According to a report by PwC, 68% of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are doubling down on digital transformation.

In addition to investing in technologies like cloud and analytics, CFOs are particularly focused on digital customer experience (CX) initiatives.

This begs the question: are you part of the 68%?

If the answer is yes, congratulations! This means you’re putting in the work to move your organisation forward by investing in new tech. However, you want to make sure you’re doing the right things and selecting the right opportunities (we’ll discuss more of this later).

If the answer is no, it simply means you need to make changes and keep pace with the 68%.

Keeping pace with Digital Transformation in Finance

How can you catch up with the latest digital transformation trends if you haven’t been doing so?

Well, the first step is to begin developing a strategy to implement cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

You need to be open to the idea of embedding technology in all financial and accounting processes. This will require proactively making effort to invest in the right digital transformation initiatives.

CFOs had been investing in digital transformation for a while, but since the pandemic, they increased their investment. As a matter of fact, back in June 2020 (the height of the pandemic), 56% of CFOs said their IT spending was going to improve their organisations’ productivity in the long run.

Fast-forward to today, CFOs’ bets are paying off as their investments have helped their organisations become more agile and able to adapt to the growing shift. This 68% are continuing to invest in digital transformation over the next 12 months. This is a continuation of what they’ve been doing over the past 18 months to accelerate revenue growth.

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well

If you’re a CFO that’s part of the 68%, you’re obviously on the right track, taking measures that are necessary to transform your organisation.

But you need to make sure you’re doing it right.

This means many things:

• Investing not just in the right technologies but also in the right people.
• Overcoming legacy issues responsible for creating bottlenecks that slow down your entire organisation such as unproductive processes and manual tasks.
• Focusing on the right areas of digital transformation that are the most impactful to your company, such as financial process automation.

But before investing in any technology or process, you need to do thorough research. You need to determine if it’s necessary or helpful for your company and why investing in that area will be the most impactful.

If it’s worth doing, you need to do it well. A half-hearted investment will not yield the same results as an investment where all stakeholders are on-board, travelling in the same direction.

What do you need to transform?

As a CFO, here’s a list of things you should address:

• Finance business partnering: Use technology to generate data that can help other departments to work better and move the business forward.
• Data security: Ensure that your company’s data is secure and protected.
• Financial and regulatory reporting: Make sure you have a reliable system that can generate financial and regulatory reports when needed.
• Customer experience: Understand how you can improve customer experience through technology.
• Asset management: Evaluate how you can use technology in your decision-making when it comes to asset management.
• Hybrid work: Ensure your employees are on the same page and that you’re prepared for a future where remote and hybrid work is the new norm.
• Manage financial risks: This includes IT disruptions and cyber threats, as well as ensuring your company is compliant with GDPR and other new regulations.
• People and processes: Don’t neglect your people or implement technology at the expense of their performance and your company’s culture. The technology ought to streamline their work while boosting their performance.
  

  

Ready to transform?

When you’re ready to start your digital transformation, ensure your vision and mission aligns with the company’s current and future goals.

Next, establish a cross-functional, strategic leadership team that is focused on driving results.

Now, everyone in the organisation may not have experience in digital transformation but see it as your job as the CFO to sell the benefits to the rest of the C-Suite. You have to make them understand this is a major project worth investing in for the longevity of the business.

Once that is in place, you can then prepare your roadmap.

With this, you will have a clear picture of how you’re going to address your company’s current issues and opportunities in the coming years.

Success is never guaranteed, but with proper leadership and a strong roadmap, you will likely achieve your goals.

Your transformation journey is only beginning. As the world continues to develop, so too must your company’s digital transformation.

Want to talk to consultants who are digital transformation experts in the area of finance? We’ve been helping global organisations digitally transform their finance for the past 20+ years. Get in touch with us to start your digital transformation journey!