STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE
Optimizing internal processes to increase efficiency
Ever the vigilant overseers, CFOs continually look for ways to improve operational efficiency through modernization of legacy systems, selecting and training the right people and streamlining processes.
While they may be primarily focused on the systems, people and processes of the financial organization, due to their holistic perspective they are concerned about seeing improvements across all areas of the enterprise and assessing the risk and reward of investment in supporting initiatives.
A survey conducted by Ernst & Young found that process improvement initiatives in finance and accounting functions can lead to cost reductions of up to 40%. (Source: EY Global Finance Process Excellence Survey)
improvement initiatives in finance and accounting functions can lead to cost reductions of up to 40%
The company also suffers from billing errors since they extend the time a customer will take to pay, lengthening the collections process and delaying cash flow.
Additionally, improving and modernizing systems alleviates another problem that can have a dramatic impact on efficiency and customer experience and that is the internal processes the customer only sees when things go wrong. For example, a seamless billing process that flows frictionlessly from quote to invoice to payment to cash is never an issue with a customer. The customer is only concerned when it doesn’t work that smoothly; when they have billing errors they must call to have them corrected, or they make payments that aren’t properly credited.
As they improve in people, processes and technologies, CFOs find a number of benefits from those improvements, including:
Improved accuracy in financial statements and reports
Better security for critical data and applications
Decreasing or eliminating revenue leakage
Greater predictability through increased visibility into current and future financial performance
Higher employee satisfaction and performance
Increased ability to scale and adapt to changes, essentially future-proofing the business