Emerging technologies and an increased focus on sustainable business operations have led to an evolution in the finance function. Essential digital skills accountants need include data analytics — ‘43% of accounting firms classified as digital leaders saw digital data and analytics as an area of high demand.’
Advanced data analytics, data visualisation in finance, and digital transformation provide an avenue of career progression, broadening prospects for management accountants.
Management accountants will continue to be essential for generating reports, but now business leaders are keen to receive a comprehensive picture of financial and nonfinancial data to bolster strategic planning and risk mitigation.
Studying with CIMA® to achieve the Chartered Global Management Accountant ® (CGMA®) designation prepares you to meet these demands. This is your opportunity to extend your expertise, preparing you for a role as a trusted adviser — as a finance business partner.
Finance business partners provide data-driven insights to strengthen strategic planning.
Management accountants have a bird’s-eye view and a detailed view of an organisations' cash flow, revenue and returns on investment. Business leaders require management accountants who can provide data-driven insights. Further, the C-suite needs trusted advisers with knowledge of technologies that can leverage productivity and improve efficiency.
With a broad understanding of the organisational operations, including financial and nonfinancial data, you are primed to become an adviser in strategic planning.
Budgeting, forecasting, generating reports and explaining data bring significant value to leaders and can lead to enhanced service offerings and expansion of the organisation’s global footprint into new markets.
You can position yourself as a trusted adviser with greater influence in your organisation. Build on your business acumen and cultivate core competencies to become a successful finance business partner.
Finance business partners think outside the box.
Strengths of finance business partners include the ability to critically think and analyse data, collaborate with a breadth of stakeholders and communicate data clearly.
Critical thinking in finance and data analysis determine what the numbers really mean.
Finance business partners analyse data to understand patterns and trends, finding opportunities where the business can increase revenue, reduce expenditure or both. And software can be invaluable for extracting information from extensive data, allowing you to glean business insights for budget forecasting.
Collaboration achieves the long-term interests of stakeholders.
Soft skills are necessary in the dynamic world of accounting. Finance business partners work closely with colleagues to understand challenges and articulate objectives to improve business performance. Robust conversations require active listening and critical thinking.
Images and storytelling bring data to life.
Finance business partners excel with heightened interpersonal skills and talent for providing a full picture, including visual summaries and dashboards. Reports that present findings with aesthetic data visualisations — bar graphs, pie charts, images — provide clarity and context which leads to further collaboration and informed decision-making.
You have potential to become a finance business partner.
As you study with CIMA, you will improve your critical thinking and analytical capacity. Earning the CGMA designation demonstrates you have advanced skills and a strategic mindset, allowing you to position yourself as a trusted adviser with greater influence in your organisation.
A globally renowned distinction — the CGMA designation — opens doors to career mobility. Add value to your role and signal to your current or prospective employer that you meet rigorous professional and ethical standards.
Take the next step in your career by beginning your journey to the CGMA designation.
