Expertise that Works

FINANCE OFFICES: A TIME OF RAPID CHANGE AND LIMITED RESOURCES

Across nearly every industry, issues such as international growth, economic volatility, regulation, and reporting

requirements are hindering the efforts of resource-constrained finance offices.

For instance, while many of today’s most prominent growth opportunities are in emerging international markets,

pursuing these opportunities presents a wide range of challenges to finance operations. Business models and

strategies must be examined, and successful international working relationships must be maintained. Also, controls

must be continually assessed, and more effective financial risk management strategies must be employed.

Further complicating the finance role is the highly volatile nature of the international markets where companies

are expanding. As a result, finance offices must more diligently monitor and measure business performance, as

well as ensure consistent management across the organization.

Meanwhile, globalization is requiring compliance with additional local rules and regulatory frameworks—as well

as ongoing compliance with broader domestic and international regulatory changes (e.g., Dodd-Frank Act, IFRS).

In addition, statutory and regulatory reporting requirements have increased, placing a significant burden on

finance offices. For example, regulators are now mandating reporting in eXtensible Business Reporting Language

(XBRL) while also accelerating reporting deadlines.

NO LONGER JUST FINANCE: THE EVOLUTION OF CFO RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTATIONS

As data grows and globalization, regulation, and reporting requirements add more complexity to organizations,

CFOs can no longer be focused solely on financial reporting and transaction processing.

Today, successful CFOs are also ensuring effective risk management, regulatory adherence, and collaboration.

And with companies striving to do more with less, CFOs are increasing efficiencies and reducing costs.

THE MODERN CFO DILEMMA: WORK STRATEGICALLY, GROW GLOBALLY, MANAGE LOCALLYWorking Smarter—Not Harder—to Deliver on an Ever-Broadening Agenda

Today’s finance executives face daunting challenges. Regulation and globalization are adding complexity to finance operations. Increased risk, transaction volumes, and reporting requirements are burdening staff. Meanwhile, C-suites are adding to CFOs’ responsibilities, looking to them for strategic solutions to improve business growth and performance.

What can finance executives do? For many, the solution lies in the intelligent use of technology. By implementing technology solutions tailored to the performance management of their businesses, many CFOs are driving the efficiency and accuracy needed to overcome operational and tactical challenges—allowing them to deliver on expectations and impact organizational value.

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In addition, successful CFOs are increasingly serving as strategic business partners. In fact, according to a recent

Forbes/KPMG survey, CEOs now view strategic, growth-oriented thinking as the most important attribute for a CFO.

In order to meet CEO expectations—by contributing to sustainable company growth and performance—CFOs

recognize that they must focus more on integrating key business processes and providing business insight to

enable better decision-making.

But here’s the catch: CFOs and their finance offices are charged with absorbing these new responsibilities while

still effectively completing traditional finance functions—all without adding to headcount. Financials still must be

consolidated. Books still must be closed. Compliance, tax, and financial reporting requirements still must be met.

And with increased volume and complexity, these functions are more burdensome than ever.

THE SOLUTION: IDENTIFYING AND IMPLEMENTING EFFICIENCY-FOCUSED TECHNOLOGY

To accomplish their growing roles and responsibilities, CFOs are looking to a smarter use of technology to help

them drive growth, efficiency, compliance, productivity, and business insight. In fact, nearly every finance function

now relies on some form of tailored technology solutions, and 63 percent of CEOs believe that technology will

have the greatest effect on the future success of the CFO, according to the Forbes/KPMG survey.

However, as many CFOs have found, the key is not just using technology, it is using the right technology for

today’s environment.

For example, while many companies have invested in sophisticated financial management solutions, a large

portion of finance offices still heavily rely on Microsoft® Excel. Excel has long been a powerful line item capture

tool. Unfortunately, it is severely limited in its ability to drive efficiency and provide uniform reporting and insight

into the relationship of key business drivers.

Therefore, in lieu of Excel, many CFOs are working with consultants to adopt solutions that use automation

to gather and standardize data, thereby optimizing the financial close and delivering more accurate and timely

data. These solutions have a globally central model, allowing them to operate across a shared vision, maintain

consistent and streamlined processes, and overcome cultural and time zone differences.

In addition, these solutions improve budgeting, planning, and business performance management by providing all

geographic reporting on one, transparent dashboard, which:

• Enables identification and correction of negative trends

• Improves efficiency and supports decision-making with facts

• Measures company performance

• Presents data graphically to improve analysis

• Provides insight into the linkages of key business drivers to financial results

• Helps determine goals and strategies

THE MODERN CFO DILEMMA

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THE MODERN CFO DILEMMA

LOOKING FORWARD: USING ANALYTICS TO SCALE FOR FUTURE PERFORMANCE

Today’s customized financial management technology solutions are helping finance offices to reduce operating

costs and increase process efficiency, control, and compliance. They are also delivering valuable business

intelligence for decision-making and business management.

But as change continues and expectation-setting remains critical for financing and valuations, it is essential for

CFOs to take their business intelligence one step further—using analytics to forecast future performance.

Stay tuned for part two of this three-part article series, where we will discuss the future of business analytics

and how successful CFOs are using them to model key business drivers and predict future business scenarios.

To learn more about how to optimize your performance by producing accurate, timely, and insightful business

reporting, click here for more information from SC&H Group’s Oracle-Hyperion Consulting team.

ABOUT SC&H GROUP SC&H Group’s practices advise leading companies from emerging businesses to the

Fortune 500 on accounting, tax, profitability, and business process solutions. Clients in all states and worldwide

benefit from SC&H Group’s commitment to delivering powerful minds, passionate teams, and proven results on

each and every engagement. Learn more at www.scandh.com.

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