Are public sector finance leaders lagging their private sector peers? Accenture's research suggests nothing could be further from the truth.

2. Are public sector finance leaders
lagging their private sector
peers? Accenture’s research
suggests nothing could be
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 2
FURTHER FROM
THE TRUTH.

3. Finding
new value
across the
enterprise
and beyond
Planning
ahead
for volatile
future
scenarios
Providing
insight on
performance
in real-time
Driving
transformation
across the entire
organisation
Exploring
disruptive
technologies
as strategic
enablers
Public sector finance
leaders are focusing on:
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 3
81% 75% 71% 68% 66%

4. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 4
Their ambition to help lead their
organisation’s technology strategy
WHAT STANDS OUT?

5. of public sector finance
leads are providing
additional insight to support
strategic decision-making
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 5
64%

6. these leaders recognise the need for transformation and
are becoming increasingly strategic in their approach.
Despite several obstacles,
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 6
Time Budget Skills
lack of
bandwidth
limited budget to
invest in change
rapidly changing
talent profile

7. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 7
Public sector finance leaders must vie for more in order to
create the broader role they want.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES ARE KEY
In order for this to become a reality, they must build more compelling business
cases for investment as well as explore innovative new funding models.

8. How will they do this?
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Driving
strategic results through
data and analytics
Implementing
automation despite financial
and people challenges
Recruiting
a new wave of
talent and skills
Finance leaders must prioritise three key strategies:

9. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 9
Driving strategic
results with data
Public sector finance leaders are
harnessing data to increase their
enterprise-wide influence and support
their organisations’ strategic ambitions.
These leaders must build on the
momentum of data analytics and focus
especially on defining the return on
investment (ROI) from digital investments.
47%
53%
Predicting the future
Reporting the past
How do public sector
finance teams use data tools?

10. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 10
Nicola Smith, Managing Director, Accenture
“Finance teams have put in
place ERP systems to give them
one version of the truth, but
they’re not yet sure what they
should be doing with the data
to enable their organisations
to turn a corner.”

11. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 11
Fighting the fear
of automation
Many public sector finance leaders have
bold plans for automation, as technology-
enabled efficiency measures will help
these leaders transition into a more
strategic role.
To realise this ambition, the public sector
must first overcome several intimidating
challenges around automation—even
more so than their private sector peers.

12. 54%
40%
38%
52%
52%
38%
52%
32%
36%
45%
43%
31%
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 12
What issues are barriers to automation?
Concern about information security
Employee resistance to working
with non-human ‘colleagues’
Difficult in standardising enterprise data or
agreeing upon a single ‘version of the truth’
Established executives are not incentivised
to take on unfamiliar tasks and responsibilities
Technical errors and bugs
There is no workable process in place
to support an automated solution
Public Sector Private Sector

13. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 13
believe the traditional finance
talent profile needs to change
quickly and drastically73%
of traditional finance tasks may
be carried out by technology
within three years41%

14. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 14
It’s vital to deal with the fear
that automation means the loss
of jobs. We need to demonstrate
that job losses didn’t happen as
expected in either the private
sector, or in the public sector
where automation has been
deployed already.”
Bill Kilmartin, North America Industry Lead, Finance & Administration, Accenture
“

15. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 15
Catching up on
talent and skills
Ensuring that they have access to the right skills
is a growing challenge for public sector finance
leaders, but the right talent is essential to drive
enterprise-wide cultural change.
Finance leaders are thinking hard about how
to build the capabilities they need, often
considering even more radical approaches than
their counterparts in business. They must think
differently within the confines of government
recruiting processes and standards.

16. The most critical skills for junior
finance professionals over the
next three years
Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 16
51%
44%
39%
Analytical skills
Ability to innovate
Financial modeling

17. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 17
IT’STIMETO
REIMAGINE&
STRATEGISEFinance can enable digital transformation
across the organisation by focusing on
digital ROI, automation, data insight,
public value and funding.

18. Copyright © 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved. 18
For more information:
BERNARD LE MASSON
Global Managing Director, Health & Public Service, Management Consulting, Accenture
BILL KILMARTIN
North America Industry Lead, Finance & Administration, Accenture
NICOLA SMITH
Managing Director, Accenture
@BernardleMasson in/bernardlemasson
@BillKilmartin1 in/bill-kilmartin-981a865
in/nicola-smith
bernard.le.masson@accenture.com
william.kilmartin@accenture.com
n.j.smith@accenture.com
www.accenture.com