Bridging the Acceleration Gap in Digital Finance
A recent study by Workday revealed that 52% of business leaders admit to a growing divide between where their business is, and where it needs to be to compete. With the rapid pace of change in the marketplace caused by emerging technologies and new ways of working, it is more important than ever before for organisations to find new ways to close this acceleration gap.
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If one thing has been learned since the start of the pandemic, it is that legacy systems can no longer meet the needs of modern business. Creating barriers to remote working and failing to provide the flexibility required in a rapidly evolving business landscape. Honing in on the Finance function, we explore just some of the digital initiatives that can help your organisation overcome this challenge and bridge the acceleration gap.
Intelligent Data Foundation
A major challenge facing finance teams today is keeping pace with the volume of data being generated. With 58% of CFO’s expecting the amount of data they have to process daily to increase, transforming this data into actionable insight can seem a daunting task. A challenge compounded by the fact that in a recent study finance teams were shown to spend 30% of their time on reporting alone.
However, with cloud-based reporting software, such as Solver, organisations can store all their data in a single place, allowing for easier access and the streamlining of reporting and planning processes. Pre-built data warehouses can be populated with your data which saves your organisation from building such a system from scratch. Such software can also connect with other business tools within your organisation and extract data from them through smart integrations. This all leads to time saved for your finance team, time that can be re-allocated to more strategic initiatives.
Company-Wide Planning
Agility has become increasingly important for finance teams as economic uncertainty and market disruption continue. Organisations need to plan for multiple scenarios, and they need the right systems to be able to do this. With manual spreadsheets and legacy systems, the process becomes slower and more laboured. To close the acceleration gap, organisations must be able to pivot quickly and confidently. It has been reported that 63% of CEO’s believe their processes to be too slow. Due to this, the adoption of legacy finance systems is expected to shrink by 11%.
Agility can be provided through modernising your financial planning and analysis systems. Modern cloud-based corporate performance management software allows end-users to run queries and build reports instantly without the need to contact the finance team. This speed of reporting allows organisations to plan for unforeseen events and plan for what is next and frees your finance team up to allow them to focus on value-added activities such as data analysis and interrogation. With legacy systems and processes unable to match the pace and accessibility of modern platforms, organisations reliant on traditional processes and legacy financial software risk being left behind.
High Performing Procurement
With businesses facing disruption on a global scale, managing spend has grown in importance. Organisations must maximise supplier value and strive for stakeholder alignment. Yet, many organisations are heavily reliant on Excel-based processes and fragmented systems, meaning information on suppliers, contracts and spend are often siloed between business functions and lines of business.
By leveraging modern financial solutions, organisations can harness the power of process automation and AI, while seamlessly connecting data across the organisation. Smart technologies can help you pinpoint the right time to buy, identify the best prices from an approved supplier list and even automate the stock ordering process to create a high performing procurement process.
From smart integrations to out of the box functionality, modern financial systems can help your organisation bridge the acceleration gap and enable your business to compete in a rapidly evolving business landscape. To find out how your organisation can transform the finance function with a leading ERP solution, Microsoft Business Central, register now for our webinar “Financial Management for the Hybrid Business Landscape”.
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