Public & private

The remit of the finance director is widening, so he or she needs ever more qualities, experience and qualifications.

Most finance directors, certainly in larger registered social landlords, are qualified accountants but there are other essential requirements. They need excellent communications skills: first, to work with lenders and those with financial expertise and second, to explain complex financial issues to non-financial staff and board members.

The ability to contribute to strategy and business development, manage loans and investment, and demonstrate taxation skills are also crucial. Additional pressures that have been piling up in recent years are:

• coping with reduced income (rent regulation) and increasing expenditure (Supporting People; decent homes standard)
  
• implementing more targets and performance improvement measures
  
• increasing the use of private finance and heightening the emphasis on treasury management
  
• fulfilling the information requirements of a range of stakeholders.

The ability to contribute to strategy and business development is crucial

Earlier this year, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's RSL panel issued a bulletin to offer guidance to finance professionals and, it hopes, to stimulate debate about the role of RSL finance director.

The bulletin identifies the challenge for the finance director as ensuring "that finance fully supports the RSL's business direction and continuous improvements in services for tenants and stakeholders in this dynamic world of partnership working, diversification, frequent legislative and regulatory change, mergers and changing group structures".

What does this mean in practice? The CIPFA believes a good finance professional displays excellent competencies in four key areas:

• strong financial management: extending into partnerships, joint ventures and companies in which the association has an interest. This requires ensuring that control systems are in place, there are arrangements for managing risk and that high-quality regulatory returns and grant claims are returned on time
  
• leading the finance function: providing advice and information to all parts of the housing association. Good budgeting, good service to tenants and fostering good relationships with auditors and regulators are key
  
• support and advice to all finance staff: ensuring finance staff in their operational roles have a thorough understanding of the business and contribute across departmental boundaries, and that staff also keep up to date with all accounting, regulatory and statutory changes relating to the sector
  
• contributing to corporate management: implementing policies and ensuring there is an effective approach to performance management and a suitable flow of information to board members.