From bean counter to ball counter? An evaluation of the current role of the finance function in professional Swedish ice hockey and football clubs

Abstract: This study examines the current role of the finance function in Swedish football and ice hockey clubs. We make three contributions to previous literature. First, by building on Janin's (2016) study on management accountants at a French football club, our work conduces advancements within an uncharted area of research within sports & accounting, namely, business partnering within the finance function. Our empirical findings reveal that the role of the finance function in Swedish football and ice hockey clubs vary across clubs, but also that distinct differences explained by environmental uncertainties are observed between the two sports. Second, we find that the level of business partnering exerted by the CFO is mostly dependent on three contingent variables, industry culture (external), environmental uncertainties (external) and organizational structure (internal) (Otley, 2016). These contingent variables influence the role expectations sent from other organizational members, which in turn shapes the role of the CFO. Third, inspired by Byrne & Pierce (2007), we build on the framework developed by Katz & Kahn (1978) by incorporating independent contingent variables. We claim that the extension of the framework facilitates holistic analysis of roles within complex organizations that are significantly impacted by external, industry-specific variables.