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The chief financial officer has always been the backbone of a corporation, steadfastly leading the financial workhorses who make spreadsheets, send invoices, and parse data. Traditionally, CFOs have monitored a company’s financial health from their back-office perch, but that’s quickly changing. As technology pushes big data to the fore and automation begins to creep into almost every aspect of a business, the role of the CFO is shifting from that of bean counter to strategic partner.

The cruelest month? Municipal bond (muni) investors would probably say November. Following the sell-off that began when Donald Trump won the US election, Muni investors might be a little hesitant to weather the storm. This sell-off appears to be running out of steam, however, and investors who sell now may soon regret it.

The finance function is changing, and so is its workforce. Technological advances, globalization, and an increasing reliance on big data analytics are shifting the skill sets required of finance employees. No longer are hard-nosed accounting chops enough; today’s financial leaders must be just as good with people, strategy, and critical thinking as they are with numbers.

Thanks to advances in technology and burgeoning emerging markets, doing business today is a connected, global affair. This complex business environment poses a huge challenge for the finance function. Finance leaders increasingly find themselves embedded directly into lines of business, providing not just analytical heft, but strategic insight at the forefront of decision making processes. This trend is expected to continue—by 2020 cross-functional integrated teams will deliver 80% of traditional finance services within the enterprise.

Thanks to advances in technology and burgeoning emerging markets, doing business today is a connected, global affair. This complex business environment poses a huge challenge for the finance function. Finance leaders increasingly find themselves embedded directly into lines of business, providing not just analytical heft, but strategic insight at the forefront of decision making processes. This trend is expected to continue—by 2020 cross-functional integrated teams will deliver 80% of traditional finance services within the enterprise.

If only salaries were rising as relentlessly as health-care costs. National health expenditures in the United States grew 5.3% to reach $3 trillion in 2014—or $9,523 per person. In a global context, this number is completely off the charts. The US spends roughly 50% more on health care as a percentage of GDP than France, the world’s next biggest spender, and almost double that of Great Britain. From now until 2025, US health care spending is expected to rise 1.3 percentage points faster than GDP, which means it will command an ever-larger share of Americans’ budgets.

If only salaries were rising as relentlessly as health-care costs. National health expenditures in the United States grew 5.3% to reach $3 trillion in 2014—or $9,523 per person. In a global context, this number is completely off the charts. The US spends roughly 50% more on health care as a percentage of GDP than France, the world’s next biggest spender, and almost double that of Great Britain. From now until 2025, US health care spending is expected to rise 1.3 percentage points faster than GDP, which means it will command an ever-larger share of Americans’ budgets.

The role of the CFO is shifting. After years of traditional cost management responsibilities, companies are calling upon their CFOs to move beyond tallying last quarter’s numbers to helping the business identify and pursue new strategic opportunities to drive growth.