Looking Outside of Finance: Why Modern CFOs Must Think Beyond the Numbers
A reflection on my talk at the FPA Summit, London
There’s something uniquely energising about speaking to a room full of finance leaders who understand just how quickly our roles are evolving. At the FPA Summit in London, I shared a perspective that has shaped my entire career across fashion, luxury fragrance, beauty and e-commerce:
today’s finance leader can no longer stay inside the finance function. The real value lies in stepping well beyond it.
This talk, Looking Outside of Finance, explored how consumer behaviour, channel complexity, and organisational demands are reshaping both commercial strategy and the expectations placed on FP&A and finance business partners. Below are a few of the themes I discussed, along with some of the insights that resonated most strongly with the audience.
The market is moving faster than most organisations can keep up with
If you spend any time inside retail or beauty, you feel the shift immediately. Consumers have become more demanding, more channel-fluid, and more willing to abandon brands that don’t meet their expectations.
Online has accelerated the “anything, anytime, anywhere” mindset — and this has permanently raised the bar for every brand, whether heritage or digital-first.
What I shared with the audience is the truth many leaders quietly admit:
most organisations aren’t structurally designed for this pace.
Agility is no longer a competitive advantage; it’s basic survival.
From products, to brands, to stories: how loyalty is earned today
In the presentation, I walked through how the consumer journey has evolved:
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From shopping for products
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To connecting with brands
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To buying into stories
This matters profoundly for finance. If we want to influence decision-making, we must understand the emotional and experiential drivers that shape revenue — not only the cost centres behind it.
Omnichannel is not a buzzword; it’s a business model
One of the areas that always sparks conversation is the shift from single-channel to multi-channel to truly omnichannel retail.
I’ve lived this transformation firsthand — from LEGO, to fragrance houses, to DTC beauty. The organisations that succeed are those that recognise:
Customers experience a brand, not a channel.
They expect consistency, personalisation, and effortlessness — whether it’s a flagship boutique or a late-night mobile checkout.
Finance teams that understand this can finally connect operational decisions to financial outcomes in a meaningful, commercial way.
The evolving role of the Finance Business Partner
A large part of my talk centred on the evolution of the FBP from purely analytical function to strategic enabler.
Today’s FBP sits at the intersection of:
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Commercial strategy
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Consumer insight
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Operational reality
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Financial stewardship
And increasingly, they are asked to be:
Architect, Analyst, and Business Partner — all in one.
The organisations I’ve worked with that perform best are those that empower finance to influence change, not simply record it.
Why better decisions depend on simplicity — not more data
We spoke about complexity, but also about clarity.
I shared a principle I live by:
20% of drivers explain 80% of results.
If finance can help teams identify the right 20%, organisations move faster, understand risk sooner, and make decisions more confidently.
This is the heart of modern FP&A — shifting from reporting to insight.
E-commerce as a catalyst for transformation
The audience was particularly engaged in the conversation around e-commerce and its impact on operational and financial planning.
Online is no longer a channel that sits “over there.”
It shapes pricing strategy, supply chain design, marketing investment, working capital demands, and the rhythm of the entire organisation.
In the talk, I shared global trends, UK shifts, and category benchmarks, and we explored what this means for planning cycles, rolling forecasts, and the margin conversations that sit behind sustainable growth.
My closing thought: finance sits where the future is built
If there’s one message I wanted the room to leave with, it was this:
finance leaders are uniquely positioned to help organisations cut through noise and build the bridge between ambition and reality.
But to do that, we must look outside of finance — to customers, channels, brand strategy, technology and operations.
The future CFO is commercially fluent, cross-functional, and deeply connected to how value is created.
For those interested, I’ve linked the full presentation deck in this post.
If you’d like me to speak at your event — whether on finance transformation, building agile planning environments, or navigating growth in beauty, luxury and consumer brands — you’ll find contact details and booking information on my Speaking & Executive Workshops page.