The Role of the Head of Finance and the Finance Department in Line Ministries and Other Public Organisations with the Application of PFM/IC

PFM/IC has a major impact upon the role and responsibilities of the head of finance. The role extends well beyond that of bookkeeper and financial adviser. An important element of the role is to create a financially aware management and to act as the key financial adviser to management. This will require the extension of the head’s technical skills. The head of finance should also be concerned with the longer run financial resilience of the organisation and should be prepared to challenge any proposals, whether made by operational management or policy makers which might undermine that resilience. The head should also be prepared to challenge proposals which did not conform with any ministry of finance rules, for example, returns on capital investment. A key relationship of the head of finance would be with the top operational management official, the state secretary or equivalent. The head should be a member of the top management team, where one exists, of the organisation.