting Case studies - Beyond traditional
budgeting 9 The balanced scorecard Introduction Measures that drive performance
The strategy-focused organization Weighting the balanced scorecard The ten
commandments of implementation Links to quality frameworks Case studies -
e-BSC Case study - Manchester Housing's information strategy 10 Benchmarking
Introduction Types of benchmarking Data-gathering methods Phases of the benchmarking
process The Benchmarking Code of Conduct Benefits of benchmarking Case study
- Tower Hamlets benchmarking project PART 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY References Index
Return to the Business Titles Home
Page