The Evolving Role of Today’s CFO

New technologies and growing expectations are changing the job of CFOs like never before. An article in Forbes put the matter like this: “Perhaps chief technology evangelizer, chief strategic engineer or chief operations partner should share the billing with the finance title. CFOs today are expected to fill all of these roles.”​

To be more strategic and a champion of growth, CFOs need to embrace technology in all its forms. Deloitte research indicates seven technologies that “have growing interaction and relevance for how the work of finance gets done:”

1. Cloud computing
2. Process robotics
3. Visualization
4. Advanced analytics
5. Cognitive computing
6. In-memory computing
7. Blockchain

“Together, [these technologies] form a toolset finance can use to improve its own performance and serve the business more effectively, especially when they are used together,” according to Deloitte.

Elevating finance to the cloud
In particular, tech-savvy CFOs are looking to the cloud to expedite financial accounting tasks and get the insights they need to grow their business. Cloud-based financial management solutions such as Sage Intacct are essential to progressive CFOs for several reasons:

1. Greater operational efficiency. Sage Intacct replaces the “million spreadsheet march” with smart and streamlined automated financial processes, including order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, and project accounting. Sage Intacct has the flexibility to automate workflows including PO approvals, automatic invoicing, and more—without a spreadsheet in sight.
   
   
2. In-depth insights, on demand. Sage Intacct provides comprehensive, real-time financial reporting and analysis, giving CFOs an up-to-the-minute picture of their entire organization. They can create any report, dashboard, or visualization they need with the precise metrics that matter to investors, lenders, executives, and department leaders.
   
   
3. More productivity, flexibility at less cost. Sage Intacct eliminate the hardware costs and IT burdens while delivering the advantages of modern financial software—with lower costs, more security, and increased productivity. In addition, Sage Intacct implementations can be adapted—including functionality, reports, and analyses—to stay in step with changing business requirements. In this way, CFOs sidestep the painful capital investments, and tap into the power of sophisticated, high-performance financial software that’s managed by experts in a world-class data center.

Kevin Craig, managing director at Concur Canada, summed up the benefits of cloud technology this way: “Ultimately, cloud-based solutions are the key to allowing CFOs to take on the evolving role they are expected to fill. With emerging technologies and increased automation helping to remove much of the mechanical burden placed on a CFO, these business leaders are free to concentrate on adding value in the form of creative innovation and strategic direction to continue moving their business forward.”

Grow your company and your role with Leaf Software Solutions
Technology in and of itself has little value without the right partner. That’s why you can trust the professionals at Leaf Software Solutions to select and implement a business technology solution for your organization—one that helps you meet current needs and provides a platform for growth.

Contact us today and let us know how we can help.