In a lot of cases, the role of the CFO is about balancing the present needs of a multinational company with the likely future demands coming down the line. It is never possible to be fully certain what these demands will be and how they will manifest in the business models, but you can be fairly sure that they will involve disruptive new competitors and next generation new technologies.
Part of a CFO's responsibility is to ensure that all stakeholders in the various business functions within an organization have the proper levels of support they need to be the best at what they do. It is a demanding role as every department will ask for financial support or have ideas about the latest and most innovative piece of technology that they will claim has the ability to change everything.
A CFO must be knowledgeable and understanding of how an organization works, but at the same time they need to be relatively neutral and objective when it comes to financial management. Part of their role is to make business decisions and deploy funding in an optimized way- this means they cannot be reactionary or have their judgment clouded by a need to secure short term gains or quick wins.
In this article, we will examine the need for a CFO to be in regular contact with a technology specialist when it comes to making financial investments for an organization. A CFO needs to form a partnership between the finance function and one or more technology specialists, to really understand how next generation technology is changing the way business is done and which technology out there can help the company carve out a competitive edge.
Merging technology and finance
The finance team has always understood the need to be in regular contact with business leaders at multinationals today- C-Suite executives have always played a role in their day-to-day lives. But now, things are changing, and it is no longer possible to deliver effective financial management without including technology specialists in the discussion. Technology is likely to be one of the single biggest investments made at a multinational, and there is increasing pressure on the CFO and their finance team in general to get that decision correct.
The CFO must have a comprehensive understanding of disruptive technologies, innovative digital tools, cyber security, big data and data analytics. It is not possible to make decisions around what level of investment to apply to these areas without first understanding the impact they can have on an organization. In response to this, they are advised to surround themselves with subject matter experts in technology innovation and next generation digital tools.
A CFO will be keenly aware that market competitors are looking to make similar decisions around technology investments, and that CFOs in competitor organizations will also be looking to leverage the knowledge and expertise around them. These technology specialists are now required to become business partners of the CFO and the knowledge and insight they share will heavily influence business decisions around financial management and risk management at an organization.
Automation
Automation, hyperautomation, artificial intelligence and any advances in other automative technology are likely to form a major part of any discussion that takes place between technology leaders and the finance department. This is because automation has the ability to dramatically enhance how individual departments within an organization deliver their business services. Any chief financial officer focused on budgeting, forecasting and financial management will be very interested to learn about new technologies that can prove to be a very worthy and prudent investment.
Any department that currently has an over reliance on manual processing can deploy automation to replace manual inputs and introduce greater speed and efficiency to service delivery. A technology specialist will be able to explain to the CFO the value of this next generation technology and advise in which specific department significant gains could be made.
The global payroll department is a good example of where these gains could be realized relatively quickly with the introduction of automation technology. Immediate benefits could materialize in the speed with which global payroll data is input, checked and validated. Global payroll professionals would immediately benefit from added time and increased productivity in the monthly payroll cycle -their time and expertise could then be directed to priority actions in the department.
The concept behind automation means that in theory it can be applied to any number of business units within an organization. The CFO may look to adopt this technology within their own finance department for instance. Robotic process automation could be used within the finance department to automate every day finance processes such as data reporting and financial payments.
RPA provides a clear audit trail record, which will always appeal to financial leaders who understand the importance of making it easier to manage compliance and other regulatory requirements. Finance teams, like a lot of other teams, have a lot to gain from any technology that can be introduced to complete large volumes of repetitive tasks without ever making an error. Automation technology can make this a new reality in a relatively short space of time to transform business performance.
Keeping pace with innovation
CFOs today understand that they are working in a fast-paced environment that is subject to major change, disruption and innovation. They also realize that they are not technology specialists by nature, their skill sets are more focused on financial management, risk management, cash flow and the appropriate allocation of funding.
But there is a new realization that technology and financial management go hand in hand. There are a lot of opportunities for investment and many companies bringing new technologies to the market claim that their technology is the one that will change everything. Decision-making is not easy, and it is always prudent for a CFO to become a business partner with people in the organization who understand how technology innovation can best be deployed to improve business performance.
A CFO must have an ambition to become a key player in driving the adoption of new technologies. The decisions these finance chiefs make can influence the level of digital transformation that takes place in an organization at any given time. Digital technologies aligned with financial management and risk management is now a complex balancing act that simply must become a part of their DNA if they are to develop new opportunities and succeed in an organization.
Technology is advancing all the time: artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, robotic process automation (RPA), cloud deployed services, machine learning and new digital technologies all populate a crowded technology landscape. Deep knowledge and continuous learning will be needed to navigate this landscape, but this technology and innovation also offers today’s CFOs the opportunity to re-imagine what business-critical functions could look like- and this is an exciting space to be in.
Payslip -a technology partner
A CFO does not have to be limited to only the technology specialists within their organization- in fact, it is always prudent to cast a wide net and seek out as many opinions as possible. Payslip have conversations with CFOs in many organizations who state their interest in adopting new technologies as part of a digital transformation project. This transformation is often about finding the most efficient way to improve the HR, finance and global payroll functions at the same time. Many CFOs are interested in learning about technology that can help improve the way these business- critical functions interact with each other, particularly when it comes to moving and sharing crucial data.
The CFOs have discovered that these business units have a tendency to operate with separate platforms and different technology, so scope exists to enhance the way they operate. We are often called upon to give our opinion on the best way to unify different players in a technology ecosystem - for example, a lot of multinationals today operate with multiple global payroll providers which rely on data transfers from HCM, ERP and finance systems.
The payslip platform is one in which organizations can unify multiple disparate systems onto a single platform for greater visibility and control over their global payroll services. They can then use our platform to generate consolidated reporting on a global level that gives crucial insight into global payroll costs across all of the countries on their payroll. We deploy automation technology to move payroll data inputs swiftly from HR systems into our platform. When payroll is complete for all countries, our platform can then be utilized to deliver important data, metrics and real-time insights in the form of reporting to finance leaders, HR teams and c-suite business leaders within the organization. Senior management can use this insight for strategic planning, road maps and crucial decision-making.