The CIO’s Guide to Finance Automation and Why It Matters

What are the biggest challenges for CIOs today when it comes to meeting the needs of the modern finance function?

The reality is that the current finance IT landscape of most large organizations is sub-optimal. It’s a costly and complex mix of ERP systems, workflow engines, point solutions and RPA tools – plus a lot of human effort on top to plug the gaps.

According to APQC’s general accounting process framework, almost all key finance processes require additional work outside of the ERP. For example, there are few ERP functions that can manage the accruals and provisions needed for large multinationals automatically or automate cash allocation in accounts receivable.

For finance staff, this requires the heavy use of spreadsheets to extract and transform data within a finance process, or the purchase of a point solution that can cater for such needs at scale.

For CIOs and IT, it means mixing best-of-breed point solutions and RPA tools to try to supplement ERP systems. This increases the organization’s technical debt and results in a more complicated and costly IT environment to manage.

The answer to these challenges is a single finance automation platform that integrates closely with your ERP, eliminates duplication and runs across your end-to-end finance processes.

For CIOs, the benefits of finance automation done this way include:

• A single flexible architecture that automates manual activities and supports workflow between automated tasks and key users
• Reduced technical debt
• Flexibility for future changes
• Increased productivity and staff freed up to focus on more strategic work
• Robust controls

Download ‘The CIO’s Guide to Finance Automation’ eBook now to find out more about how to plug your ERP gap and reduce technical debt and complexity.