5 reasons the office of the CFO is your business’ ultimate strategic partner

According to Deloitte’s analysis of over 30,000 CFO job postings from 2018 to 2023, the chief financial officer (CFO) role expanded by 19%, with responsibilities increasingly encompassing cross-functional leadership, analytics, sustainability, and digital transformation.

The stakes are higher, and the expectations are clear: finance is expected to lead from the front.

Organizations today need strategic finance teams empowered by real-time insights and agile tools to quickly navigate market volatility, accelerate decisions, and align performance with strategy. Here are five reasons finance is uniquely positioned to lead your business forward.

1. Finance has unmatched visibility across the business

Finance teams sit at the intersection of every major function, from sales and operations to HR and supply chain. This cross-functional perspective allows finance to understand and influence the operational drivers that directly impact your revenue and profitability.

By owning financial models and company-wide data, the CFO’s office provides insights that link high-level strategies directly to operational execution.

2. Business agility depends on an agile finance function

When market conditions shift quickly, new opportunities emerge, or challenges arise, how rapidly can your business adapt? Traditional planning methods and outdated spreadsheets lack the flexibility needed today.

Agile finance empowers continuous planning, reforecasting, and rapid scenario modeling. Finance becomes the engine behind responsive, strategic pivots, allowing your business to capitalize on change rather than just respond to it.

3. Strategic insights rely on integrated actuals

Confident decision-making demands timely and reliable data. Accurate, timely actuals from your accounting team give finance the foundation needed for proactive planning and informed "what-if" scenarios.

With modern, finance-owned consolidation and reporting tools, your team can deliver actionable insights, adjust plans rapidly, and ensure leadership has immediate access to critical information.

4. Finance drives enterprise value creation

Finance teams play a pivotal role in strategic decisions involving pricing, profitability, capital allocation, M&A activity, and more. Finance doesn't simply manage budgets; it strategically directs resources to maximize long-term value and growth.

By aligning investments and operational decisions with strategic goals, finance transforms from cost-controller into a fundamental driver of enterprise success.

5. Finance proactively manages risk and compliance

Finance is uniquely equipped to proactively identify and mitigate financial, operational, and compliance risks. By continuously monitoring financial performance, regulatory shifts, and market threats, the CFO’s office safeguards business continuity and ensures strategic objectives remain achievable, even amid uncertainty.

This proactive approach elevates finance from a reactive reporting role to a proactive guardian of organizational resilience.

Equip your finance and accounting team for strategic success

To support the business, finance must have autonomy over its planning and consolidated reporting processes, free from IT dependencies and outdated infrastructure. Modern financial planning and consolidation technology enables your finance team to own their data, rapidly adjust models, and collaborate seamlessly across the enterprise.

Anaplan provides the connected, real-time, finance-owned solution for planning, consolidation, and reporting that your team needs to deliver strategic insights and actions with unmatched speed and clarity.