Undertaking a new role as a finance director is exciting. It gives you a real opportunity to make a difference and lead the company on a successful future path.
Fulfilling the potential of the role requires dedication and passion. There are things that the most successful finance professionals know to put at the top of their to-do list when they commence a new role.
Paying attention to these items gives you the best chance to have the impact you are aiming for. Let’s examine these items in more detail.
Assess the current efficiency of the finance function
Understanding the current efficiency of the finance function is an excellent starting point for any new finance director. When you undertake a new role, having this understanding gives you a basis for improving areas that are not currently optimised. For example:
- Are there too many manual processes that could be made less error-prone with automation?
- Do current systems work as effectively as they should?
- Could Cloud accounting software take the business’s finance function to the next level?
Ensure integrated software solutions are in place
Efficiency in a business can seriously be hampered by the presence of multiple separate systems that do not work well together. This situation makes it difficult to keep track of finances, produce accurate reports, and make strategic financial decisions for the future.
Progressive finance directors who join an organisation where this is the situation oversee the adoption of an integrated software solution that provides accurate real-time insight and allows each area of the business to operate smoothly. Switching to the new solution may cause short-term disruption but the long-term benefits make this worthwhile.
Employ modern working practices
Having a system in place where essential documentation is easy to access makes it easier to operate a successful finance function. So, modern finance directors who take on a new role ensure that modern working practices like digitalisation are introduced.
Aside from enabling vital information to be accessed more easily, digitalisation also allows flexible working practices and remote working to be embraced. This level of flexibility makes it easier for the finance function, and the business as a whole, to attract top young talent.
Ensure financial reporting is optimised
Business cannot hope to succeed in a competitive marketplace without having access to real-time financial data that allows the finance director to inform strategic decisions making. So, new finance directors that want to make a good impression ensure that financial reporting is optimised.
Taking action to optimise financial reporting involves answering questions such as do reports take too long to produce and is consolidating reports easy to do? If there are issues with the current financial reporting process, making changes enhances the ability of the business to plan financially and to be agile.
Finance directors who have ambitions to take their careers forward combine these items on their to-do lists when they take on a new role. Doing so allows them to make a positive impression and to provide real value in taking the business forward successfully.
