Abstract

Financial transformation euphemistically describes the journey which the Finance department undertakes as it evolves into becoming a trusted business partner to the organisation. For the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who has to steer the Finance department, the journey is fraught with the complexity of balancing transactional optimisation with increasing the span of strategic influence. In the absence of the latter being achieved, the Finance department will remain bound to the perception that financial transformation involves simply reducing the costs of the Finance department while improving operational efficiencies. This article briefly explores financial transformation before the role of the CFO is examined. The article concludes by presenting a model based on market responsiveness and the CFO conservatism as the basis for indicating the most appropriate choice of CFO