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How top CFOs discover hidden business opportunities and profit

13th Nov 2018
Brought to you by
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The Access Group provides integrated business management software.

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Every first-class CFO knows it’s the story behind the data that counts – and that integration and automation of transactional tasks and strategic finance tools are fundamental to making this work.

There’s no shortage of data these days. But more data, even if it’s higher quality, is of little use if you don’t have the analytical tools, models and dashboards to leverage the insights it holds.

Sadly, whilst finance professionals may claim to carry out strategic activities, many don’t use the tools necessary for this process. It’s impossible to manage corporate data effectively if you depend too heavily on Excel. It’ll certainly make it hard to uncover opportunities within the business, let alone profit. 

Intelligent use of data tools 

McKinsey Global Institute research highlighted that 40 per cent of finance activities – think general accounting and operations including cash disbursement and turnover management – can be completely automated. Many more can be partially automated. This not only makes for efficient working practices but when layered with analytics tools makes it easier to really get under the skin of the data.

After all, finance professionals must have the tools to move beyond reporting packs and KPI dashboards to carry out meaningful forecasting and modelling analysis. It’s impossible otherwise to play the forward-looking role that guides strategy rather than purely reports on it. 

Following the initial setup, data warehousing and digital analysis tools make it possible to cut out the work necessary to assemble models and keep them fed and validated. This leaves more time to refine the forecast or, for example, to take the best, most likely and worst-case scenarios. By building scenarios and testing them out, the CFO can start to take a more strategic view of the business. 

Integrating systems to aggregate data from around the business allows for more intelligent analysis and reporting. Being able to build meaningful narratives around the numbers creates a very powerful opportunity for the observant CFO. Automation and integration frees up time that can be spent on the interpretation and communication of data, rather than just making sure the numbers are accurate and delivered to the recipients on time.

Democratising data 

Visual dashboards that ‘show’ instead of ‘tell’ make it easier to look at sales and profit from different perspectives or make wise investment decisions. Push out role-specific dashboards to managers throughout the business and the CFO raises the chance that others will spot opportunities that the finance professional wouldn’t notice alone.

Democratising data in this way also acts as a safeguard because problems can be raised before they become a real issue. Top CFOs will engage experts within the business because they understand that this is a more efficient way to connect the dots and see the full picture. The successful CFO doesn’t keep data in silos – and doesn’t work in a silo either.

Not only are they acutely aware that they alone can’t help the business thrive, they know it’s a fool’s game to get caught up in day-to-day manual activity that can be automated. In fact, they make it their priority to set aside time to look at how the business could run better, be more productive – and leverage technology to discover opportunities to bring in more profit. For them, the cost is too high to do otherwise. 

Ready to be more strategic? Read our whitepaper to find out more