CFOs across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region say their reporting responsibilities have increased, particularly in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) as mandatory disclosure requirements approach, according to Deloitte’s Asia-Pacific CFO Survey 2023.
The findings from Deloitte show that CFOs are grappling with transformation; their roles are changing and are less about giving direction, the report said, and are more about aligning incentives and priorities across a variety of stakeholders. Deloitte surveyed 276 CFOs in the region in June and July last year.
The Deloitte report also broke down results by country or subregion to show differences within the full region. Overall, 62% of CFOs said they plan to implement necessary ESG processes, and 27% say their companies have adequate processes in place.
In Australia, 93% of CFOs said they have implementation plans, but just 3% say their organisations have adequate processes already.
The report found that some CFOs in the region are unprepared to tackle ESG challenges. Overall, 56% said they are prepared. In China, 38% say they are not prepared, well above the survey-wide number of 21% who say they aren’t prepared.
No country in the region is significantly prepared for the challenges ahead. Southeast Asia is the most confident with 41% of leaders who say they are ready to tackle ESG priorities.
Taking on ESG initiatives is one of several instances of the broadening CFO role. The report said this expansion of duties could translate into two things. “One, it highlights the need for CFOs to upskill or add new skills that can help them contribute to the climate imperative, especially from the data governance and data collation capacity,” the report said. “And two, it could lead to the impending rise of the chief finance and sustainability officer (CFSO), an emerging career pathway for the CFO.”
The skills required today starkly differ from the expectations of finance leaders in the past, the report acknowledged, and attracting suitable talent for this ever-changing role is imperative for companies.
CFOs across the board are seeking to strike the right balance between generalised accounting skills and specialised technological skills in their workforce, the report said. Fifty-nine per cent of CFOs in the APAC region said that they are focused on providing practical on-the-job experience to their workforce to ensure that they build the right capabilities.
In both Australia and Japan, this strategy is of vital importance, with 83% of CFOs in Australia and 90% of CFOs in Japan focused on providing practical, on-the-job experience.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.