CFOs are no longer seen as just number crunchers. These days, finance leaders play a significant role in decisions that determine the course of the company, and are being called upon to lead digital transformation efforts within their organisations as a result.
A CFO’s role in digital transformation is critical, as they are responsible for managing the financial aspects of implementing new technologies and ensuring that digital initiatives align with the company’s overall strategic goals, making informed investment decisions, and monitoring the financial impact of digital transformation efforts throughout the process. However, many digital transformation efforts fail to deliver their promised results, leaving many CFOs fighting the need to transform on the one side, and the limits of transformation projects on the other.
According to a report by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 6 Power Moves CFOs Must Make, the primary reasons for this situation are limited internal collaboration and insufficient planning. The report found that only 35% of finance organisations engage in early IT planning with tech leaders to set expectations on how technology advances enterprise strategy, stating that working with tech leaders at the beginning of technology planning processes is imperative to strategic decision-making.
1. Leveraging technology
As businesses face increasing complexity, CFOs are being tasked with modernising for efficiency. This transformation is not limited to financial operations but extends to the entire business strategy. The modern CFO therefore needs to understand technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation, data analytics, and cloud computing to stay competitive.
While business-wide transformation is a lengthy, complex undertaking, CFOs can lead from the front by adopting these technologies in their own day-to-day operations. Modern EPM solutions use all of these tools to create a support base for finance teams that not only allows them to drive efficiency, but also helps further the goals of the business while unlocking new opportunities.
AI, for example, automates repetitive tasks such as financial reporting, invoice processing, and compliance tracking. Automation reduces the risk of human error and improves operational efficiency, allowing CFOs to focus on more strategic activities. AI also provides predictive analytics capabilities, enabling CFOs to forecast trends, identify potential risks, and make informed decisions based on data-driven insights.
Similarly, the ability to harness and analyse vast quantities of data is critical for CFOs looking to add strategic value. Advanced analytics tools allow CFOs to generate real-time insights, track performance, and make proactive adjustments to the company’s strategy. Data-driven insights also play a key role in improving financial planning and forecasting, enhancing accuracy, and giving CFOs the ability to model various scenarios. With this data, CFOs can provide detailed financial insights to business leaders, guiding decisions that impact both short-term profits and long-term sustainability.
2. Delivering value
Technologies such as AI have opened the door for CFOs to step beyond numbers and into value creation. According to the IBM Institute for Business Value report, top-performing CFOs have a “keen eye” for digital transformation in common. These leading CFOs’ ability to connect tech investments to quantifiable business outcomes has helped them to outperform the competition.
The real value of technology lies not just in its ability to automate or analyse but in its power to free CFOs from routine tasks so they can focus on what truly matters—strategic decision-making and driving growth. To improve the success of digitisation and automation, CFOs must commit to initiatives that will deliver value immediately, and EPM is the perfect case study to prove how digital transformation goals can be achieved.
