"By the year 2005, the finance function as we know it will have changed almost beyond recognition. Transaction processing will be simplified, standardised, routine streamlined and automated. That's 60% of finance's current responsibilities about to disappear." Gregory Hackett, Co-Founder of the US-based Hackett Group The days of the traditional number-crunching finance department are numbered. Increasingly, world class companies are demanding that their finance function add positive value instead of draining revenue. Transaction processing and control account for 84% of their total activities. The function is not only spending little time on value-creating activities such as decision support and future planning, but it is also consuming a significant proportion of company's revenues.To rise to the challenge, finance departments must completely transform their activities. But how? Essential reading for all Finance Directors,this bestselling briefing — now fully revised in a new edition — provides you with a complete toolkit to shift the role of the finance function from corporate scorekeeper to value generator. You will gain a thorough understanding of the extensive range of new techniques needed to fulfil this role and ensure that your finance department is central to your company's future success. New to this edition: * new analysis of IT, shared service centres and outsourcing, balanced scorecard, shareholder value, beyond budgeting, best value * new case studies Contents: * Introduction PART 1 THE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY FINANCE FUNCTION * Finance in the twenty-first-century organization * The process of transforming the finance function PART 2 THE TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN FINANCE FUNCTION * Shared service centres * Outsourcing * Information management delivering business intelligence PART 3 VALUE-BASED MANAGEMENT * Delivering shareholder value/best value * Valuing intangible assets/intellectual capital PART 4 BEYOND TRADITIONAL BUDGETING * Scenario planning, forecasting and resource allocation * The balanced scorecard * Benchmarking PART 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY