{"id":96843,"date":"2022-04-21t13:20:43","date_gmt":"2022-04-21t17:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=96843"},"modified":"2023-10-05t09:12:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05t13:12:31","slug":"corporate-finance-ripe-for-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2022\/04\/21\/corporate-finance-ripe-for-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"the big battles ahead for corporate finance"},"content":{"rendered":"
advisory board members say it\u2019s happening \u201cwhether a cfo chooses to do it or not.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n by the center for accounting transformation according to a group of corporate finance professionals, one of the most significant issues facing corporate finance teams is refocusing team members toward higher-value work such as interpreting data and advising on issues and solutions rather than allowing them to continue performing rote, manual tasks.<\/p>\n related: <\/strong>\u00a0top issues for 2022: talent, time, and transformation<\/a><\/p>\n learn more<\/strong> about the center\u2019s audit advisory board<\/a> or view the center\u2019s transformation courses.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cthe biggest risk that is clear to me is to continue the antiquated and outdated people strategies, performance, process, understanding, lagging platform adoption, and not understanding the deep relationships that we need to build instead of keeping the status quo,\u201d offered chris ortega, ceo of fresh fp&a. \u201cto me, that is 100% the biggest risk that we now face in the accounting and finance\u00a0 space.\u201d<\/p>\n the center for accounting transformation\u2019s finance advisory board met in march to discuss the finance transformation journey and how the center can best assist with challenges facing finance teams.<\/p>\n during the discussion, advisory board members identified several critical issues to consider. in addition to embracing change and adapting more quickly, finance professionals face software consolidation matters, staff optimization problems, and, like most in accounting, recruiting and retention concerns. ortega termed financial team\u2019s concerns the five ps: people, processes, platforms, partnerships, and performance.<\/p>\n donny shimamoto, cpa, citp, cgma, the founder and managing director of intraprisetechknowlogies llc, added a sixth at the end of the meeting: purpose. shimamoto, who also founded the center, said, \u201cwe\u2019re seeing a lot of literature and articles about the connection back to purpose. we\u2019re doing that as well, at the center. accountants\u2014and everyone at our organization\u2014should be here to help give clients peace of mind, vision and clarity, and hope; and serve to help improve the world.\u201d<\/p>\n the center created the finance transformation advisory board to help guide strategic direction, services, and program planning. the includes:<\/p>\n 1\u2013finance professionals must embrace advisory <\/strong><\/p>\n a key takeaway for many was that they and their finance teams needed to move away from the nuts and bolts of the finance function, which all agreed could mostly be automated, and take on critical data interpretation and guidance.<\/p>\n \u201cfinance transformation is happening, whether a cfo chooses to do it or not,\u201d player said. \u201cit\u2019s out there. it\u2019s happening. and our question is, what role we play, if any, in helping the evolution or guiding people through the evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n elder posed the question \u201chow does finance have a bigger impact?\u201d answering with, \u201cwe have to reach out. people are afraid of us because we like numbers and that scares most people. going out to see people in their environment really is a chance to make those stronger connections.\u201d she added, \u201cif you\u2019re going to be in finance, you have to understand the business, not just how you track the business.\u201d<\/p>\n ortega agreed. \u201call these traditional things that you learned in business school are out the window,\u201d he said. \u201cbusiness has completely changed. the value-add is all these things that you didn\u2019t learn in business school: the art of storytelling, turning complexity into clear, concise conclusions, partnering inside the business, speaking the business language, being empathetic in your day-to-day decision making\u2026being connecting to the business\u2026fp&a doesn\u2019t mean financial planning and analysis anymore. fp&a means financial partnership and advising. that\u2019s what businesses need. they need advisors to partner with who navigate changes, uncertainty, and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n 2\u2013get on board with automation\u2014fast<\/strong><\/p>\n another key area the group identified as concerning was the slower rate at which finance teams appear to be adopting technological advances, which, they all agreed, would free up their teams to do more higher-value advisory work.<\/p>\n \u201canything that\u2019s routine can be automated,\u201d elder said. \u201ci think, in many cases, we\u2019ve made the use of technology to be something big and requires a huge investment of money. and that may be the way it was, but that\u2019s not the way it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n the group agreed that using technology for automation yielded a benefit many don\u2019t consider when looking to deploy solutions: the opportunity to better leverage existing talent to add value within the organization. however, for those employees who don\u2019t wish to learn new skills or processes, there\u2019s an obvious disadvantage.<\/p>\n \u201ctechnology is moving a lot faster. so, allow those people the ability to upskill,\u201d ortega said. \u201ca lot of times, when i talk about ai or machine learning doing people\u2019s jobs, i don\u2019t ever say it\u2019s going to take your job. but if you don\u2019t have the appetite to upskill or find other ways to leverage what you want to do, you\u2019re going to be obsolete.\u201d<\/p>\n for some, the most difficult aspect of adding automation is determining how to start and where to begin.<\/p>\n elder added, \u201cone of the places i would start is i would go to people and say, \u2018what do you do that\u2019s the same every single day?\u2019 that\u2019s the sort of thing that can be automated, and then you can upskill them into positions that have more value.\u201d she offered to the group to ask their coworkers, \u201c\u2019if you had more time, what other things would you like to work on?\u2019 most people have other tasks that they would like to do. and you can present it to them from that perspective, \u2018well, if we automate what you\u2019re doing now, you can work on these other things.\u201d<\/p>\n another way to approach process changes is to go directly to an it department, which is how iennarella said she prefers to handle it. \u201ci sit down with our it department and flesh out how i think it should work, but then i always run it by staff to say, \u2018this is how i think it should work, but i don\u2019t do your job. so, what am i missing if we roll it out this way?\u2019 and it makes them excited about getting it on board,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n while outsourcing didn\u2019t seem to be immediately popular with the advisory board, they conceded it is either already in place or will be soon.<\/p>\n \u201call of us outsource, we just don\u2019t realize we outsource,\u201d player said. \u201cbecause third-party providers are using offshore operations\u2026 so, it\u2019s coming, whether we choose to have to physically locate somebody there or not.\u201d<\/p>\n 3\u2013use ai as an opportunity to improve your team<\/strong><\/p>\n as the advisory board discussed technology and automating processes, they also discussed the human effects of ai.<\/p>\n ho shared a real-life example of an employee who preferred the manual processes and did not want to use the technology to automate her tasks. ultimately, the employee decided to leave.<\/p>\n \u201cthere were so many other value-add activities we wanted her to be working on, but because she was manually entering the information, she couldn\u2019t progress on her other projects,\u201d she explained. \u201cmany jobs will be eliminated just by technology, and if we aren\u2019t proactive with our teams and trying to help those who aren\u2019t as prepared or who may not have as many resources to reinvent themselves, they really will be out of jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n agreeing, ortega added, \u201cleverage technology, leverage automation, leverage ai, leverage machine learning. leverage what\u2019s already out there and focus your people on those high-value activities, like communication, collaboration, and connecting in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n another way to better engage employees is to focus on each person\u2019s talents and goals, the group said.<\/p>\n admitting to being goal-oriented with many professional aspirations, iennarella said, \u201ci try extremely hard to not put my ambitions and perspectives on my team.\u201d adding that she is respectful of the fact that for many people, lofty professional ambitions are not their primary objectives in their jobs.<\/p>\n ortega cited a study that showed people who deployed ai were eventually able to repurpose 80% of their team into higher value activities for the business. he said, \u201cit\u2019s about having the conversation and providing the person the opportunity to say, \u2018hey, look, this is what we\u2019re finding. we can upskill you here. do you want to do this?\u2019 and if you don\u2019t want to do this, then that\u2019s a whole different conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n 4\u2013give your candidates purpose and room for errors<\/strong><\/p>\n the great resignation has hit the accounting profession particularly hard, including corporate finance teams. the group offered the more common tips, like offering increased flexibility and providing opportunities to grow and learn. however, they also suggested catering more to what new hires want.<\/p>\n \u201cpeople want the ability now to be able to build and shape,\u201d ortega said. \u201cthey want to feel like pioneers. they want to be empowered.\u201d he added that it\u2019s key for recruiters to allow candidates to be forthright, honest, and authentic about where they are and where they want to be so they can work on engaging assignments and know their work is impactful. he continued, \u201cyou get your credentials, you get your cpa, you got your badge of honor, you got your cost in there. but what college students are looking at now is, \u2018i want to be involved in the strategic decision-making process.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201ci think it\u2019s a great opportunity, if you are able to meet those students where they are with their perspectives, their passions, their talents, and not just what they want out of a company, but what they want out of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n the advisory board also suggested allowing new hires to sometimes fail.<\/p>\n \u201ci think we have to, as leaders, we have to set that tone for people to say, \u2018i don\u2019t expect you to be perfect,\u201d elder said. \u201ci don\u2019t expect you to have all the answers. i do want you to try. try to find the answers.\u201d she added that the willingness and ability to learn was critical because \u201cwe\u2019re dealing with so much change.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201ci wake up every day trying to fail,\u201d ortega said. \u201ci look to fail because there\u2019s only two options: i\u2019m either going to learn from it or i\u2019m going to win from it. you only lose if you don\u2019t learn.\u201d<\/p>\n elder said allowing room for error teaches problem-solving skills. \u201cbefore, i might have the answer and i could just rap it off the top of my head,\u201d she explained. \u201cbut that doesn\u2019t help them. that teaches them to come to me. and i don\u2019t want that. i want self-sufficient employees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cwhen i first got certified, if you got your license, you were golden for your career,\u201d elder continued. \u201cnot anymore. that\u2019s now the entry to the profession. in order to advance to become partner or to become cfo, you have to have communication skills, decision-making skills, leadership skills\u2026none of this is taught for a degree\u2026it\u2019s not just debits and credits anymore. we are a customer facing, customer service organization.\u201d<\/p>\n unleash accounting superpowers.<\/strong><\/p>\n in summary, the advisory board agreed that corporate finance professionals should embrace technology and automation to allow their teams to play more critical advisory roles, which would yield more seats at the decision-making table, enabling greater room to give recruits more purpose in their positions.<\/p>\n \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter what generation you\u2019re in, we all want to have an effect on the world,\u201d elder concluded. \u201cwe all want to know that we matter. post covid, we\u2019ve seen how fragile life is. the war in ukraine is also showing us that things aren\u2019t as stable as we might think they are. so, demonstrate to people that you can have an honest effect, not just by doing financial state<\/p>\n \u201cyou can make a difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" it\u2019s happening \u201cwhether a cfo chooses to do it or not.\u201d<\/strong>
\nimprovetheworld.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nby the center for accounting transformation
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