Added Responsibilities
A CFO in 2020 has numerous duties and responsibilities when in charge of finances at a multinational company that has a mandate from the board to expand business into new regions and territories. This mandate will mean that the CFO will require a vast amount of business insight and intelligent data from the various business functions. Ultimately, the CFO has a responsibility to ensure that these functions are financially stable and ready for future growth- data will always be needed to assess requirements and make strategic decisions.
This data is required to help the CFO execute their duties as efficiently as possible. One of the major challenges with this is the fact that many systems do not appear to be interconnected. While there have been great advances in innovative technology, a great deal of investment in technology has been done with a singular view that has not taken into consideration the wider picture around data accessibility and delivery.
Accessing the data
Integrations and a seamless flow of data from one system to another has not been prioritized. A CFO and the finance function today is therefore faced with complex issues around access to the information needed for important decision-making that will have a significant bearing on both the success and future direction of the company.
All CFOs want to make decisions based on data driven insights- for this they need the data to be accurate and up to date, but also to be accessible. The CFO needs to view other business functions as enablers; the HR Department financial information needs to flow to the CFO and finance team as does other crucial business data like global payroll, IT spend, procurement costs, current cash flow and liquidity status-the list goes on.
Strong new technologies need to be in place to ensure that several disparate systems connect seamlessly with each other and have reporting capabilities that can quickly deliver business intelligence to the CFO and key finance executives on a regular basis. When this happens, the CFO becomes equipped with all the tools they need to make informed decisions and create a stable financial environment that balances day-to-day costs with long-term company goals.
Innovative Support
The current reality suggests that the level of software innovation has not kept pace with the reporting and data needs of a modern CFO. There has been no shortage of investment in digital technologies to improve business functions, unfortunately this level of investment does not appear to have included the seamless flow of data and sharing of insight with other systems in the business. CFOs are hearing the word ‘no’ a lot when it comes to requesting information and it is becoming a problem. The role of the CFO now requires technology solutions and can-do attitudes.
Easy access to crucial data is not available, systems are not interlinked or integrated with one another and several departments appear to be operating in silos. Their software delivers on their business as usual responsibilities but does not provide additional value outside of core duties. This is no longer sustainable as financial stability and long-term company ambitions requires that individual business function software also link and connect to each other to help create the bigger picture. CFOs now operate in this bigger picture world and cannot afford to be dealing with technology that only delivers the smaller picture.
Here are some examples of information held in disparate systems that CFOs need instant access to in order to do their jobs efficiently:
Budgets: Where is money being spent and why? Which department is spending the most? Who is benefiting from the largest level of investment? Who is financially solvent enough to bear the brunt of some realistic and necessary cuts?
Forecasts: If the business requires a new office to be set up in Europe, how much is this likely to cost us in terms of employee salaries and other expenses? What if I need to adjust employee headcount in another country to accommodate this? Is there data available from my HR or global payroll teams to help me make an informed decision?
Compliance: How do I know that we are meeting our compliance obligation in terms of tax and regulation in Southeast Asia for example? What information is available to me to prove there is no locational risk here?
Revenue: Is there enough in the sales pipeline to cover current costs and support the business model? Are there predictive analytics available to suggest what future sales might look like?
Fit for purpose
The bulk of the financial tools available to the CFO and finance teams were in fact purpose built for processing, daily transacting and record keeping. They were not designed to interconnect with other systems and deliver important data flows for business intelligence. This is a case of stand-alone, functional software that does a specific job and little else. Software like this is becoming dated very quickly and no longer fit for purpose when it comes to keeping pace with the informational demands of a modern multinational.
What is required now is another level of software that can integrate and connect all of these systems to ensure a better flow of data and insight across the business. A technology stack where legacy systems are partnered with flexible, innovative new platforms capable of extracting data for delivery to other compatible systems. Simple interfaces for ease of use can be really helpful here as nobody wants to spend a long time learning a new system are being forced to train somebody else on it.
The technology stack needs to align with an overall company philosophy around innovation- we operate in a digital economy, one filled with agile processes, fluid skill sets and fast decision-making. The technology available to a CFO or finance organization needs to be an enabler in line with this, it needs to help finance leaders do their job better instead of blocking progress and being an obstacle to overcome.
New technologies that are fit for purpose are those that are capable of meeting the additional needs of finance teams today. These need to be robust yet flexible digital technologies that enable fast decision-making and empower finance executives to supply the CFO with accurate, real-time information on company finances.
A suite of software tools
The CFO of today is now looking at available solutions that can provide them with a suite of software products. Products that provide a strong dashboard overview of all of the moving parts within the CFOs domain: sales and marketing, financial planning, procurement, budget and forecasting, compliance and regulation along with many more. This software will likely sit on top of some of the existing tools as a complete rip and replace of existing infrastructure is likely to be unfeasible, time consuming and overly expensive. This suite of advanced tools needs to integrate easily and seamlessly with the current technology infrastructure a CFO is working with. The new technologies need to become an enabler to the finance organization relatively quickly so any CFO or finance department can access and make the best use of available data sets.
Payslip and Digitization
Automation and integration features form a key part of the conceptual design of the Payslip platform. We recognize the importance of innovation and flexibility when it comes to digital tools and we had one eye on interconnected systems when we built it.
Our platform is designed to respond to challenges around easy access to real-time data which people like CFOs are facing today. Our platform is built for multiple users and enables the flow of data between systems. It also supports the kind of global level consolidated reporting that CFOs need to get a full understanding around cost analysis for global payroll today. Reports can be customized, scheduled and filtered for things like country, region, employee, or specific pay run element such as tax.
Predictive advanced analytics are another useful feature on our platform, and they allow CFOs to make informed decisions on future workforce costs based on accurate real-time data. Decisions of whether or not to locate employees in a hub in another country are dependent on access to advanced analytics such as these.
Payslip anticipated a technology trend around systems which connect to each other with compatible levels of innovation. Systems which permit multiple authorized users to extract data, insight and key trends that are relevant to their department or objectives. This is an example of technology built to serve core individual purposes but also built to be flexible and compatible enough to serve the wider informational needs of a multinational employer.