The Strategic CFO
Why finance transformation propels business value
Introduction
The impact of finance transformation
CFOs need to change if they want to succeed. Today’s business environment demands finance transformation, where the role of finance evolves from reactionary, transactional work to value-generating work and strategic engagement. Finance transformation embeds financial expertise into every area of the business, allowing that expertise to guide the strategic decisions of the broader business and allocate resources more effectively.
Dramatic results
Companies that embrace finance transformation are 3–4 times more effective at developing and executing their strategy. This has measurable benefits; when companies fostered strategic focus and aligned finance functions with the company mission they saw 49% higher revenue growth and 20 times higher EBITDA growth over a 5-year period.
Companies that embrace finance transformation are 3–4 times more effective at developing and executing their strategy. This has measurable benefits; when companies fostered strategic focus and aligned finance functions with the company mission they saw 49% higher revenue growth and 20 times higher EBITDA growth over a 5-year period.
Five factors for finance transformation
Research from the IBM Institute for Business Value has identified five factors that together make finance transformation possible:
- Focusing finance on developing and executing strategy
- Aligning business processes to support agility and drive business outcomes
- Putting diverse data at the heart of finance operations
- Redefining and unlocking the power of your workforce and culture
- Combining technologies to support intelligent workflows
Research from the IBM Institute for Business Value has identified five factors that together make finance transformation possible:
- Focusing finance on developing and executing strategy
- Aligning business processes to support agility and drive business outcomes
- Putting diverse data at the heart of finance operations
- Redefining and unlocking the power of your workforce and culture
- Combining technologies to support intelligent workflows
Driving sustainable finance
A transformed finance organization also opens up new capabilities beyond revenue growth. Financial expertise in reporting and value assessment can be applied to new types of non-financial data and new requirements, such as sustainability and ESG reporting. Where once there was an opaque regulatory burden, transformed finance can see the constituent parts and the path to maximizing value.