5 June 2026
From reporting to strategic growth engine: Redefining the finance function
Finance is no longer just a control function. For senior leaders, it is a commercial asset that improves decision-making, protects margin, strengthens cash performance and gives the business greater confidence to invest, scale and respond to change.
Today, senior leaders expect finance to do far more than explain what has already happened. They expect it to anticipate what is coming next. The strongest businesses use finance to translate data into action — spotting where value is being created or lost, challenging commercial decisions, improving performance and supporting transformation.
In a volatile, uncertain business environment, that capability gives leadership teams clearer priorities, faster responses and a stronger platform for sustainable growth.
The modern finance function has moved from the back office to the centre of business performance. Is your finance team keeping up?
The last decade: from control to commercial influence
Over the past 10 years, several forces have reshaped finance.
- Volatility
Businesses have had to navigate Brexit, Covid, inflation, interest rate pressure, supply chain disruption, labour market shifts, geopolitical uncertainty and changing customer behaviour. In that environment, historic reporting is not enough. Leaders need forward-looking insight: cash visibility, scenario planning, margin analysis, pricing intelligence and reliable forecasting. - Technology
Cloud accounting, automation, ERP systems, business intelligence tools and, more recently, AI have changed what finance teams can produce and how quickly they can produce it. Manual processing has not disappeared, but it is no longer where the function creates most value. The premium has shifted towards data quality, systems capability, interpretation and decision support. - Expectation
Boards, investors and executive teams now want finance leaders who can operate as strategic partners, not just technical specialists. CFOs and FDs are increasingly expected to contribute to growth strategy, M&A, transformation, operating model design, risk management and value creation.The most valuable finance leaders now combine financial control with commercial judgement, data fluency, systems awareness, leadership capability and the confidence to challenge the business.
The capability challenge
Does your finance function have the leadership, structure, systems and skills to support where the business is heading? The finance function of today sits at a critical point of transition. However, many finance teams were not built for this wider remit.
One of the biggest issues facing mid-market, PE-backed and growth businesses is that the finance function is often being asked to operate like a strategic command centre while still resourced like a reporting department.
This creates risk. Poor finance capability does not only affect the finance team; it affects the whole business.
Many organisations focus on whether they have the right Finance Director or CFO. Increasingly, the bigger question is whether they have the right capability beneath them. The CFO can’t do it alone.
As finance evolves, businesses need stronger commercial finance, FP&A, systems, data and business partnering capability. The challenge is that these skills remain in short supply across many regions and sectors.
The result is often a highly capable CFO carrying too much of the strategic burden, while the wider team remains focused on reporting and processing.
Future-ready finance functions aren’t built through technology alone. They require leadership, structure, succession planning and capability development, too.
The rise of commercial finance and FP&A
Today, leadership teams need much more granular insight. They want to understand customer profitability, product margin, sales productivity, working capital, cost drivers, forecast reliability and the financial impact of operational decisions. As such, finance is increasingly becoming a performance function.
Strong FP&A and commercial finance capability helps leaders move from opinion-led to evidence-led decisions. It gives the business a clearer view of what is working, what is underperforming and where action is needed.
In higher-growth or investor-backed environments, this capability is especially important. Boards and investors want to see not only what the numbers are, but what they mean — what is changing and what the leadership is doing about it.
When businesses outgrow their finance function
One of the most common issues we see in growing organisations is that the business is evolving faster than the finance function.
Processes that worked at £10m turnover often struggle at £30m. Reporting that supported a founder-led business can become inadequate as organisations scale, diversify or attract investment.
Warning signs often include:
- Increasing reliance on spreadsheets
- Weak forecasting accuracy
- Delayed reporting
- Limited commercial insight
- Overdependence on one individual
- Lack of succession beneath the FD or CFO
Growth often exposes finance weaknesses that were previously hidden.
Fully leveraging the benefits of AI
Routine processing, reconciliations, reporting workflows, variance analysis and forecasting support will become faster and more automated. AI will be used to interrogate data, identify anomalies, generate scenarios and improve decision support.
However, to fully leverage AI’s opportunities, finance teams need quality data, strong systems, capable people and effective leadership. Businesses that focus on technology without addressing capability gaps will struggle to realise the benefits they expected.
Technology transformation requires workforce transformation.
The future finance function will need people who can ask better questions, interpret outputs, understand commercial context, manage risk, challenge assumptions and make sure technology is being used responsibly. AI supports analysis, but it cannot replace judgement, accountability or leadership.
It is not simply about buying the best tools. It is about leveraging them. The businesses that gain most will be those with clean data, clear processes, strong governance and teams capable of turning technology into better decisions.
AI-readiness is not just a technology issue. It is a finance-capability issue.
What finance will look like in 10 years
Ten years from now, finance functions will be smaller in transactional areas but stronger in insight, systems, analytics and business partnering. They will spend less time producing reports and more time shaping decisions. They will be more integrated with operations, sales, HR, technology and strategy. They will be expected to provide real-time or near-real-time visibility on performance.
As such, the future finance function will need talent who can combine technical finance with digital confidence, analytical capability, communication skills and commercial influence.
The future finance leader will not simply be the person who explains the numbers. They must have a strategic grasp on what the data means, why it matters, what decisions it informs, what risks it highlights, and the subsequent actions it requires.
The leadership takeaway
For senior business leaders, the message is clear: finance capability is now a strategic asset.
Is your finance function keeping pace with your business? Do you have the right structure, people and processes in place for it to evolve?
- Automated
Manual processing will continue to reduce, and finance teams will focus more on exception management, controls, interpretation and action. - Data-led
Finance will increasingly own or influence the quality of performance data across the business. The ability to connect financial and operational data will be a core source of value. - Commercial
Finance business partners will be embedded deeper into the organisation, helping leaders make better decisions on pricing, investment, productivity, margin and growth. - Strategic
CFOs and senior finance leaders will continue to play a larger role in transformation, AI adoption, operating model change, risk management and value creation.
It will also require different talent
The finance professionals who thrive will be those who combine technical finance with digital confidence, analytical capability, communication skills and commercial influence.
The next decade will reward businesses that build finance functions for the future. This means reviewing not only who leads finance, but how the function is structured, where the capability gaps sit, whether the team has enough commercial and analytical strength, how ready it is for AI and whether there is sufficient succession beneath the CFO or FD.
Finance capability cannot afford to lag behind business ambition. Growth places pressure on every part of the organisation. The businesses that scale successfully are those that treat finance not as a back-office function, but as a strategic growth engine — one that is future-focused and provides clarity, control and commercial insight at every stage.
Highlight: Over the past 10 years, the finance function has changed beyond recognition. The next 10 will be even more significant. The question for senior leaders is whether their finance team is keeping pace with business ambition.
Need help building your finance function for future growth?
As a specialist finance recruitment and HR consultancy, we’ve been helping businesses build their finance functions since 2012.
For help benchmarking your team, succession planning or developing a people strategy that supports transformation, call Victoria Beadle, Director of our People and Change strategic HR consultancy on 07988 276402 or email victoria@seymourjohn.com
For talent acquisition support
Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire, call: Emma Hughes on 07872 142465 or email emma@seymourjohn.com
West Midlands, call: Simon Lowe on 07885 458241 or email simon@seymourjohn.com
Shropshire and Powys, call: Phil Topper on 07929 159674 or email phil@seymourjohn.com
5 June 2026