CFO Insights: Achieving High Performance Through Finance Business Process Outsourcing

Stewart Clements is president of Accenture Finance Solutions (AFS), Accenture's finance and accounting outsourcing business. In this role he is responsible for the business strategy; development of Accenture's delivery centre network; finance- and outsourcing-focused assets and tools; and the management and development of organisational capabilities. He has more than 18 years experience in finance change programs and finance outsourcing. Mr. Clements is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in Accountancy from Glasgow University. Based in London, he has been with Accenture for nearly 20 years.

Michael Donnellan is a lead partner in Accenture's outsourcing and consulting business. He has more than 20 years' experience in the professional services industry. Mr. Donnellan has also worked extensively on the research, development and deployment of innovative operating models. An engineer by background, he has spent the last decade focusing on the new role of finance in the modern corporate enterprise. In 1997, he co-authored CFO: Architect of the Corporation's Future, which resulted in the adoption of new finance and accounting organisational models by numerous corporations around the world.

Cedric Read led the PricewaterhouseCoopers Finance Consulting Practice, where he was a finance strategy consultant for 25 years. During this time he advised hundreds of global CFOs, providing strategic consultancy to a range of large multinational companies including Unilever, Microsoft, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline. Through his company, CCR Partners, Mr. Read continues to develop his vision of finance's future. He is the lead author of three previous books: CFO: Architect of the Corporation's Future; eCFO: Sustaining Value in the New Corporation; and CFO as Business Integrator.