The CFO-CIO Collaboration for Finance Transformation
Information technology will have a greater impact on how the finance department operates over the next 10 years than it has over the past 50. The cumulative impact of a decade of steady technology evolution along with the demographic shift to digitally-native executives and managers is enabling a fundamental change in how the department operates.
The events of 2020 forced most companies to operate outside their comfort zone in a virtual environment. Dedication and hard work enabled finance and accounting departments to overcome obstacles, but the experience led executives to make commitments to adopt technology that will make their organization more resilient and able to adapt more easily to any circumstance. To accelerate what has come to be known as “digital transformation,” CFOs and CIOs should collaboratively develop a roadmap of goals and timetables that will enable their organization to thrive regardless of the circumstances. For many organizations, this will mean redefining core processes to make them faster, more efficient, more accurate and more controllable. Rather than representing a threat to the staff, the technology deployed as part of this digital transformation can eliminate tedious repetitive work, thus freeing people to perform tasks that require their intelligence, experience and judgement.