Editor's letter.

The role of the finance professional is changing rapidly. Where once financial and accounting skills were the main prerequisites for a career in finance, now strategic skills, people management, business development and brand management can all come under finance's remit.

Of course, this is not news; CIMA's new syllabus has taken these developments into account, and many articles have been written on this subject. But, while we all know that more is expected of financial managers, perhaps not enough consideration has been given to how they manage to juggle the differing needs of their organisations -- how they provide the balance between financial control and business development; risk management and strategic thinking.

Strategy, after all, is only as good as its implementation. A management team that continually comes up with great new ideas will succeed only if the ideas become reality and generate the profits they promise. As Mike Brown (page 11) explains, the key to business success is managers who actually deliver. Financial modelling and accounting skills are important tools for determining whether strategies are realistic. Financial managers who can use these to make their great ideas work are worth their weight in gold.

Finance professionals are also...

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