The finance function is changing. Every day. Just like the rest of society and the speed of change is constantly increasing. Large on-site finance departments are a thing of the past and automation and technology have made their entry and redefining the possibilities Finance have to bring the numbers to the business. So what does all this mean for finance professionals and new graduates who are planning a long-term career in Finance? I have previously published series about how the CFO can transform Finance and how finance professionals can become more successful, however, in this new series I intend to take us all back to the starting point of planning a career (or potentially re-plan). Further, I would like to discuss the steps to take throughout the early stages of your finance career where you lay out your path for long-term success.

What steps to take for a successful career in Finance?

The topic is obviously quite broad and I won’t be able to cover all angles and in particular not the areas of Finance where I haven’t worked or had any exposure to. That I will leave to the experts in those fields. So what do I intend to cover? Below is a preliminary list of career steps and considerations that I would like to discuss with you.

• How To Learn The Basics Of Finance?: When many of the traditional tasks of Finance and Accounting have been moved to global shared service centers it will become difficult to learn those classic skills of debit/credit, reconciliations, AR/AP etc. so how do you go about obtaining them and are they even relevant when the tasks can potentially be automated so no human hands are needed?
• Financial Analysts Should Embrace Big Data: Big Data, Advanced Analytics, Data Science etc. are all hot topics in today’s finance function, however, this is pretty advanced stuff. Is it even possible for a common finance professional to venture into these areas or do you truly need Ph.D.’s only?
• How Can Finance People Learn About Business?: The only people left in the frontline finance function are those that need to collaborate with the business and help them achieve even higher levels of performance. However, how can a finance professional learn about the business (s)he works in to ensure (s)he can add value? Is it only on-the-job training or are there other ways?
• Should I Be A Finance Leader Or Specialist?: The ever so crucial choice between leadership or specialist. The future finance function would be calling on highly specialised knowledge hence choosing the specialist path might give you a lot more career progression than in the past where the only path was the one of leadership if you wanted to progress in your company. So what path should you choose?
• Can I Get Hired With A Finance Degree Only?: Here’s a classic question that many finance professionals ask early on in their career and trying to answer this as a non-certified professional might be going out on a limp. Of course, the answer is “it depends” but the question is depends on what?
• How To Become A Finance Business Partner?: This is undoubtedly my favourite topic which naturally leaves a risk of all the previous articles being filled with bias. In fact, I can guarantee you that they will be filled with bias so hope I can count on you to keep me earnest. In any case, I would like to take you through my view of what’s needed to become a finance business partner as I frequently get this question from people considering the job or interviewing for same. So my aim is to make a mini guide for those that wish to become a finance business partner which can hopefully help you decide whether this would be the right choice for you or not.

A lot of ground to cover but what’s missing?

You will probably notice that there’s no talk about Treasury, M&A, Tax or other important parts of the finance function, however, I simply don’t have enough knowledge about these function to provide you with any proper guidance. That being said, what do you think is missing from above list of career steps and considerations? Anything else that you would like me to cover as part of this series? I very much look forward to discussing the career path for finance professionals with you over the coming weeks. As always I appreciate engaging with you through your likes, comments, and shares so please do help me to get the discussion going. You can also follow me on Twitter for a steady flow of tips for the developing finance function and finance professional.

I also encourage you to take a tour of my old posts on finance transformation and not least “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box” which is really the starting point for the transformation. Last but not least, you should join my Finance Business Partner Forum where we will continue to discuss this topic.

Financial Analyst vs. Finance Business Partner

You’re A Finance Business Partner, Now What?

Case Study: Becoming A Finance Business Partner

Why We Need Business Partnering Transformation

How Finance Can Help When Business Is Bad

How Finance Can Become An Analytics Powerhouse

How Finance Business Partners Improve Company Performance

There Is A New Kind Of CFO Needed In Town

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the Senior Finance Business Partner for Maersk Line Europe Region and is working with the transformation of Finance and business on a daily basis. Anders has participated in several transformation processes amongst others helping Maersk Drilling to go Beyond Budgeting and transformed a finance team from Bean-counters to Business Partners. He would love the chance to collaborate with you on your own transformation processes to help you stay out of disruption. If you are looking for more advice on how to get the most of LinkedIn Anders also has a few tips to share as well as if you want help in your job search. Don’t be shy! Let’s get in touch and start helping each other.