Finance leaders believe CFOs will increasingly shoulder the responsibility of digital transformation projects, according to a survey by Financial Director.
The survey, conducted between September and October last year in association with Chrome River, found that 93 percent of respondents believed the CFO’s level of involvement in digital transformation projects will increase over the coming years. Less than one percent disagreed, and the remaining six percent didn’t know either way.
“So many different areas touch the finance team and its cash management role. It’s critical that all of these different departments are interlinked, as opposed to siloed,” says Nick Ludlow, regional vice president at Chrome River.
“From the CRM solution to HR, to AP spend, travel bookings and employee expenses, having all of this data at their fingertips makes cash management and planning easier, more accurate, and timely. It’s no surprise CFOs see the scope of their role increasing over the next few years,” Ludlow says. The economic effects of the pandemic made financial issues such as cash management crucial to the viability of businesses.
As a result, Ludlow says, there has been even greater responsibility placed on the shoulders of CFOs.
“They hold the budget strings. All of the systems within the business connect and integrate back to the finance system. I don’t think the role of the CFO as it is will change, but finance leaders overall will carry much greater responsibility. Ultimately, the buck stops with them.”
Greater responsibility, coupled with the urgent need to update tech stacks to make them suitable for remote working, makes it inevitable that CFOs will lead digital transformation projects. But Ludlow is still concerned that too many finance teams have been slow to adapt to the demands of the pandemic, despite the UK now being in the midst of a third national lockdown.
“Finance teams that still rely heavily on manual processes need to speed up the deployment of digital solutions. Even as vaccine rollouts accelerate, there is no end to the pandemic in sight at the moment, so remote working is just going to be normal for the foreseeable future. And it may remain widespread even after Covid abates.. For that reason, companies need to fully digitise their processes and build for recovery and long-term success,” he says.