Edinburgh Napier University

  Finance transformation is a process aiming at finance efficiency and thus supports solving critical issues in the finance function, focusing on strategy, process, talent, and technology solutions. For enterprises, it is essential to perform a finance transformation to be competitive in a high-pressure business environment. Enterprises must transform the way the finance function operates in terms of the integrated information technology (IT) landscape towards effective process ownership and governance. The literature review identified a lack of systematic descriptions regarding how to construct a framework and investigations on key factors and drivers.

The researcher has developed a concept for finance transformation through strategy, design, and implementation. A stakeholder analysis was performed to identify the different stakeholders involved in the transformation process and their needs. A survey investigated the characteristics and requirements of a finance transformation and the key challenges. The target respondents were people who have specific knowledge and background in finance, IT, or professional roles associated with finance to collect a variety of personal experiences of people. Furthermore, the process of designing a finance transformation was assessed, and a finance transformation framework was constructed based on both the information gathered in the survey and the existing literature.

All respondents highlighted the need for finance transformation. The findings confirmed that finance transformation is perceived to have slowly transformed from a process of compliance to a strategic innovator to become a source of value creation and competitive advantage. Closing the finance transformation gap requires a significant investment in technology and a substantial change in finance skills and culture. The existing finance function is primarily transaction driven and supported by non-standardised processes across regions and business units. The result of a successful transformation would be a more important role in an organisation’s success. The study contributes to a better understanding of the role and importance of finance transformation. A survey of experienced people in finance has been performed to measure the activities that are important to determine a well-designed finance function and allow drawing meaningful and statistically sound conclusions. The main contribution to the knowledge of this research is the development of a finance transformation framework and practical recommendations for its effective implementation.