Page 98 - JoFA_Jan_Apr23

‘During these challenging

times, the lines of business

are really depending on our

finance team to look

forward, not just backward.’

Paul Young, CPA, CGMA, senior executive vice president
and CFO at Liberty Bank

evolving trends and key considerations, including
environmental, social, and governance (ESG) About the
concerns; information technology; and human author
resources. “Our role as value creator and steward Anita Dennis is a
of value has not changed,” he said. “But how value New Jersey-based
is determined will change, and we need to be sure freelance writer.
we’re protecting that new concept of value.”

Technology
A total of 82% of CFOs said their investments
in digital are accelerating, exceeding their in-
vestments in areas such as talent, supply chain,
business services, or fixed assets, a 2022 Gartner
survey found. CFOs are aiming to use artificial
WHY THE CFO’s ROLE IS CHANGING intelligence, machine learning, and robotic
A number of factors have come together to change process automation as part of an ongoing effort to
opportunities and expectations for CFOs. automate team members’ old jobs to make time
and space for their new jobs, Hood said. “We have
New concept of value to learn how to perform while we transform,” he
This reassessment of the CFO role is happening said. “We can’t do one or the other, we have to do
in tandem and as a result of a reevaluation of the both at the same time. And we have to learn at a
basic concept of enterprise value. It is no longer rate that’s faster than the pace of change.”
based purely on earnings per share or another Accelerating digital transformation can
financial metric, according to Joseph Radziewicz, enhance efficiency and productivity, but it has
CPA, CGMA, vice president–corporate control- also put new pressure on finance to keep current.
ler, Stanley Black & Decker. Instead, it has been When using digital tools, finance “must be able to
expanded to encompass a wide range of rapidly quickly sift through large amounts of data to find

journalofaccountancy.com March 2023 | 7