Many chief financial officers are unprepared for significant shifts in their role, according to a global survey carried out by IBM Business Consulting Services.

The poll of 450 CFOs from around the world found that most saw their job shifting from financial policeman to being more of a strategic business adviser. The CFOs expected to see their performance management activities double over the next three years, while fewer than 40% saw managing the balance sheet as an important activity. Two thirds cited "supporting shareholder value creation" as their most important priority. However, CFOs may lack the skills and resources to cope with this new environment. Only half of those surveyed felt their finance organisations were made up of high-quality professionals, while a third felt their department was understaffed or lacked essential skills. Finance officers also need better access to information, with only one fifth having access to integrated enterprise data to assist with decision-making. Investments in information technology appear to be earning a poor return, with a small minority of CFOs saying they exploited their enterprise resource planning systems to the full.