Value Partnering by Finance in FMCG Sector: The Case of Unilever Bangladesh

The finance function in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods sector has evolved from traditional compliance and reporting roles into a strategic growth partner that plays a dual role in both value protection and value creation, particularly crucial in navigating volatile macroeconomic environments while leveraging AI, machine learning, and future-fit talent capabilities. Value protection is achieved through stewardship functions encompassing Controllers (financial reporting, treasury management, payments), Tax (compliance, reporting, and advocacy), and Internal Audit (risk assessment, process audits, and continuous improvement), ensuring financial discipline and regulatory compliance across the organization. Value creation is driven through the Financial Growth Model, which breaks down profitability from Gross Sales Value through Trade Programs, Turnover, Supply Chain Costs, Gross Profit, Brand and Marketing Investment, Overheads, to Operating Profit, with Unilever Bangladesh's value chain spanning 7 manufacturing sites, 4 distribution centers, 150+ distributors, and 500,000+ retailers serving 9 out of 10 Bangladeshi homes across Personal Care, Beauty & Wellbeing, Home Care, and Foods business groups. The performance management cycle operates monthly from demand planning (10th) through demand-supply reconciliation (14th), sales and operations planning (22nd), month closing (1st), to result analysis and management presentations with action point determination, enabling continuous monitoring and strategic course correction. Finance business partners co-create strategies with business teams across revenue management (trade spend optimization, mix improvement, pricing), innovation support (business cases, execution, post-launch evaluation), and cost optimization (material, product, and production savings), while detailed gross margin variance analysis examines price growth, volume growth, mix effects, forex impacts, material inflation, and non-material supply chain costs to drive informed decisions. The finance organization is structured into specialized teams including Business Group Finance (P&L ownership and strategic planning), Financial Excellence (central performance management and forecasting), Sales Finance (trade management, distributor profitability, cash and credit management), and Supply Chain Finance (savings initiatives, RMPM forecasting and costing, working capital management, CAPEX evaluation), working collaboratively with Controllers, Tax, and Internal Audit functions. Disruptive technology serves as an integral enabler through data powerhouses providing real-time dashboards and innovations like GTLM (Global Trade Lifecycle Management) that streamline trade finance with single-form LC opening across all banks, centralized LC repository, automated Bill of Exchange triggering, instant liability visibility, and repayment variance monitoring, significantly enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making speed. Sustainability is embedded at the core of Unilever's value chain with finance analyzing and supporting investment decisions that achieve both financial and environmental objectives, demonstrated through achievements including 21% CO2 emissions reduction through renewable energy, zero landfill waste since 2014, 2,446 million liters of water saved, and the country's largest public-private plastic waste management initiative that enhanced 3,000 waste workers' livelihoods. Fostering future-fit talent requires developing comprehensive capabilities across four dimensions: Functional Knowledge (accounting fundamentals, control and risk management, value levers understanding), Organizational Knowledge (business and category understanding, brand and market insights), Technical Knowledge (MS Office, Power BI, ERP systems like SAP and HANA), and Soft Skills (communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, and leadership), ensuring finance professionals can effectively partner in driving profitable, competitive, and sustainable growth. The evolution demonstrates that as finance transitions from being backward-looking record-keepers to forward-looking strategic partners, success depends on embracing innovation, leveraging technology, co-creating strategies with business stakeholders, maintaining sustainability at the core of all actions, and continuously investing in talent development to unlock opportunities and deliver long-term value in an increasingly complex and dynamic business environment.