60% of accountants and CFOs do not prioritise financial transformation
A recent survey by FloQast reveals that a significant portion of accountants and CFOs are not prioritising financial transformation, even as they acknowledge its importance in driving organisational success.
The survey, titled “Embracing Financial Transformation: What It Is, Why Organisations Should Want It, and How to Achieve It,” shows that 60% of these professionals still do not consider financial transformation a top priority.
Conducted in partnership with the University of Georgia Consumer Analytics Program, the survey gathered insights from 385 accounting and finance professionals, including CFOs, controllers, and their teams. It explored their awareness and understanding of financial transformation and identified critical factors influencing their approach to modernising financial operations.
The survey highlights a knowledge gap between CFOs and accountants. While 96% of CFOs are aware of financial transformation, with 61% being very familiar with the concept, accountants are 2.2 times less likely to be aware of it. This disparity underscores the pressure on CFOs to lead their organisations through financial transformation, despite limited familiarity among their accounting teams.
FloQast’s CEO and co-founder, Mike Whitmire, CPA, emphasised the collaborative effort needed for successful financial transformation.
“CFOs and their teams are under immense pressure to transform financially, but there’s often a lack of understanding about what exactly transformation means and how to achieve it,” said Whitmire. “The biggest catalyst to this transformation comes from accountants themselves, who have the most intimate understanding of the record-to-report landscape.”
Despite the urgency, only 39% of CFOs and 42% of accountants see financial transformation as a top priority for their organizations. Furthermore, just over two-thirds of respondents indicated that their organizations have initiatives for financial transformation in place.
Optimism about the role of AI in accounting is a notable finding from the survey. Both CFOs and accountants believe AI will increase productivity (37% and 30%, respectively) and view it as a critical component of financial transformation (32% and 28%, respectively). The primary focus of these initiatives is on automating processes, with 54% of accountants and 63% of CFOs emphasizing automation.
Razzak Jallow, CFO of FloQast, highlighted the need for cohesive efforts in financial transformation. “Disparate workflows that address narrowly defined needs won’t deliver transformation,” said Jallow. “Transformation truly happens when the CFO empowers accountants to optimize cohesive financial transformation – not singular efforts they think will drive change.”