As they adapt to the digital age, business leaders are aware that digital initiatives can be expensive, and most will fail to meet expectations.4 Agility in decision-making is needed to enable businesses to stay alert, to innovate, to learn incrementally but quickly and to constantly adapt.
The accounts and analysis that management accountants prepare are never circulated ‘FYI only’ (For Your Information only). They must be shared, discussed and used if they are to inform and improve decision-making. Business partnering is where the rubber hits the road; where management accounting is applied to help improve a business’ prospects and performance.
4 Why 84% Of Companies Fail At Digital Transformation
The term business partner is widely used. It usually refers to how a function works with the business to help with a task related to their specialism. The term was first used in the human resources (HR) discipline where an HR business partner helps the business with an HR matter such as recruitment.
Likewise, for in-house or management accountants, business partnering can refer to when they help business colleagues with a finance matter such as getting an expense paid.
However, management accountants also partner on matters relating to the management of the business itself. They are often engaged to contribute to conversations on business matters from their professional perspective, as partners working alongside business managers.
The case for management accountants being engaged as business partners stems from the fact that provide financial accounts, management information and analysis. This puts them in close contact with all aspects of the business, giving them a broad overview of its performance and direction.
Their role in stewardship and their professional objectivity give management accountants a mandate to question to help ensure that the business is managed closely in the interests of its stakeholders.
Their professional qualification gives credibility. The information they provide is trusted as it can be reconciled with both the financial truth and commercial reality. Accountants also bring professionalism, objectivity and skepticism, ethics and an awareness of public responsibilities to decision-making.
As management accountants usually report to CFOs, they are well-positioned to cascade the CFO’s influence throughout the business as business partners.
Where capacity is tight and the mandate is not clear, good experiences stimulate demand and capacity is found. Busy management accountants often stretch and contribute to developing insights that improve performance. They soon find that their contribution is sought again.
