In a dynamic and highly complex environment, businesses are leveraging opportunities to enhance customer experiences and create new business models. CFOs are starting to redefine their functional strategies and operating models to reflect this, and leveraging digital technologies allows for drastically more efficient organizations and radically new business insights.
Digital finance strategy and operating model
The CFO domain is changing rapidly: the finance function will develop significantly by 2025 and beyond. The future will lead to a much higher degree of automation and outsourcing of several non-core finance areas. In addition, new areas focusing on analytics and corporate data models will emerge.
Strategic mindshift into a redefined business partner role:
One of the first objectives of the finance function is to make managers’ life easier: helping them make the right decision and spend more time with their clients and staff.
We look at business intelligence, big data, and trend analysisfor enhanced business insight. We need higher flexibility when it comes to tools and sources ofinformation.
For finance strategy and operating model projects, we integrate our deep expertise of financial processes and structures within different sectors such as financial services, automotive, transportation, media, energy and utilities with entrepreneurship and new digital technologies like robotics, back office automation and digital ecosystem management approaches.
Strategic value of finance redefined through finance strategy
CFOs are engaging ever more closely with their lines of business. They serve their companies well when they reach the best possible decisions in accordance with the strategy regarding new products and services, business acquisitions and other initiatives that optimally allocate company resources.
A finance strategy and operating model assessment will help your organization define the best course of action to create value with teams enhanced by analytics and bots.
Our approach for finance strategy and operating model
Since digital technologies have a deep impact on the finance functions, a step by step approach is our recommendation:
- Assess maturity levels to derive recommendations for critical areas and skills to get the CFO domain ready for and using digital technologies
- Start with strategy and seek a dialogue with the business to identify which business intelligence or support they need from your CFO team
- Identify new requirements for the CFO process model and organization based on this strategy dialogue
- Fill in the gaps – some organizations will need additional work to create a foundation and get the basics right
- Identify new KPIs and revise performance management to fit with new business models, new dynamism in the competitive landscape, and new drivers of value
- Leverage data, from traditional systems, from IoT sources and elsewhere, in conjunction with analytical tools to extend the range of business insights offered by specialized teams in the CFO domain
BearingPoint helps your business to develop “Smart Finance DNA,” which finance organizations need to be successful.
