How Digital technology Disrupts the role of Finance as a function – Let's Zoom on Order to Cash!

Part 1 - How Clear is your Vision for the role of Finance in the new Digital era?

by Evelyne Legaux on 15-07-2021

If your business is to remain a market leader or influencer & better prepare for the future, you likely have a compelling need to speed up & broaden the scope of digital technology adoption. The shift for Finance however appears to be a lot deeper than just upgrading to the next generation technologies.

In actual facts, this legitimate & genuine question is emerging: is the digital age driving the transformation of the role of Finance as a function within the business? Or rather, is it that new requirements of doing business & changing market conditions create the need for Finance to play a radically different role going forward?

 

But How is the Role of Finance really expected to Transform?

Up until now, Finance – its Accounting component in particular - has primarily been looking backward through the month end close & reporting process and the provision of analytical insights into the business past performance & its underlying drivers.

Over recent years though, the idea that Finance at large should act as a business partner has become prevalent, a change that requires a radical shift in the way Finance looks at the business.

Looking forward instead is now becoming the new norm, not only through the usual planning, budgeting & forecasting activities, but by providing leadership executives with deeper & wider insights into where the business should be going!

Likewise, a significant amount of manual work has usually been inherent to the financial reporting process to make up for the lack of flexibility & agility attributed to historical accounting systems.

However, this too is now expected to change with the growing need for real-time reporting & analysis.

 

And What does it Take for such Transformation to Happen?

First, this is where the key role of technology comes into the picture!

If Finance as a function is to play a more strategic role to guide the business towards better decision-making, then the systems in use must provide the right data and it must do so with quality, flexibility & real-time.

Efficiency & accuracy in processing high volumes of data have also become essential and drive the growing need for process automation & digitisation.

And as Finance changes from being primarily reactive & transactional to becoming an increasingly proactive, analytical & agile function within the business organisation, so do talent requirements with a much bigger emphasis on data-based analysis skills, mastering digital tools, customer service mindset & business acumen.

 

So, to answer our earlier question, it makes sense to say that the disruption caused by digital technologies creates the perfect opportunity for the Finance function to re-invent itself in a way that matches the evolving requirements of being a successful business in today’s world!

With the automation of repetitive tasks & removal of manual efforts, the digital era will free up human resources & create the space for employees to add rewarding business value through the provision of insights & services.  

Definitely exciting times ahead for the Finance function at large!

 

In Part 2, we will zoom into the world of Order to Cash more specifically. Stay tuned!

 

To learn more about our unique value proposition, get in touch on info@financeotcconsulting.com or go to our Contact page.