5 Ways For Finance To Seize The Day In 2016

A new year comes with new opportunities and if you’re a finance professional this is no different. For some people, a year is just a switch from one day to the next or an artificial barrier put in place for us to better understand how the seasons change around us. For Finance though the year is special because it marks a new financial year, a new budget to live up to and a way to put the old year behind you when you close the books. However, you can make even more out of the New Year than merely what the financial calendar provides you. Why not make 2016 the year where you make your finance function truly value adding and give your own finance career a boost? Here we’ll discuss 5 ways for you to make it happen. 

The old finance stereotypes are dead 

The days of the finance bean counter sitting in the corner without any interaction with the outside world are long gone and finance is undergoing a rapid development. You can find a range of posts about this at the bottom but let’s talk about how you can make the best of this development to seize the day in 2016. 

1. Specialize: Realize that transactional accounting is no longer a field you want to be in. Whether the threat is coming from outsourcing/offshoring or automation it’s clear that you must move up the value chain either by specializing in technical accounting i.e. changing regulations or go into advanced analytics. Both of these areas could appeal to the traditional accountant because (s)he would not be forced into too many interactions with other departments.
2. Leverage the macro trends: If you haven’t noticed by now you better get real about the fact that the amount of data available to companies in various shapes and forms have exploded in the past decade. Analyzing this amount of data is very complex and how to even make sense of it all? The companies that can do this really well will be tomorrow’s winners and fortunately for you there is no computer that can just spit out actionable results nor can it know exactly what input to use. You, the new advanced analytics analyst is needed to do that. If you have a talent for this then this is your chance.
3. Make the complex simple: While you’re most likely a numbers person you need to get serious about presenting them as well in addition to coming up with concrete actions on how to improve the business. If you are not a natural born presenter then get some training like Own The Room.
4. Take charge of your company’s development: If you’re concerned about putting your thoughts on what actions to take out there then don’t be. Companies are looking for people ready to take charge of any kind of situation i.e. people who can analyze a situation and know how to get the most out of it. Even if the actions you thought of are not exactly what the company needs then you’re still playing an important role in discussing the best course of action. If you keep quiet most likely you will not be asked again.
5. Whip Finance further into shape: Finance has been on the current transformation path since the financial crisis but no company will ever be done so you need to be the one that always sees the next level opportunities. You can do this by continuously analyzing your finance function and match it with new technology and data that becomes available. The Finance Transformation Nine Box is one framework you can use to do this as it gives you a structured approach to take a holistic view on Finance.

“Specialize to leverage macro trends and learn how to make the complex simple in order to take charge of the company’s development and whip Finance further into shape”

This will define your 2016

This sentence should be defining what you want to achieve in 2016 and it will place you in a very favorable position in the world of Finance. Only very few people can do all of the above which is also why CFOs keep complaining about talent shortage despite many finance people still being available for hire. In many ways, if you can do this well you’ll become the purple squirrel of finance and be handsomely rewarded for your abilities. You might not be this kind of finance professional yet but then you should make a plan for how to get there. I’ll be happy to help you on your way so feel free to reach out to further discuss what steps to take.

Please share where you are in your journey as a finance professional and what you’re doing to put yourself in a winning position? It’s not easy but it’s possible and all you need is a plan! As always I hope you liked post and will like it, comment on it and share it to spread the message! 

Here are some more posts about how to make the most of the opportunities within the ongoing transformation of Finance. 

Why We Need Business Partnering Transformation

The Skills Of A Finance Business Partner

How Finance Can Help When Business Is Bad

How Finance Can Become An Analytics Powerhouse

What Finance Business Partnering Really Is

You’re A Finance Business Partner, Now What?

How Finance Business Partners Improve Company Performance

There Is A New Kind Of CFO Needed In Town 

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the Regional Finance Business Partner for Maersk Line North Europe and is working with the transformation of Finance and business on a daily basis. Anders has participated in several transformation processes amongst others helping Maersk Drilling to go Beyond Budgeting and transformed a finance team from Bean-counters to Business Partners. He would love the chance to collaborate with you on your own transformation processes to help you stay out of disruption. If you are looking for more advice on how to get the most of LinkedIn Anders also has a few tips to share as well as if you want help in your job search. Don’t be shy! Let’s get in touch and start helping each other.