HFMA 2019: Business partners offer strategic boost

At the HFMA annual conference in London, the association, Future-Focused Finance and the ACCA held a session on FBPs and their recently published briefing on the role in the NHS.

Clive Webb (pictured), ACCA head of business management, said the accountancy body had been doing a lot of work over recent years on the future of the finance function – driven, in part, by the adoption of technology, which was automating many processes.

‘One of the challenges for the finance function is to help organisations understand their information and turn it into something that supports their strategic goals. We can help our organisations improve because we are used to thinking about data and there is a strong analytical vein running through us.’

The business partner role is a way of providing such support.

Mr Webb said common themes emerged from the research. ‘They [FBPs] had the ability to do two things, which are not necessarily technical, but are essential,’ he said. ‘The first is the ability to identify the problem and that goes back to understanding the business model. 

‘The second is being able to tell the story – it’s about being able to convince somebody more senior that you can be trusted, and can articulate what the answer is. This is far more rewarding for the finance function – not only taking a look in the rear view mirror, but also taking a forward view.’ 

HFMA policy and research manager Andrew Monahan – himself a former FBP – said the role varied across the NHS from those who were like ‘mini-finance directors’ to those who looked after a small number of clinical divisions. The research even found one national FBP.

Read more on FBPs in this month’s Healthcare Finance