Insight - FDs' New Focus.

(From Financial Director)

Byline: Andrew Sawers.

You can come out of your bunker now. The ICAEW says so. FDs who have been weighed down by the corporate governance agenda for the past couple of years are now being encouraged to get back to their value-creation role. A new report from the institute's faculty of finance and management urges FDs to be "more commercial and business-aware, and not just perform a prudential role".

Such advice is hardly new. The beancounters versus value-creators' debate has been raging in a very one-sided fashion for more years than we can count. But, according to ICAEW chief executive and one-time serial FD Eric Anstee (pictured), the timing of this report is particularly appropriate.

"Boards have been spending a lot of their time over the past 18 months dealing with scandals and looking at the regulatory agenda, which the FD tends to lead," Anstee says. "That's all very well but companies have to turn back and look at where they're adding value and creating value.

By issuing this report now we're hoping to remind people of the wider role the FD plays in boardrooms."

The report contains a survey of faculty members' views on subjects such as the role of finance, desirable qualities and skills for FDs and outsourcing, as well as a number of articles and interviews with present or former FDs such as Jim Pettigrew (ICAP), Michael Queen (3i), Christopher Pearce (Rentokil Initial) and John Coombe (GlaxoSmithKline). Also part of the mix is a number of contributions from leading consultancies.