Becoming an Integrated Finance Organisation (IFO) is the way of the future for global enterprises seeking to outperform their competitors according to an international study being released by IBM Global Business Services next week

The study found that fewer than one in seven enterprises are currently managed by the criteria of an IFO but those enterprises are outperforming their counterparts in revenue growth and share prices.

IFOs have globally mandated standards and a standard chart of accounts, common data definitions and standard common processes applied across the enterprise.

The study undertaken by IBM with help from the Wharton School and the Economist Intelligence Unit put 34 questions to 1200 CFOs and senior finance professionals in enterprises with revenues ranging from US$500 million to over US$20 billion in five major sectors in 79 countries.

"IFOs in our sample have revenue growth rates nearly double those of non IFOs: 18 percent versus 10% over the past five years," the study says. Growth in the share prices for IFOs was also nearly double that of non IFOs over the same period.

The 8% difference in growth is a pretty big number, says David Fincher, IBM's Financial Management Leader who lead seminars on the report in Auckland and Wellington.

Enterprises with an IFO were also "more effective in executing finance activities, and more effective in supporting risk management, including (being) more responsive to risk and better prepared to address major risk events."

Two other trends identified in the study were changes in the nature of the global enterprise and the increased pressure on CFOs.

"Being global is evolving beyond owning satellite organisations in different countries toward a globally interdependent network of world wide assets," with the ability to optimise resources horizontally and vertically.

Enterprises using integrated management, holding company or decentralized management models showed little difference in revenue and share price growth over five years. Enterprises which had adopted, or were moving towards, the IFO model were outperforming their counterparts.

The study notes "the results are impressive and telling. They make the case for being an IFO that rings true well beyond the CFO's office."

CFOs themselves were also coming under more pressure.

Quoting the study, Mr Fincher said that the biggest pressure from CEOs was for the finance part of an organisation to take its seat at the top table and help drive strategy. Doing the numbers wasn't enough.

"The CEOs are saying, "come out of the back office, stop just crunching numbers and drive the integration of financial data into the organisation's practices. Win the trust and respect of the rest of the team and drive change in your own discipline," he said

"The CFO is in the unique position within the organisation - the only person other than the CEO who has a holistic view of the business. The heads of other operations don't have such a view. Finance is a natural integration point."

'Owning the truth' in an organisation was about more than presenting financial information, Mr Fincher said.

"There's a natural extension into management information. The CFO and the financial team in an IFO can integrate financial and non financial information - both internal and external - and pull it together across the organisation.

He adds:" it's the way things are becoming, but it is still definitely aspirational for many companies."