New Delhi: IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), conducted series of corporate visits to talk about the evolving role of finance and accounting function amidst global market challenges and technological advances. From May 17th to 24th, Benjamin R. Mulling, CMA, CPA, CITP, Chair-Emeritus of IMA’s Global Directors; Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of TENTE Casters; and Jim Gurowka, CAE, IMA Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, visited major Indian cities, including Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Chennai and interacted with fellow CFOs and finance leaders.
“Technological forces are beginning to change jobs in many fields, including the accounting profession. It used to be that offshoring was the first signal of major changes. Now, automation is beginning to displace offshoring,” stated Mulling. The business process outsourcing industry in India is worth $150 billion with most jobs going to computer programmers, software engineers, accountants, auditors, and insurance agents.
In Delhi, Mulling visited Tata Power Delhi Distribution, IBM, Amex and AIG in Gurgaon and Metlife’s Global Operations Support Centre in Noida. He then proceeded to Bangalore and talked to finance and accounting leaders and team members at Axa Business Services, VMware, Viteos, and the Societe Generale Global Solution Center. Also in Bangalore, he was the keynote speaker at a corporate conclave organized by the IMA Bangalore Chapter members in collaboration with Jain University and Miles Education, IMA’s Platinum approved provider.
In Chennai, Mulling visited Cognizant, and WNS where he also spoke about how they can develop the hands-on skills required to exploit the current trends.
“Become data experts. Adapt to meet the changing expectations of new entrants to the finance profession and customers inside and outside the finance function, businesses, and practices,” said Mulling who became a CFO at the age of 28. Since then, Mulling has been discussing about the pathway to finance leadership and being at the forefront of change.
Mulling also headed a CFO roundtable discussion at the Hotel Lalit in New Delhi where 12 CFOs attended to discuss the challenges they are facing in the era of analytics and technology. The CFO roundtable was done in partnership with MyCFO, Miles Education, and John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (Wiley), publisher of the CMA Learning System.
“Now more than ever, finance and accounting professionals must be seen as business partners. To do this, CFOs and their finance team need to provide more value-added activities by moving from the delivery of data and results to the interpretation of information and contributing to decision-making activities,” Mulling advised fellow CFOs.
Since 2012, IMA has been drumbeating the changing role of the CFO and the finance function. Through these corporate visits and roundtable discussions, IMA emphasizes the value of retooling and continuous learning for management accountants who now have to integrate business analytics with the finance and accounting function.
