Special Report - The aspiring CFO

Welcome to the final special report of the BAM era. We’ve had so many highs and imparted so much wisdom across the industry; the amount of positive comments and learning opportunities we’ve had during our time producing these reports has been exceptional and rewarding.

As you know, from January 2022 we will be providing current BAM members with a new offer, shown in detail at icaew.com/bamchange. However, that does not mean we will not be serving our valued business members with insightful content in 2022 – you will find all of this under the Communities banner going forward (see the above web page for the link). And of course, we still have a jam-packed special report for you here.

And to be honest, the last one is one of my favourites. It is practical, realistic, hands-on and full of learning opportunities. I cannot believe a single person will not take something from this. The aspiration to be a CFO is something I am sure many of you will have; however, how do you actually get there?

It is not that clear-cut; a mix of soft and hard skills will be needed. The articles on pages 6 and 19 discuss this in depth.

But what about once you get there? How difficult is the role and what do you need to know? Flip to pages 2, 22 and 25 to learn more. And what about those that are already there – do they have anything to share? of course they do, and page 26 will enlighten you.

We are going out with a bang in my opinion – I hope you see it that way too! And I hope in a few years’ time, when some of you become CFOs, you will look back at this report and acknowledge that it may have provided a helping hand.