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Finance roles have evolved to require proactive problem solving
Finance is evolving towards strategic discussions and decision-making beyond just financial reporting and compliance.
Finance teams are under pressure to deliver insights quickly, and must have a deeper understanding of how their numbers relate to their company's overall objectives. Technology plays a big role in this too, as finance teams must be forward-thinking to stay ahead in their roles.
"The speed at which finance is expected to provide insights has accelerated: what does a pandemic mean for the business? How do interest rates affect the business? [These events] have fundamentally changed how Finance operates." - Charly Kevers, CFO at Carta
Real-time data is key to managing uncertainty as a CFO
The CFO role faces uncertainty amidst market conditions, and having a strong forecasting process and real-time data access can help. Deeper analysis helps anticipate trends and prepare the organization for all possible outcomes, such as the impact of business model changes, to ensure long term success.
“At Tableau, we had unbelievable access to data and made sure that data was at the fingertips of our FP&A team ...We really understood how the business is performing, and we had the real-time results within a few minutes after midnight.” - Damon Fletcher, former CFO at Tableau
Set priorities as a CFO by playing to the strengths of your team
CFOs — prioritize your day around team management, engagement with the rest of the company, customer relations and investor relations in order to ensure success. To do this, build a strong finance leadership team that allows you to engage more in business review meetings and actively evaluate critical initiatives with the executive leadership team.
"I had the opportunity to build a strong leadership team within Finance that was able to manage co-responsibilities, which allowed me the flexibility to participate in business review meetings. If you have strong accounting and FP&A leaders, I would encourage most CFOs to spend more time helping the business.” - Damon Fletcher, former CFO at Tableau
Your CFO tech stack should unlock increased team efficiency
As a CFO, it's essential to prioritize and decide what technology stack is necessary. Focus on efficiency through software implementation and automation. Put processes in place before investing in any software.
"When it comes to finance, it's really about efficiency: how do I automate my AR (Accounts Receivable) collection process? How do I make sure I can spend less time processing and more time on value-added tasks?" - Noël Rauch, CFO at Rydoo
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