They are facing huge challenges in a rapidly changing environment and having to address a previously un-witnessed cocktail of critical concerns.

But the market leaders in finance ­ let’s call them the ‘finance masters’ ­ are managing to keep ahead of the game. So what is it that they are doing differently?

We surveyed more than 70 global companies and found a link between the maturity of finance capabilities and performance. The strongest link we identified was between finance’s role as a strategist ­ influencing business decisions to ensure enhanced performance and value ­ and as a catalyst by stimulating the business’s behaviours to ensure improved performance.

We found that companies where finance acted as a strategist and catalyst, as well as performing the key roles of a steward (ensuring firm-wide compliance and managing risk) and operator (running the finance function in a lean way), were more profitable and gave a better return on assets and shareholder value. Theywere also more likely to succeed in today’s difficult markets.

No company in our research had mastered the strategist and catalyst roles without a strong foundation in the core finance capabilities.

There are many examples of the activities of finance masters that set them apart from other companies. Many are involved in the creation of marketing strategies, they help drive pricing, they are involved in customer relationship management strategies and they drive performance across the organisation. These examples illustrate the breadth of the role of the finance function as a strategist or catalyst.

Many companies have much to do in order to develop a finance function in the same league as the finance masters, but the good news is that many have invested significantly in recent years in these foundations. This has included investment in improved processes and technologies for managing and monitoring cashflows, financial and operational performance.

These capabilities provide a vital foundation for transforming business performance through finance. However, by themselves, they are not enough. To become a finance master and keep ahead of the game, companies need a road map for a complete finance transformation and to start making the change now.

Margaret Ewing is a partner and vice-chairman at Deloitte and former CFO of BAA