On the Back Cover
Soon every business will be Internet enabled and we'll all start dropping the "e" in "e-business." Everything we do is being affected: product creation, customer fulfillment, logistics, planning and, of course, finance. - Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CFO, Nokia
Among CFOs, there's a universal belief that either you can embrace the Internet, or be victimized by it. This is prompting finance functions to examine how they will transform themselves over time. CFOs have to address the short, intermediate, and longer term impact of the Internet on their companies. - Tom Meredith, Managing Director, Dell Ventures and former CFO, Dell Computer Corporation
Undoubtedly e-commerce will have a significant impact on the finance function. Increasing shareholder value in this market means growing the value of your intangibles; at Pthat includes Rmarketing and people. - Clayton Daley, CFO, Procter and Gamble
The Internet will not wait - it's a cultural, not geographical, phenomenon. It requires substantial investment up front to gain scale fast. The opportunity will not last forever. We have to be represented in as many places, with as many products, as quickly as possible... We think our biggest challenge is one of execution in the face of insurmountable opportunity. - Warren Jenson, CFO, Amazon.com
CFOs of leading-edge companies in every industry are transforming themselves into eCFOs -- harnessing the power of the Internet to move beyond ERP, "blow up" their budget processes, apply new valuation techniques, and build new businesses. As traditional accounting functions change or disappear, redefining finance's agenda in an e-business world takes on a new urgency. Each chapter of eCFO: Sustaining Value in the New Corporation is introduced by a leading CFO. They, and the authors at PricewaterhouseCoopers, provide an invaluable guide to leveraging e-businees, offering strategies, tools, action plans and insight.
Front Cover Glimpse
"Finance will still exist in the future, but in a very different role... It will be a fascinating place to work because it will be... instrumental in creating whole new businesses..."--Stephen Hodge, Director of Finance, Royal Dutch/Shell Group
E-business is creating a powerful new finance role: the eCFO. Shaped by the huge impact of the Internet, the eCFO will act as an internal venture capitalist, opportunity seeker, and risk taker. Focused on the future, not the past, the eCFO will be a true strategic partner to the CEO -- anticipating industry trends, launching new enterprises, and managing investments as a portfolio of options.
Making the transition from CFO to eCFO promises to be exhilarating - and complex. It demands a host of new skills: Developing intangible assets. Valuing Internet businesses. Reinventing resource allocation. Building a "virtual" finance function. And more.
eCFO: Sustaining Value in the New Corporation - the sequel to CFO: Architect of the Corporation's Future - offers a practical, timely guide to mastering the enormous challenges facing today's corporate finance managers. Built around in-depth interviews with leading CFOs, case studies, best-practices, and independent research, eCFO is a road map to the future. In its pages, you'll find everything you need to add value and deliver results in today's e-business world.
About the Author
Stewart Clements is president of Accenture Finance Solutions (AFS), Accenture's finance and accounting outsourcing business. In this role he is responsible for the business strategy; development of Accenture's delivery centre network; finance- and outsourcing-focused assets and tools; and the management and development of organisational capabilities. He has more than 18 years experience in finance change programs and finance outsourcing. Mr. Clements is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in Accountancy from Glasgow University. Based in London, he has been with Accenture for nearly 20 years.
Michael Donnellan is a lead partner in Accenture's outsourcing and consulting business. He has more than 20 years' experience in the professional services industry. Mr. Donnellan has also worked extensively on the research, development and deployment of innovative operating models. An engineer by background, he has spent the last decade focusing on the new role of finance in the modern corporate enterprise. In 1997, he co-authored "CFO: Architect of the Corporation's Future," which resulted in the adoption of new finance and accounting organisational models by numerous corporations around the world.
Cedric Read led the PricewaterhouseCoopers Finance Consulting Practice, where he was a finance strategy consultant for 25 years. During this time he advised hundreds of global CFOs, providing strategic consultancy to a range of large multinational companies including Unilever, Microsoft, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline. Through his company, CCR Partners, Mr. Read continues to develop his vision of finance's future. He is the lead author of three previous books: "CFO: Architect of the Corporation'sFuture"; "eCFO: Sustaining Value in the New Corporation"; and "CFO as Business Integrator,"
