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Chief financial officers (CFOs) see themselves as the Swiss Army knives of an organization, with responsibilities ranging far beyond finance and budget management. CFOs report their responsibilities now include implementing new technology, talent and employee management, environmental, social and governance roles and even recruitment, onboarding and training, among other functions.
CFOs whose duties do not already range beyond an organization’s ledgers should be bracing themselves. Among 1,221 senior finance leaders from around the globe surveyed by accounting software provider Sage Intacct, 89% indicated their job had changed from last year, and 96% believe the role of finance within their organization would “undergo dramatic changes in the next three years,” according to The Secrets of Successful CEOs, a new report from the company.
Top financial executives said they would be spending more time on traditional CFO duties such as financial reporting and analysis and financial/scenario planning, with 61% indicating each of these would be taking more time out of their day. But many thought their work would increasingly revolve around technology, with another 61% anticipating the need to educate themselves on new tech and/or systems and 59% believing they would be implementing new systems or “skilling” or “upskilling” others on new technology.
Ther report authors isolated several methods by which CFOs achieve and retain success within their organizations. For instance, these officials redefine their influence beyond budget management, such as through cross-departmental collaborations. Such collaborations have increased by 30% during the last five years, according to the report authors, who add “CFOs are pivotal in enhancing teamwork and dismantling operational silos, redefining their influence.”
According to those surveyed:
* 85% believe they will take on an increasing role in shaping strategy and providing counsel across their organizations;
* 60% see a future in which their input will influence company-wide strategy; and,
* Most anticipate taking greater roles in organization technology, with 86% prioritizing cybersecurity, 84% embracing cloud accounting and cloud computing, 79% leveraging big data analytics and 75% including data automation tools in their forecasting activities.
The anticipated shift in duties and priorities are partly the result of technology innovations, including automation of financial processes that once absorbed CFOs’ time, according to the report authors. And more than four in five CFOs (81%) believe automation will have a further impact on efficiency.
One area in which automation is poised to play an increasing role is metrics collection. While 86% of those surveyed understand the value of collecting this quantitative data, only 45% are actually doing so.
The report’s data were not all up-side. Barely more than one-quarter of those surveyed (27%) thought that they had achieved a satisfactory work-life balance, despite an overwhelming majority (95%) indicating they felt professionally successful.
A full copy of the report is available here: https://www.sage.com/en-us/sage-business-cloud/intacct/resources/white-papers/secrets-of-successful-cfos/
