Financial and value management

The introduction of four skills in SFIA 9, alongside existing skills creates a comprehensive set of skills for Financial and Value Management. 

Introduction of four skills

Existing SFIA skills

This set of skills enables organisations to effectively manage financial resources, optimise costs, evaluate investments, and derive maximum value from their initiatives. By integrating financial planning, analysis, and management with strategic value realisation practices

These skill provide a set of strategic and operational skills focused on optimising financial resources, ensuring effective cost control, and maximising value from investments and projects. These skills collectively aim to enhance the financial health and performance of an organisation by integrating financial planning, analysis, management, and governance with strategic value realisation practices. Common threads in these skills include:

• Financial oversight and control: Ensuring that financial resources are managed efficiently and in alignment with the organisation's strategic objectives.
• Value optimisation: Focusing on maximising returns and benefits from investments, projects, and operational activities.
• Strategic planning and analysis: Utilising financial data and analytical tools to support decision-making, scenario planning, and forecasting.
• Cost management: Planning, monitoring, and controlling costs to achieve financial sustainability and efficiency.
• Performance measurement: Developing and implementing metrics and measurement systems to assess and improve organisational performance.
• Stakeholder collaboration: Engaging with various stakeholders to align financial and value management practices with overall business goals.
• Compliance and governance: Ensuring adherence to financial regulations, standards, and best practices to maintain integrity and trust.

Financial management FMIT

• Description: Managing the effective use and control of financial resources to support business strategies, compliance, and risk mitigation.
• From the guidance notes: Aligns financial management with business strategies, governance, risk management, and asset management.
• Business Value: Enhances financial oversight and resource allocation, ensuring optimal use of financial resources aligned with strategic business objectives, supporting sustainable growth and compliance.

Cost management COMG

• Description: Planning, controlling, and analysing costs to enable effective use of financial resources.
• From the guidance notes: Develops strategies, conducts cost-benefit analyses, and implements cost management processes to support decision-making and promote cost-awareness culture.
• Business Value: Optimises expenditure, identifies cost-saving opportunities, and ensures financial sustainability, leading to improved profitability and competitive advantage.

Budgeting and forecasting BUDF

• Description: Developing and managing financial budgets and forecasts for effective decision-making and resource allocation.
• From the guidance notes: Gathers financial data, applies budgeting methodologies, conducts scenario planning, and presents forecasts to stakeholders.
• Business Value: Provides a clear financial roadmap, enabling proactive adjustments and informed decision-making, maintaining financial health and achieving strategic goals.

Financial analysis FIAN

• Description: Preparing financial insights, dashboards, and visualisations to support decision-making.
• From the guidance notes: Develops financial models, conducts scenario analysis, and presents findings to stakeholders.
• Business Value: Empowers stakeholders with critical financial insights for strategic planning and operational improvements, leading to better investment decisions and risk management.

Investment appraisal INVA

• Description: Assessing the attractiveness of possible investments or projects.
• From the guidance notes: Utilises techniques like payback period, NPV, and IRR, incorporating legal, environmental, and social factors.
• Business Value: Ensures thorough evaluation of investments, leading to informed decision-making and maximising returns, supporting sustainable growth and competitive positioning.

Benefits management BENM

• Description: Forecasting, planning, and monitoring the realisation of anticipated benefits from projects and programmes.
• From the guidance notes: Implements benefits management frameworks, identifies actions to optimise business impact, and confirms benefit achievement.
• Business Value: Ensures projects deliver intended business value, enhancing ROI and supporting strategic objectives, leading to successful project outcomes and continuous improvement.

Measurement MEAS

• Description: Developing and operating a measurement capability to support agreed organisational information needs.
• From the guidance notes: Applies to various contexts like projects, processes, and products, involving planning, implementing, and controlling measurement activities.
• Business Value: Provides data-driven insights for performance assessment and improvement, enhancing decision-making and ensuring alignment with business goals.

Demand management DEMM

• Description: Analysing and proactively managing business demand for new services or modifications to existing ones.
• From the guidance notes: Collaborates with the business, performs scenario planning, and integrates demand analysis with strategic planning.
• Business Value: Ensures effective resource allocation to meet business demand, improving service delivery and customer satisfaction, supporting agility and responsiveness to market changes.

Feasibility assessment FEAS

• Description: Defining, evaluating, and describing business change options for financial, technical, and business feasibility, and strategic alignment.
• From the guidance notes: Involves assessing business change options from multiple perspectives, including financial and strategic alignment.
• Business Value: Assesses options from multiple dimensions including financial, technical, and strategic alignment, providing a comprehensive basis for decision-making about investments and changes, enhancing business agility and strategic alignment.

Risk management BURM

• Description: Planning and implementing organisation-wide processes and procedures for the management of risk to the success or integrity of the enterprise.
• From the guidance notes: Involves identifying, classifying, and prioritising risks, and developing and implementing organisational risk management strategies.
• Business Value: Identifies, evaluates, and mitigates risks, ensuring the integrity of business operations, protecting organisational assets, and enhancing overall resilience and sustainability.

Data analytics DAAN

• Description: Enabling data-driven decision making by extracting, analysing, and communicating insights from structured and unstructured data.
• From the guidance notes: Involves using data analytics tools and methodologies to extract and analyse data, providing actionable insights.
• Business Value: Provides actionable insights from data, supporting better decision-making and strategic planning, leading to improved operational efficiency and competitive advantage.