Accounting
CFOs Say Reporting and Analytics Are Most Important Initiatives
When asked about the number of business systems managed, more than half the respondents (57 percent) said they manage between 3-5 systems. In fact, only 11 percent of those surveyed said they only manage their financial system.
Dec. 22, 2015
CFOS are prioritizing cloud-based investments that will empower them to become more informed, forward-looking strategic advisors. This is according to a survey commissioned by Intacct, a provider of cloud ERP software.
The Intacct CFO Perspectives Survey showed business reporting and analytics overwhelmingly listed as the CFO’s most important initiatives to support their business (80 percent), the survey finds that CFOs want more insights into their business than simply broad stroke profit/loss performance.
Tools that provide greater understanding of nuanced business performance metrics such as customer lifecycle, churn, and business unit performance—specifically data analytics (61 percent) and systems integration (71 percent)—will be the CFO’s top technological investments over the next 18 months.
When asked about the number of business systems managed, more than half the respondents (57 percent) said they manage between 3-5 systems. In fact, only 11 percent of those surveyed said they only manage their financial system. These results show that the CFO role is evolving beyond functional aspects—such as closing the books and mitigating risk—to become a more holistic strategic advisor, empowered by insights and able to pinpoint and advise on strategic efficiencies and opportunities across the company.
“Greater visibility and insight into financials has always been a top CFO priority. This survey shows we have entered a new era in the office of the CFO as they invest and deploy new systems to gain previously hard or impossible to find insights,” said Robert Reid, CEO of Intacct. “The advances offered through the seamless integration of multiple data sources and analytics will transform not just the office of the CFO in terms of productivity and time to insight, but also their role and ability to be truly strategic advisors.”
The Intacct CFO Perspectives Survey was conducted in November 2015 at the company’s annual customer conference, Intacct Advantage 2015. The survey results comprise responses from 114 CFOs or VPs of Finance at mid-size organizations across a variety of industry segments including Software/SaaS, Professional Services, Healthcare, Hospitality, and Nonprofits.