"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
— Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking-Glass
These words resonate more than ever with finance professionals today. In a world where change is the only constant, digitalisation is not just a trend—it's the new normal. Staying still is no longer an option. And if you aim to lead, you must move faster, adapt quicker, and learn more deeply than ever before.
Finance has traditionally been seen as a bastion of precision, control, and historical reporting. But that view is rapidly becoming outdated. The speed of technological change, the growing availability of real-time data, and the demand for agile decision-making transform the finance function from a back-office cost centre into a strategic nerve centre.
At FinDep Consult, we foresee a fundamental shift: technical competence will soon outweigh representational status. The days when being the most senior person in the room automatically gave weight to your opinion are fading. Now, your understanding of systems, ability to work across disciplines, and capacity to extract insight from complexity are the real differentiators.
Narrow Specialisation Is Becoming Obsolete
Traditionally, finance professionals could afford to specialise in one area—be it accounting, controlling, or treasury. But today, narrow expertise is no longer enough. The landscape is becoming increasingly interconnected, and roles are merging. Digital tools and automation are replacing many repetitive tasks, but they also raise the bar for what is expected from human professionals.
Those who thrive in this environment will be versatile generalists with solid technical depth across multiple domains. They won't just understand the numbers—they'll know how those numbers are captured, how they flow through the systems, what they mean for operations, and how to communicate them to drive business decisions.
Accountants are privileged in many ways.
They start at the source—with accurate, consistent, and trustworthy data. From there, they can grow their knowledge outward: learning FP&A, diving into management accounting, and mastering tools like Power BI, Python, or advanced Excel modelling. This multidimensional knowledge gives them an edge over finance analysts who understand reports but not the mechanisms behind the data.
Even better is when a financial accountant expands their scope step by step—starting in Tax, then moving into management accounting, followed by FP&A, and beyond. Each layer adds context and depth. Professionals who've walked this path, especially those who transition into Investment Finance, develop an unparalleled perspective. They've seen the lifecycle of financial decisions from all angles.
I once talked with an Investment Finance Manager from one of the world's most elite firms. His responsibility was to build tailored financial models for every client, supporting each strategic investment decision. Impressive, yes—but when I asked, "Do you follow up on the outcomes? After the decision is made, do you evaluate whether your model held up during and after implementation?" — he hesitated. The answer was no.
That moment revealed a key insight: there's often a gap between planning, execution, and follow-up. The skills are siloed, and the professionals responsible for each phase rarely collaborate closely. But how can you improve your modelling skills—or the quality of your strategic advice—if you never follow through to see how things play out?
The truth is that the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) is often broken in financial decision-making. Without the "Check" and "Act" phases, your learning is limited, and your models remain theoretical.
The most valuable professionals will be those who integrate all phases—from planning and modelling to execution and performance tracking. They don't just forecast the story; they validate, refine, and use the insights to grow stronger with each project.
Here's the truth: change is not comfortable. Every transformation brings problems, friction, and uncertainty. But problems are opportunities in disguise. They push us to grow, to improve, and to evolve.
Don't be afraid of change. Resisting change means resisting growth. As someone once said, "The person who doesn't have problems is the biggest problem—because they're not growing."
Change = Life.
No change = Obsolescence.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes, either. Mistakes are part of the learning process. The only mistakes you should fear are the repetitive ones—those you don't learn from. It's okay to fall short sometimes. What matters is that you take the lesson, adapt, and don't repeat it.
Learn from the mistakes of others. But most of all, learn from your own.
Let's be honest—digitalisation and economic turbulence will reduce the number of traditional jobs in finance. Automation, outsourcing, AI-assisted analytics—these trends are here to stay. And in times of crisis, personnel costs are usually the first to be cut.
But here's the paradox: while the number of roles may shrink, the demand for exceptional professionals increases.
I've seen this firsthand. During the 2007–2009 global financial crisis, I was working in Private Equity. While many were asked to leave, a few of us were promoted. Why? Because in a situation, leadership needs those who can take ownership, bring clarity, and operate across silos. The organisations that survived and thrived were the ones who retained and empowered their strongest people.
And that still holds true today.
If you're a finance professional today—stop waiting for change to happen to you. Stop sleeping. Start preparing.
Finance is no longer about reporting the past. It's about shaping the future.
Versatility Brings Freedom
Versatile skills and broad knowledge don’t just make you more valuable—they give you freedom. Freedom to choose your path. Freedom to adapt to any situation. Freedom to walk into a boardroom, a factory floor, or a data analytics session and speak the language. When you’re not confined to a single function, tool, or methodology, you become agile. You’re not at the mercy of market shifts or restructuring plans—you’re ahead of them. The more you learn, the more leverage you gain. And that leverage is what creates real career freedom: to grow, to lead, to shape your own future.
A New Kind of Professional
We are moving toward a model where the finance professional is part analyst, accountant, technologist, and business partner. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to keep learning and staying relevant. The opportunity is that those who do will be indispensable.
At FinDep Consult, we believe that the future belongs to those who can bridge the gaps between accounting and analytics, data and decisions, and systems and storytelling.
In this new reality, it's not enough to run. You must run twice as fast.
To succeed in the finance function of the future, ask yourself:
If the answer is yes, you're already ahead. If not, today is the best day to start.
Because the world is moving, only those who run fast enough will stay in the race.
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