What This Accountant Learned From a Stint In The Business

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One thing I often hear that finance professionals are lacking when they want to move towards business partnering is business acumen. It is obvious that to be a good business partner we must understand the business that we support. This will help us both deliver higher quality insights as well as speak the same language as our business stakeholders. That is why it is recommended for aspiring business partners to take up a role in the business to prepare for a finance business partner role.

This is exactly what Michelle Govindsamy did after having qualified and worked in a divisional finance team and being a finance business partner for a retail banking team. She is very outspoken about the career leap she took when she ventured into a commercial role. I hope that you will find her story inspirational and perhaps encourage you to take a stint in the business too! Over to you Michelle…

From a qualified accountant in South Africa to a finance business partner in the UK

Please tell us about your career journey so far

After completing my degree and honors in Accounting, I joined Deloitte South Africa. I completed 3 years of articles specializing in financial institutions. During my articles, I participated in audit projects at banks and insurance companies.

I then joined the divisional finance team of a mid-sized insurer. I spent 4 years involved in end-to-end finance activities for the division with a focus on management reporting and budgeting. I became comfortable with the mechanics of finance. Month-end and year-end close, general ledger, journals, budgets, audits, etc.

As the role was in a divisional finance team, I was closer to business than my central finance colleagues; however, I did not have the skills or mindset to provide business value beyond a set of management accounts with superficial variances.

My next career move was to join Barclays, one of the largest banks in the country. I deliberately made the move to a large corporate as I wanted to gain diverse exposure.

My first role was in the Retail Bank finance team as a finance business partner, for the Loyalty program. This role had an emphasis on forecasting, management reporting, and providing guidance on finance-related matters.

My most significant career leap was when I moved from finance into business, heading up Commercial Modelling and Analytics for the Loyalty program. This role, provided an in-depth view of various facets of business, including,

• Product development
• Analytics
• Big data
• Customer Engagement
• Marketing
• Supplier contract negotiations
• Project portfolio management
• Operations
• Systems
• Human resources

It was exciting, challenging, high-pressure, and a lot of fun.

After 3.5 years in this role, I joined the Digital Banking-finance team, looking at insights, analytics, and financial modeling. I was tasked with solving problems with data, a similar theme, to my previous 2 roles.

I was not in this role for long. I relocated to the UK for personal reasons and am now a Finance Business Partner at PIB Insurance.

What were your career ambitions when you first went into Accounting?

I sought a career that allowed me room to move and grow. I believed finance would allow freedom to explore different roles and industries.

I liked the idea of working at a BIG4 firm and getting the opportunity to participate in international assignments and influential client audits early in my career.

Being marketable globally was a large factor in my decision to pursue finance. I am adventurous, ambitious, and had my eye on the ex-pat life.

You quickly got involved in some business partnering type work – how did that happen?

It was common practice to be hired by a client after the completion of articles, and it was no different for me. I joined the divisional finance team of a major Insurance client.

It was sheer luck or fate that I ended up in divisional finance as opposed to another area of finance. This role gave me a glimpse into business, and I became obsessed with understanding the mechanics of financial institutions and how they operate. These answers I could not find in the general ledger.

My curiosity directed my career to business-focused roles there-after.

Despite your early dealings with business partnering, you went a more technical route working with SQL, Tableau, and other MI Systems. What motivated that choice?

I do not think it was a choice, more passion, and necessity. With the volume of data at Barclays, I could not be effective in any role unless I understood the data environment, the teams available to assist, and the tools at my disposal.

Regardless, the role, being data-savvy is highly beneficial.

Loyalty Programs are driven by data, so there was no avoiding it especially when I joined the team as Head of Commercial Modelling and Analytics. I was fortunate to work with an amazing team who shared their knowledge and time unselfishly.

The role itself was not technical, more strategic. It focused on the data infrastructure and environment, commercial modeling for decision making and, analytics for product development.

Then you made a big move from South Africa to the UK and landed a finance business partner role. How did that happen?

I relocated to the UK in late 2019, for personal reasons.

2020 was a tough year to be an ex-pat in the UK, with no UK experience. I was unclear how to positions myself in the UK market, as I was not from a traditional finance background. I researched roles and noticed the demand for finance business partners with my combination of skills and experience. I homed in on Finance Business Partner roles.

It took 11 months for me to land the right role. It came down to consistency, creativity, personal branding, and luck.

In terms of learning to be a business partner how much of what you have learned has been on-the-job learning vs. formal training programs?

I have not received any formal training.

My learning has been on the job, through the diverse roles I have held and, working with leaders who allow me the freedom to explore, build confidence, and earn trust.

I am curious and enjoy what I do, so I spend time engaging with thought-leaders and the phenomenal resources available on LinkedIn.

You have made it from a chartered accountant to a finance business partner. What was the most difficult part of the journey?

Firstly, over-coming the accountant mindset of perfection over participation. I would rather be at the table, participating in decision-making, with 60% confidence in the numbers, than at my computer trying to find the difference.

Second, realizing being an Excel and IFRS wizard is not going to get me to do meaningful work. It is about people skills, problem-solving, and collaboration.

What advice would you give to young chartered accountants today who are aiming for a finance business partner role?

You do not "arrive" when you qualify. Do not expect the corner office. If you want to be a finance business partner, be ready to do things that are not glamorous and may be tedious. Push through. It does not last long.

• Take risks in your career
• Start a side hustle, to learn more about business
• Do not be afraid of lateral moves or venturing out of finance
• Bring your weird to the office

Are you ready to do like Michelle?

What great pieces of advice Michelle threw out there at the end! So not-accountant-like. Take risks. Start a side-hustle. Move out of Finance. Let that sink in for a bit and then tell us how that makes you feel? Are you ready to do this or do you prefer inside your comfort zone? Both Michelle and I can confirm that good business partners are not formed inside a comfort zone.

Michelle has shared an aspirational career path for qualified accountants to follow. I hope this makes you more comfortable about doing what is needed to become a finance business partner. It will not be easy, and it will take you outside your comfort zone. However, as they say, nothing worth having ever comes easy. So, it can be said about finance business partner roles. Now go get ‘em!

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This was the third article in the series "Profiles in Business Partnering" and you can read previous articles in the series below. Together with the series "Becoming a Business Partner" there is a lot more content coming. Do not forget to subscribe to this newsletter to avoid missing a beat!

An Audit Officer's Journey Towards Becoming A Business Partner

One Accountants Untraditional Route Through The Business To Business Partnering

Here you can read previous articles in the series "Becoming a Business Partner".

The Accountants Journey Towards Becoming A Business Partner Unlocked

Your Career Path From Chartered Accountant To Business Partner Defined

Why Delivering Results Is A Key Priority For Would-Be Business Partners

The Resume That Will Surely Land You A Business Partner Role

The Cover Letter That Lands You The Business Partner Interview

If you want to become a better business partner you should consider taking our online course "Business Partnering Explained - Value Creation Unlocked" to get a better handle on the role. It's accredited for 5.5 CPD hours.

You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box” where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the Finance Business Partner Forum which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community where we will continue to discuss this topic and you can click here to follow me on Twitter.

All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders" (the last article in the series about our new capability model)

Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering? (part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive on the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)

Your Journey To Successful Business Partnering Explained

How To Create Value Through Business Partnering

Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset (part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)

From Business Partner To Working Within The Business (part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)

Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation? (part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)

How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight (part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)

The Future Of FP&A: Two Ways To Take The Reins

What Is The Accounting Profession Paradox?

What Defines A Finance Master?

The New Career Path For Finance Professionals

How Finance People Can Be More Successful

The CFOs Roadmap To Transforming Finance

How To Become A Finance Business Partner

Financial Analyst vs. Finance Business Partner

Finance Business Partner Is A Bullshit Job

How Business Partners Keep A Plan On Track

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder, COO (Chief Operating Officer), and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) at the Business Partnering Institute and owner of the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn with more than 9,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company Maersk. I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner” and a long-time Finance Blogger on LinkedIn with 50.000+ followers.