Automation acceleration: What CFOs need to know
“Companies spanning multiple industries are ramping up their use of robots, chatbots, and autonomous vehicles to provide contactless care to patients, monitor grocery store stocks, and connect the elderly to their loved ones.”
That’s according to the Global Business Policy Council. They’re not the only ones reporting on the huge increase in automation, partially caused (or at least sped up) by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Is the future remote, contactless, automated? And if so, how can CFOs prepare for it?
The state of play
In an interview with CFO Dive, Robert Kugel explained how “one of the impediments to finance playing more of a strategic role in company operations has been the amount of time organizations spend doing repetitive stuff that can be automated.”
The SVP and Director of Research at Ventana Research went on to explain that the busywork of 30 years ago is redundant due to the advancement in automation technology.
The Trintech 2021 Global Financial Close Benchmark Report found that:
- A lack of automation was the largest factor to an inefficient financial close
- Process optimization, standardization, and automation were the key areas of improvement in 2021
- The pandemic has had an influence on almost all pre-existing challenges
Unsurprisingly, companies that relied on manual operations struggled to function smoothly at the beginning of the remote transition period.
Now with better technology available, and a world living in the cloud, finance automation is a must rather than a nice-to-have.
What’s out there?
Whilst a CIO or CTO might be the one assessing which software and finance stack to bring in, the budgetary responsibilities remain with the CFO.
Also, the goal of an optimized fintech stack should be aligned to the overall business strategy. If your business strategy is to grow, that’s CFO territory.
Kissflow listed the top six finance management softwares in 2021 as:
- QuickBooks
- Kissflow Finance (obviously)
- Zoho Finance Plus
- Xero
- Oracle Financials Cloud
- Sage Intacct
For accounting automation, Spendesk also rated Xero and Quickbooks in their top ten.
- Xero
- QuickBooks
- NetSuite
- Microsoft Dynamics GP
- BlackLine
- Wave
- FreshBooks
- Deltek Vision
- FreeAgent
- Spendesk (once again, obviously)
QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Netsuite, and Xero were also the top-rated digital accounting systems recommended by CFOs in a survey conducted by Procurify.
Head of the Emerging Growth Solutions at Roseryan, Tracey Hashiguchi listed their current tech stack aimed at maximizing growth as: NetSuite, QuickBooks, Bill.com, Procurify, Expensify, Gusto, Stripe, Brex, Adaptive Insights, and ADP.
We’ll be putting together a more definitive list as the year progresses, be sure to let us know what you’re using! (add link to survey)
What’s to come?
Automation is only going one way. Whether it’s an all-encompassing overhaul of work as we know it is yet to be seen, but for the philosophers among us check out World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab’s ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution.’
What is certain is that for CFOs to get their organization’s ticking, automation is going to be a vital part of that process.
Post-pandemic life is going to be reliant on reliable technology. CFOs need to invest in the automation software that is relevant to the size and stage of their company.
Regular analysis and good forecasting are going to be the keys to unlocking savvy and timely investments in their automation journey.
Basically, industrial revolution or not, automation is coming.That’s if it isn’t here already. Be ready.
