Modernizing Financial Processes for the Digital Economy

According to The Hackett Group’s 2020 Key Issues Study, information gathered from over 100 CFOs indicates that organizations are bringing an intense focus to modernizing their Record to Report (R2R) service delivery model to align with today’s digital economy. Additionally, to meet the demands of stakeholders as well, leading executives are defining transformation objectives and initiatives to help drive the strategic direction of their organization.

The digital landscape that organizations are operating in is ever-changing, and unprecedented global events will only make it more critical that the office of finance successfully navigates this already challenging landscape. Regardless of industry, organizations across the globe are currently being challenged as a remote workforce has become the ‘new norm.’ As employees leave the office to work from dispersed home locations, innovative approaches to everyday processes must happen swiftly to remain successful and competitive in the market.

When it comes to the office of finance specifically, most businesses have set high demands and standards that CFOs and Controllers are expected to meet quickly, without increasing costs or adding resources. While this presents some challenges, it is also an opportunity to set an example for the organization as a whole and to exceed expectations set internally or externally.

For example, leadership and stakeholders expect that compliance happens flawlessly and that they should not have to ever worry if standards are being met. Leading CFOs are ensuring this standard is achieved through technology and in turn freeing up time for their F&A team to focus on more valuable activities. This changes the stereotypical reputation of the office of finance as they become a reliable, strategic partner who can provide insights to drive business decisions.

Ultimately, as finance seeks to reduce costs while contributing greater value, initiatives are predominately focused on digitalization, analytics and technology.

Of the CFOs the Hackett group surveyed:

• 79% indicated that they had formal initiatives to improve their analytical, modeling and reporting capabilities
• 68% indicated that they planned to take advantage of new digital technologies
• 61% plan to modernize their legacy applications – often by going to cloud solution offerings
• 57% plan to modernize their data-management solutions

The coming year is expected to reflect a shift in the CFO’s priorities to focus on maximizing the impact of their R2R service delivery model. As leaders, they must support many priorities, but information gathered by The Hackett Group indicates critical development areas will include:

• Leveraging new technology
• Improving analytical capabilities
• Aligning talent with business needs
• Implementing best practices that allow for agility

To learn more, view this on-demand webinar with The Hackett Group and Trintech, where we discuss the 2020 survey in more detail and explore how finance organizations are prioritizing their initiatives to modernize their approach and technology architecture.