Outsource Magazine Issue 27 - (Page 66)

Transforming finance There’s no turning back from shared services and outsourcing Jamie Lyon, ACCA Jamie Lyon is Head of Corporate at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global body for professional accountants. He is leading ACCA’s global research and insights programme on finance transformation. big priority for CFOs in today’s global economy is how they shape the finance function to drive business performance. There are three big priorities: reducing the cost of running the finance function in the first place; improving the efficiency of finance processes; and making finance more effective, a more able partner to the business. ACCA, the global body for professional accountants with half a million students and members globally (www.accaglobal. A ● ● com) has just published its latest report on finance transformation: ‘Finance transformation: expert insights on shared services and outsourcing’. The report talked to shared services and outsourcing experts at 20 of the world’s leading brands to understand from their perspective the issues, challenges, opportunities and successes of transformation through remote delivery. The likes of Coca-Cola, Shell, Unilever, Astra Zeneca, PwC, Ernst and Young, KPMG and Deloitte shared their perspectives. Today, shared services and outsourcing is a global phenomenon and it’s not hard to see why. ACCA’s report outlines the many benefits that have accrued to the finance function: reduced cost, increased standardisation, greater visibility, improved control, increased quality, better data use and improved governance to name but a few. But the question ACCA’s report really asks is whether or not shared services and outsourcing has delivered on all of its promises. Has it really helped finance to become a true partner to the business, going beyond simply improving finance efficiency? Has it made a ACCA traces its history back to 1904, to the foundation of the London Association of Accountants. Its first examinations were introduced the following year. 66 www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk http://www.accaglobal.com http://www.accaglobal.com http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Magazine Issue 27

NEWS
PLANET ITO
NORM JUDAH MICROSOFT’S
IN THE KNOW
CALL BRITANNIA
DAVID EVELEIGH
CHAIN GAIN
CAN EVERYTHING BE OUTSOURCED?
NOA ROUND-UP
QUICK CHANGE?
TRANSFORMING FINANCE
CAROLINE STOCKMANN
GOOD REVIEWS
OUTSOURCING IS NOT MAKE VERSUS BUY: IT IS A CONTINUUM
PAYING ATTENTION
POWERING UP YOUR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ENGINE
BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS
HEAD-TO-HEAD
TOP TEN
THE LEGAL VIEW
HFS RESEARCH
HEADLINES...
ONLINE ROUND-UP
INSIDE SOURCE
THE LAST WORD

Outsource Magazine Issue 27