Empowering Group Financial Controllers: tackling tech, ESG, and risk management
The GFC Pulse Survey
What's keeping Group Financial Controllers awake at night?
We surveyed 500 finance leaders, including 200 GFCs at businesses with over £1 billion in annual revenue, to find out how their finance functions are evolving – and what this means for their role. We’ve broken down the responses from those GFC into five key themes, each underpinned by insights from our experts. Dive in to explore the results.
Uncover eight of CFOs' toughest challenges and top priorities.
1. Digital transformation: Building a culture of innovation
More than 9 out of 10 GFCs say that their finance function has a digital transformation programme planned over the next 12 months. While implementing technology to drive efficiencies has long been a priority for finance teams, there are still challenges holding them back.
GFCs anticipate their top challenges will be:
33%
Driving the cultural change that is needed
33%
A lack of data
31%
Financial constraints
Although you may not control your organisation’s digital budget, your operational oversight and understanding of your team’s challenges make you well positioned to identify opportunities and bridge the gap between strategy and practical application.
‘A lack of data’ was also cited as a top challenge. Without the data fundamentals in place first, finance teams can’t unlock the full scope of efficiencies from automation, or make best-informed, data-driven decisions.
2. Shared Services Centres and BPOs: Unlocking innovation and retention
Centralising finance activities to shared service centres (SSCs) or outsourcing to Business Process Outsourcers (BPOs) has become standard practice for large businesses, with only 2.5% of GFCs reporting that they keep their teams entirely onsite and have no plans to outsource.
What’s the biggest advantage GFCs say they have experienced so far?
48%
say that ‘talent retention’ was the biggest benefit
41%
the use of technology to support more efficient processes
40%
driving a culture of innovation across the business
Shifting to a SSC, or indeed a BPO, can help to streamline finance processes, leading to cost savings and better scalability – but that isn’t the only benefit.
Freeing up your finance teams’ time to work on more strategic projects supports their professional development, helping to establish a competitive advantage and boost retention. This is key at a time when nearly a third of GFCs (31%) cite ‘competition for skilled talent’ as their top talent challenge. Shifting away from routine work also frees up your team's time to explore new opportunities, focusing less on the ‘what’ of the data and more on the ‘so what’ behind it, fostering a culture of innovation that drives business performance.
To get the most effective and efficient use from all of Finance, it’s important to review continuously and expand an SSC’s remit to cover more areas, such as procurement, ESG reporting and HR processes. Often that may see an SSC transition towards being a Global Business Services hub, Centre of Excellence, or similar.
3. ESG Regulations: Are finance teams prepared?
Over a fifth (22%) of GFCs identified ‘compliance with changing regulations’ as the most significant challenge facing their business, but less than a fifth say they currently have resources to tackle ESG regulations.
17% of GFCs say that their finance function currently has dedicated resources and processes in place to proactively address ESG regulations.
36% shared that ESG reporting either isn’t within the remit of their team or isn’t expected to apply to their business within the next year, leaving 42% who acknowledge that they will need to act but have not yet done so.
While you may not be responsible for setting your business’ ESG strategy and priorities, you will need to play a critical role in assessing which ESG issues are most material from a financial perspective and incorporating them into financial planning and reporting processes.
This expertise around financial materiality can be applied here to identify which ESG topics you just want to be compliant with, and opportunities to go beyond to become a 'gamechanger'. Once decided, you will need to incorporate this into planning and reporting processes and communicate the plan with stakeholders.
4. Managing financial and tax risks: A top priority
As more risk areas fall into the remit of finance, from AI to cyber threats, it’s concerning that only one fifth of GFCs perceive their finance function’s ability to manage financial and tax risks as ‘robust and effective’.
Which statement do GFCs feel best describes their finance function’s ability to manage financial and tax risks over the next 12 months?
We have a robust and effective risk management framework
Strong overall, but there is room for improvement in certain areas
There are noticeable gaps across several areas that need attention
We do not have a strong risk management plan in place
I don't know
With the 2024 UK Corporate Governance Code set to introduce significant changes for listed companies from 2026, addressing gaps has never been more critical. Boards will be required to annually declare the effectiveness of their risk management and internal control frameworks, including both material financial and non-financial operational, compliance, and reporting controls.
By that time, we would expect to see more than one-fifth of GFCs feeling confident. GFCs will play a pivotal role in working with executive management peers to ensure effective risk management and internal control frameworks.
1. Technology trends
2. Change management
3. Industry trends and best practices
It is unsurprising that ‘change management’ emerged as one of the top three areas GFCs want more support or guidance over the next 12 months.
As highlighted above, digital transformation initiatives and emerging risks like AI and cybersecurity are high on finance teams' agendas. With routine finance tasks increasingly handled by outsourcing and shared service centres, the skillsets being brought into finance teams are also expanding, with GFCs identifying "ESG strategy and implementation" and "data analytics and business intelligence" as the top skills they anticipate hiring for in their finance function over the next year.
As a senior finance professional, your role in navigating these changes is critical - not only in terms of operations, but also in supporting individuals through the transition. Some team members may see their roles evolve significantly, requiring reskilling, while others may feel anxious about what the changes could mean for them. You must be prepared to give your team the support they need during these pivotal career moments.
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