The following article is one I came across in my professional group that I belong to and was published in their weekly magazine (AccountingWeekly).
It showed how others are starting to grapple with the concept of forward looking accounts. A subject material that I was working through in the 90’s already not because I was super intelligent or a forward thinker, but rather because I was trying to add value in my position as an accounting technician and I felt that the reports were too historical looking.
My reason for my designing of the finance Logic-models was due to the fact that I felt at that time already, that the historical results were taking up too much of managements time and that there was not enough time being spent on looking forward.
One of my accounting tasks or responsibilities during that period, included the work of the preparation of the board pack. This was a very thick set of documents that incorporated a few reports and had a lot of detail within it, on what happened to the finances during the previous months operations. It took about three days of work just to publish and put together for distribution.
At that time I started questioning what value was being created in the meetings when management went through this 65 page document and analysed the results contained therein.
I also noticed a trend then that the figures were being discussed in depth only where they were in the normal range of expectation. Whenever someone showed up a figure that was not too the liking of the management team, the discussion veered away from what was being tabled, to a sometimes heated discussion of how plausible this figure could be.
The politicians in the group were masters of deflection and what transpired was that a lot of good insightful data analysis was being ignored.
At that stage I started developing a two page report of 16 graphs on which to run the company and which would show the most pertinent of results with trend lines. I hoped then that the management would stop the heated discussions on an outlaying figure and would rather concentrate their efforts on ascertaining what trends were being highlighted.
This was in the time where Lotus 1-2-3 was still competing with MS Excel for dominance and graphs with trend lines were a new invention.
My idea of the two page report, had culminated after coming across an article on a company whose management had replaced the monthly report pack, with a one page analysis report using pertinent graphs. Unfortunately I had not mastered the art yet of getting all the data onto one page.
My two page report was a success though and was commended and well received. However, to my dismay it did not manage to replace the big pack, but instead the management incorporated these two pages into the monthly pack. This defeated the object of the initiative I had embarked upon.
Back to the present and the article I am discussing here. I wondered now reading this article (shown below), whether the intention of getting people to look forward and adding value in the company would transpire as intended or would there still be doubters among us that would over emphasize the significance of last years results.
One thing COVID did teach me was that last years results (those of 2019) mean nothing in today’s economic market.
I replicate the report below for insight purposes and do not in anyway present this as my views or work.
How management accountants can become “future fit”
By AccountingWeekly – Sep 17, 2019
FM Magazine reports that many finance professionals are feeling uncertain about their role in a digital future, one thing is certain: That future is already here, and, like it or not, finance professionals need to start taking action to adapt, said Coenie Middel, founder and chairman of Middel & Partners Chartered Accountants, an accounting and consulting firm based in South Africa.
Speaking Thursday at the CGMA Africa Conference 2019: Finance Transformation in the Digital World, Middel offered a practical guide for management accountants and finance professionals who are looking to adjust to the new realities of a world in which most accounting tasks will be — or already are — automated.
“In a time of digital transformation, most financial professionals are very confused about what to
do next,” Middel said in an interview prior to the conference. “If we agree that financial professionals’ roles are going to change, we have to have a structured way of getting to the end goal.”
The new financial professional will use tools and technologies to predict the future rather than reporting the past, according to Middel. This change requires a significant shift in the mindset and
in the skills that financial professionals will need. They will need to broaden their horizons to better understand trends and markets, deepen their observational skills, and improve their people and communication skills — all while steadily improving their practical problem-solving skills.
But instead of focusing on the technology itself, Middel wrestles with a different, more human question, one that lingers and nags at many finance professionals.
“How do you make the transition into this new world of finance?” he asked.
To address that question, Middel offered the following framework, based on a 20-week course for change that he has developed for finance professionals to become more “future fit” as the accounting profession changes.
The assignment. According to Middel, the first question a finance professional who is looking to adapt a more future-forward mindset must ask is: Do I need to innovate myself?
“I would find it very surprising if the accountant said no,” he said.
For Middel, the question isn’t rhetorical. It is a guiding principle, and he suggests that accountants write down the reasons they need to change, whether it be shifting market conditions, technological advances that are transforming the profession, or career ambition. Be clear, concise,
and comprehensive with the reasons for your change because it will guide the second stage of this
process, setting goals around your motivations.