Modernization of CFOs: The Turnpike for New Corporate Heroes

The lack of innovation in the function of CFO remains a major hurdle for a lot of corporations, preventing them from stepping into the modern world of corporate governance. In comparison with their peer CMOs and CTOs, enterprise CFOs have seen the least technological breakthroughs in recent years.

Providing technology to the corporate finance sector is a smart business development decision. A report by the Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business (ACCA) reveals that 80 percent of CEOs globally believe that the role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will increase significantly because of their impact on the company's performance and growth. So why not modernize their role through technology?

Today, it is fundamental for companies to provide cutting-edge solutions to their financial teams in order to accelerate processes and simplify their work — saving time and economic resources, empowering their teams and having a better return on investment (ROI). A PwC study shows that 94 percent of the world's CFOs are confident that implementing technology solutions aimed at improving financial skills will lead to a significant increase in productivity.

This is more evident in a volatile economic scenario, such as that which followed the pandemic: the health crisis forced companies to adapt their supply chains, cut expenses, modify their budgets and even change their business lines. Those companies with outdated financial procedures or with no real-time visibility faced a much more complex scenario than those that had streamlined their operations through technology and data analysis. In 2022, it is critical for CFOs and decision-makers to have clear and real-time data about their company's financial operations. Failing to do so would be a terrible mistake.

On the other hand, according to our data, those companies that have invested in the digitalization of their financial processes increased their efficiency in the deductibility of expenses between 30 percent and 50 percent, as well as other operating costs that were not detected when doing them manually.

In other words, a new generation of financial leaders is fundamental; a generation of stakeholders committed to modernizing the company's financial operations as the cornerstone for their success. The rise of this new profile of "business heroes'' or "super CFOs" lies in digitization, as well as how companies are implementing technological tools to boost their teams’ specific needs.

In this way, CFOs will discover the path to modernization. And in a context in which economic reactivation is more important than ever, the efficient use of resources through technology is a decision that will benefit everyone.