FIC
the new accountant
Connect with company purpose The finance function is about more than just numbers and predictive analytics – it is about adding full value to the business as a whole.
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BY CHUMA MXO
uring a Finance Indaba Conversation titled, ‘Living the value-adding finance team dream’, sponsored by ACCA, Nico Esterhuizen, CFO at JAM international, shared that in every single organisation he has worked, there have always been challenges. He painted a picture of what they are currently faced with at JAM in Angola and the challenges they have to work through. “Angola is on the brink of a food security and nutrition crisis because of the ongoing drought. More than 1.3 million are facing severe hunger, and the main drivers of malnutrition have been poverty, hunger, malaria and poor access to water and sanitation. Furthermore, there are few hospitals that treat malnutrition,” he said.
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Nico said this is very emotionally taxing and draining for their accountants, so they have a rotation plan where they give each other some time off the field clinics, to make sure they keep sane. “I was in Kenya not so long ago and we had a discussion about the severity of the situation on the ground and it hit me so hard. We sit here as accountants in the back office, but what else can we do, and what is our value-add?” Nico said one of the key ways he and his team have found to add value is to have a deeper connection with the purpose and vision of the organisation itself. “The connection to organisational and personal purpose unlocks value-add even in a tough work environment,” he said. “Without a purpose and vision, a leader cannot function
