Finance leaders are navigating a moment of real tension. 

At the World Finance Forum, I hosted a roundtable with finance professionals to explore how workforce priorities are shifting in a tightening talent market. The discussion was practical, candid and grounded in real experience. 

It’s clear that, with the emergence of new technologies, expectations of finance have shifted, but many teams’ operating practices have not kept pace. 

Here are five takeaways from the discussion and the event. 

1. Finance needs to move beyond the books 

One idea captured the shift well: 

“Finance becomes attractive the moment it stops being about closing the books and starts being about opening possibilities.” 

This is not just a language change. It reflects a change in responsibility. At Soldo, we call this ‘progressive finance’. It means Finance is no longer just reporting on the past. It is expected to guide decisions, shape strategy, and support growth across the business. 

But many teams are still held back by slow processes and manual work. And that gap is becoming harder to ignore. 

2. The talent challenge is structural, not temporary 

Hiring challenges are well known. But the discussion made it clear that retention is now just as critical. 

Across organisations, similar themes are emerging: 

  • Burnout driven by workload and month-end pressure 
  • Limited progression pathways 
  • Manual, repetitive tasks 
  • Rigid ways of working 

At the same time, as the FT reported recently, fewer people are entering the profession, while experienced talent is leaving. 

This is not a short-term issue. It is a structural shift that requires a different approach to how finance teams are designed and supported. 

3. Productivity pressure is forcing a rethink of roles 

As expectations increase, finance leaders are asking more fundamental questions: 

  • What should finance stop doing? 
  • What should be automated? 
  • What should remain human? 

The answers are becoming clearer. 

Low-value, manual tasks such as reconciliations and chasing receipts are being challenged. These activities consume time but do not create insight. 

It’s clear from our discussion that the areas where finance adds the most value remain human: 

  • Business partnering 
  • Scenario analysis 
  • Decision support 
  • Strategic planning 

4. Technology is not lacking, but an end-to-end view sometimes is 

Most teams are not short of tools. In fact, many are managing too many. 

A common theme in the room was fragmentation. Different systems that do not connect, creating more work instead of removing it. 

Our research shows many finance leaders feel their tech stack is still underdeveloped and difficult to scale.  

At the same time, barriers to adoption remain: 

  • Proving ROI 
  • Budget constraints 
  • Compliance and risk concerns 
  • Change management challenges 

There is also strong curiosity about AI, but limited clarity on how to implement it in a meaningful way. 

Technology alone does not solve the problem. It needs to simplify the way teams work, not add another layer of complexity. 

5. The future of finance is defined by what it stops doing 

The most consistent takeaway was this: 

If finance wants to attract and retain talent, it needs to reduce the weight of routine administration. 

That means deliberately removing or automating work that does not create value. 

For example: 

  • Chasing receipts 
  • Manual reconciliations 
  • Approval bottlenecks 

These are not just inefficiencies. They shape how finance is experienced as a career. 

When too much time is spent on admin, finance is seen as operational. When that work is removed, finance becomes strategic. 

And that shift matters. 

Because when finance focuses on insight, decision support and partnership, it becomes more valuable to the business and more attractive to the people working within it. 

What this means  

For finance teams, this is not simply an operational challenge. It is a strategic one. 

Finance teams are being asked to do more than report performance. Finance leaders are expected to deliver innovation across both processes and technologies. They are also expected to guide the business through uncertainty, identify opportunities and support faster, better decisions.  

But that is difficult to achieve when your team is constrained by manual processes, fragmented systems and limited capacity. 

The question is not whether finance should evolve. It is how quickly we can create the conditions for that shift. 

That starts with a clear focus: 

  • Remove work that does not create value 
  • Simplify how your teams operate 
  • Give people the tools and access they need to act 
  • Create space for insight, not just output 

Because the finance teams that succeed will not be the ones that do more, instead, successful progressive finance teams will be the ones that focus on what matters. 

Soldo helps finance do just that. We eliminate as many as 6 days a month of manual admin so progressive finance teams can spend more time on delivering value.  

Book a demo today to find out how we can help.