In a research paper ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) sets outs five key principles driving finance professionals in leadership roles.

The report Leading with a purpose: finance professionals navigating the public sector through difficult times says that finance leaders in the public sector need to:

• Understand the changed landscape
• Act with integrity
• Use data better 
• Drive the sustainability agenda
• Collaborate wherever possible.

The report launched at ACCA’s Virtual Public Sector Conference (VPSC) in a session featuring leading public sector finance professionals from across the globe. Speaking at the panel session, Tsakani Malaleleke, the auditor general of South Africa, said: “It’s easy for institutions to become insular and focus on things that are about themselves and for themselves rather than being focused on delivering value into society.”

She added that effective delivery “takes ethical leadership with an ethical posture… setting the right tone, leading by example, and equipping others in our sphere of influence”.

The research is based on interviews with eight finance professionals in senior leadership roles working in the public sector across the globe and reflects ACCA’s policy priorities of bridging the skills gap, driving sustainable business and championing the professional accountant.

Mark Johnson, senior subject manager, public sector, ACCA, said: “The triple challenges of fiscal and demographic pressures, changing citizens’ expectations and declining trust present a markedly different landscape for the public sector, compared to a decade ago. 

“Reflecting on and recognising a sense of purpose for finance leadership provides motivation for leaders in shaping their organisation’s response to these trends facing the public sector. Using the principles we identify in the report, leaders can bring clarity and vision so the public sector can face the future with optimism.”

The report says that underpinning everything that financial professionals do should be integrity.  Finance leaders need a personal commitment to integrity in order to fulfil their critical role in developing a strong ethical culture and ensuring high levels of transparency in public sector organisations.

Governments and the wider public sector possess extraordinary amounts of data. This data is vital for delivering services and internal processes, but there is much greater scope for it to be used more effectively in a range of different ways. Finance leaders’ familiarity and experience in working with large volumes of data, puts them in a strong position to make the changes needed.

The other key role for finance leaders is to drive sustainability. First, they should work with others to identify which areas of spending have the most significant effect on sustainability, secondly, implementing strategic approaches to budgeting will highlight areas for focus and, thirdly, adopting sustainability reporting can bring greater transparency and attention.

The report stresses that finance leaders will make the biggest difference when they effectively collaborate. Johnson said: “We identified three different types of collaboration, internally with departments and colleagues across an organisation, secondly, collaborating with other public sector bodies and thirdly, with the private and voluntary sectors.”

ACCA is urging finance leaders across the globe to use the five principles identified in the report to ensure they lead with purpose to deliver public sector’s demanding priorities.