The answer is, you might not. It depends on the complexity and size of the business, and of course it's ambition. The finance director is largely like the navigator on a ship. There to tell you where you have been, where you are and where you are going. Where you are (and where you have been) is a measurement exercise which can be fulfilled by efficient process and systems. Satellite navigation if you will, tuned to meet the needs of different users. The FD's role in these measurement activities is to make sure the set-up of the finance function is right (the right ship for the right journey) and to validate, interpret and analyse the output. However, this in itself does not justify having an FD and in many cases can be performed by a less qualified accountant. "Where you are going" is where an FD can add real value, rather like the ships navigator plotting a course through stormy waters just as Ben Ainslie did in helping to win the America's cup for Oracle in 2013. In practice, this means devising a financial plan and helping to deliver it. Fund raising, complex tax planning, responsibility accounting, analytical decision making, risk analysis and exit strategies are some of the ways that a good FD will help deliver the plan and importantly changing it when necessary. The future is impossible to predict with absolute precision, but a good FD can help keep a straight course and deliver significant value to the business.

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