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Business partnering

Practical advice for those considering business partnering or looking to improve their approach.
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Latest on business partnering

Read our latest features and articles on business partnering.
How successful finance business partners work at local authorities
  • Article
  • 21 Nov 2024
Finance business partners play a vital bridging role between the finance team and the wider organisation.
Why you need great influencing skills
  • Article
  • 30 Apr 2024
Accountants with the ability to influence others will be seen as trusted business partners and strategic aides – and may end up working on high-level tasks that don’t involve numbers.
Exclusive Accountants harnessing the power of tech
  • Article
  • 16 Nov 2021
Tech allows for continuous monitoring of financials; take advantage
Finance business partnering: in government
  • Article
  • 09 Sep 2021
The UK Government’s concept of the ‘finance business partner’ is best explained by someone who does the job. We find out what this concept means in practice.
Exclusive Why HR and finance need to join forces
  • Article
  • 11 Aug 2021
Remote compliance is a conundrum, and alliance will solve it
Pandemic forces Rolls Royce business partner to change gear
  • Article
  • 13 May 2021
ICAEW Insights speaks to Rolls Royce finance business partner George Acquah to discover some of the lessons he’s learned during the pandemic.
Exclusive Collaboration between Marketing and Finance is essential
  • Article
  • 14 Sep 2020
It can be difficult, but dialogue can make winners of both
Exclusive Can FD’s be truly commercial?
  • Article
  • 14 Sep 2020
Or is it just a case of saying ‘yes’ to the CEO? Find out
Read more

Business partnering courses

Our business partnering, personal impact and business ethics training courses cover topics including communication, commercial skills, strategic management skills and influence.
A-Z of CPD courses by topic As a global leader of the finance profession, ICAEW offers a comprehensive range of learning solutions for every stage of professional development, designed for finance teams and finance leaders.

Reports and case studies

Finance Business Partnering - Skills and Capability Model
  • Article
  • 2014
  • PDF (1,088kb)
This case study examines the introduction of a finance business partnering skills and capabilities model at Electrocomponents plc.
Finance business partnering guide
  • Thought leadership report
  • 2014
Practical advice for those considering business partnering initiatives and those looking to improve their approach.

eBooks

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.

Exclusive Being the business partner
  • eBook chapter
  • 2017
  • Sally Percy
  • Reach the Top in Finance
A chapter on business partnering for finance professionals who want to progress in senior roles. Topics include: building relationships with other departments; working with the CEO; working with entrepreneurs; working with private equity firms; working with clients; working in the not-for-profit sector; presenting to the board; relationships with investors; relationships with the auditor, banks and credit rating agencies; media relations and managing cost-saving programmes.
Terms of use

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

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Webinars

Exclusive Effective business partnering
  • Webinar
  • 20 Nov 2013
A webinar for business partners on the finance function and how to contribute more to your company.

Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive Managing financial services relationships
  • Article
  • 01 Dec 2023
  • Daniel Butcher
The CFOs of 180 Life Sciences and Healthcare Triangle offer tips for working well with banking partners and navigating M&A. They suggest ways of conducting due diligence when choosing an investment banker to partner with. They also cover M&A best practices and pitfalls to avoid and recommend questions the CFO needs to ask banking/financial services partners.
Exclusive Becoming a trusted business partner
  • Article
  • 01 Nov 2022
  • Rebecca G.Fay, Kenneth Herbst, Josh Lobs, Norma R.Montague
The article discusses ways accountants can build their career in management accounting. Advice is given for developing the skills of a successful salesperson, as you will potentially need to influence and persuade both internal and external stakeholders in a variety of different situations. Four types of relationships that commonly exist in business partnerships are explained - Technical professional; Business friend; Dispensable business partner; Trusted business partner.
Exclusive Six shortcuts to the finance business partnering mindset
  • Article
  • 01 Aug 2019
  • Andrew Jepson
The best finance business partners are able to translate the finance world into something useful for non-finance folk and help them understand, with measured and objective views, the issues facing a business.
Exclusive CFOs: How to enable finance as a business partner
  • Article
  • 20 Mar 2019
  • Neil James
How to use the integrated business planning (IBP) approach to support finance business partnering in your organisation. IBP can be used in various elements of performance appraisal by the finance business partner, such as budgetary control, alignment of KPIs and risk management.
Exclusive Creating an inventory control center of excellence
  • Article
  • 01 Dec 2017
  • Stephen J. McNally
Stephen McNally was previously a Finance director/controller at Campbell Soup. He explains how his finance team created an Inventory Control Center of Excellence (COE) to improve the company's inventory management and reduce costs.
Exclusive Get in gear
  • Article
  • 01 Apr 2016
  • Allen Schiff, Jonathan Schiff
Team up with HR and IT to transform the future of finance, suggest the authors. They look at examples of businesses who have taken a functional integration approach, and provide a list of steps towards increased cross-skilling and communication between the Finance, HR and IT functions.

External resources

Could you succeed as a finance business partner?
  • 2016
  • Robert Half
A Robert Half article looking at different definitions of what being a finance business partner entails, and the value the relationship can provide within an organisation.
Finance business partnering: Less than the sum of the parts
  • 2014
  • Deloitte
Deloitte 2014 report investigating the challenges and opportunities faced by CFOs in relation to decision support and business partnering, using input from 75 senior UK finance executives.
Key competencies for finance business partnering
  • 2020
  • Financial Management
Article providing advice for aspiring finance business partners, covering key competencies and skills to learn. Raju Venkataraman, former CFO and Head of Strategy and Business Development for Disney in Southeast Asia, shares his experience of finance business partnering with sales.
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