{"id":2427,"date":"2021-02-16T08:44:07","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T07:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stefan-gros.de\/cfo-and-digital-transformation-the-digitalization-of-finance\/"},"modified":"2024-07-25T20:11:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T18:11:54","slug":"cfo-and-digital-transformation-the-digitalization-of-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stefan-gros.de\/en\/cfo-and-digital-transformation-the-digitalization-of-finance\/","title":{"rendered":"CFO and digital transformation – The digitalization of finance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

CFO and digital transformation – The digitalization of finance<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The year 2020 brought a significant boost in digitalization for a large number of companies.
\nThis disruption caused by external factors resulted in extraordinary progress that had not been achieved for many years, for example in the areas of customer experience and scope of services.
\nin the areas of customer experience and scope of services and showed how important it is as a company to have the individual components of digitalization anchored in its own business model.
\nBut what about the CFO area?
\nWhat forms of digitalization are relevant there, what potential lies hidden and how can it be leveraged?
\nThis article provides an overview of the status quo, the possibilities of a digital CFO area and a roadmap for a successful transformation project. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Status quo and opportunities of digitalization in the financial sector<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Increasing efficiency pressure among CFOs is proving to be an accelerating driver of digitalization projects.
\nThis finding is underlined by a recent survey of CFOs as part of a study by Horvath & Partners, according to which 90% of respondents stated that they are pursuing a digital transformation strategy.
\nThe necessity and the value proposition are therefore clearly evident, which is not surprising when you consider the potential opportunities for improving efficiency.
\nFor example, complete financial processes such as accounts receivable and accounts payable can be automated with the help of robotics, or even more complex processes such as forecasting can be made more efficient through advanced analytics. <\/p>\n

More far-reaching projects can focus on the integrative further development of finance in its role as a business partner in order to better align it with internal and external customers and strengthen its role in value creation.
\nThis can be done, for example, by improving data to support operational decisions or by setting up finance processes as an end-to-end organization. <\/p>\n

The necessary tools are therefore known and range from small-scale, one-off projects to fully comprehensive transformation projects.
\nHowever, it is often not clear in practice which measures generate which added value and how and where the theory should be implemented.
\nIn addition, the new competence requirements for managers represent a major challenge and the lack of a mindset in the corporate culture to think about digital transformation projects holistically are also obstacles to progress.
\nAs a result, many digitalization projects remain driven by unstructured actionism as stand-alone projects and are usually limited to the automation of existing processes without fundamentally rethinking and changing them.
\nA fully comprehensive strategy that is expressed in a formulated roadmap is therefore important for a successful digitalization initiative. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Roadmap for successful implementation<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

In order to address the aforementioned gap in managers’ knowledge and skills, it is important to understand possible digitalization initiatives.
\nThis is not so much about training managers in finance to become Python programmers, but if the basic theory, i.e. the knowledge of possible use cases and their implementation tools, is lacking, it will be difficult to fulfill the role of business partner, for example. <\/p>\n

It is therefore worth categorizing digitalization initiatives as a first step:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t