As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, every area of commerce, from global supply chains to financial markets has been impacted. Finance functions have been made to evolve rapidly to keep up with the changes. Transformation, therefore, is crucial for finance to thrive in this new post-pandemic world.
Even before the onset of the pandemic, finance was moving significantly towards digital transformation. However, today, digital transformation in finance is no longer a choice but a necessity.
Finance is at the Center of Business Evolution
Business models are being adapted and rebuilt at a rapid pace and the finance function finds itself in a unique position – at the very heart of evolution across the organization. Business leaders who lead digital transformation initiatives can show significant cost savings and improved efficiency. But finance transformation must allow finance leaders to play a leading role in creating value for enterprises and managing performance.
What Finance Needs to Thrive Today
If finance is to thrive in today’s world, agile reporting forecasting and flexibility in investments are key transformative features that finance leaders must embrace in their organizations. By turning valuable data into actionable insights, finance can evolve from being a business cost center to the engine that drives business performance.
Businesses Save Costs by Embracing Digital Transformation
Business leaders must ask themselves whether their finance function and workforce can adapt to this challenge.
Finance teams can benefit by reducing costs if they embrace digital transformation. Costs have a great impact on businesses, especially in a post-COVID-19 world. Businesses save on costs when operations are run more efficiently.
When business leaders have data at their fingertips, they can make faster and more economic decisions. This allows them to build resilience.
Automation is Key to Business Continuity
Several organizations are focusing on accelerating automation initiatives so that they can devote time to improving value-added services. In our increasingly virtual world, automated processes are essential for efficiency and enabling better control and resilience.
Creating a Truly Agile Finance Operations
Businesses must consider embracing cloud services and automation. With access to innovations such as predictive analytics and machine learning, organizations can create a truly agile finance operation.
Business leaders must realize that back-office transformation alone is not enough. They must work towards creating a strong foundation for the evolution of every function of the business.
When finance teams embrace digital transformation, they can meet the evolving demands of a post-pandemic world and deliver:
- 45 percent reduction in general accounting costs
- 15 percent improvement in working capital
- 50 percent reduction in manual reconciliations
The last word
The pandemic has undoubtedly presented businesses with unprecedented challenges. Organizations are under immense pressure and the need of the hour is for the evolution of the finance function. Digital transformation in finance operations is essential for business continuity.
