ADVERTORIAL | Advanced
in the Cloud ensure the CFO is always up to speed on the latest view of the business. Technologies such as invoice automation can help companies to comply with different types of financial legislation whilst saving huge amounts of time. But perhaps the overarching benefit of Cloud technology is security. Protecting intellectual property and financial information is a crucial part of business strategy. Partnering with a cloud provider with a reputable track record in security provides the peace of mind and ensures the finance teams systems can run efficiently and effectively, even when their teams are working remotely. This means finance can focus on what really matters: analysing real-time financial data to provide business insight.
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Is now really the time to innovate? There’s already so much uncertainty…
It’s true there is an unprecedented level of uncertainty in today’s complex global economy and it is in danger of affecting the confidence within businesses and holding back decision- making. But the reality is that embracing digital technology will put an organisation in the best position to make decisions that ensure they are fit for the future.
The board needs to be confident about the financial health of a business. Only those with the latest technology can be assured of having a data-driven finance dashboard that provides an accurate, up-to-date view of finances. Organisations are looking to their CFO to become an agent of change, relying on them to use their unique insight to ensure they are best placed to reshape for future success.
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How can data insights expand the role of the finance department with
the organisation? Integrated cloud-based financial systems help the finance team visualise data, interpret it and create meaningful insights from which the rest of the business can make decisions. As the people who are used to dealing with numbers and data, CFOs are best placed to take this strategic role, which provides stakeholders with the information and insight they need. Instead of comparing historical data sets to ensure they match, one integrated view ensures the CFO is in command of all the financial information necessary to explain the implications of the numbers and work closely with the rest of the board and decision makers help to create a stronger and more agile organisation.
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Digital transformation is just as much about people. How can I get my team
on board? To embrace digital technology, organisations need to rethink the way they work – which
includes reshaping people’s roles and responsibilities. Many people can see this as a threat to their jobs, and so business leaders have a duty to demonstrate how digital transformation should be seen as positively reshaping their role, providing new career opportunities, with the right training and reskilling. Highlight the positives; people will be freed up to work on higher value tasks, such as creating insight from ‘connected’ data with reporting that is (near) real-time, rather than waiting for time-consuming month end activities.
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How can I ensure management decisions are more informed?
As the availability of data increases, businesses and investors are becoming hungrier for information. Being confident when dealing with numbers and data, CFOs are ideally positioned to lead the management of this data which supports more informed management decisions. However, to rise to this challenge, only CFOs that embrace the latest technology, to ensure that data is connected and integrated across different departments and systems, will be effective in analysing one single version of the truth.
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How can I reshape my role by to become a key advisor to the CEO? With so much data at their fingertips, the CFO is in the ideal position to become a business enabler, a strategic business partner to the CEO and someone who they turn to help recharge the leadership team and keep them one step ahead of its competition. However, this can only be achieved by using technology to make decisions that improve processes, create efficiencies and reduce costs. As businesses continue their journeys of digital transformation, the CFO that embraces technology skills is ideally
positioned to lead this change and become the key strategic adviser and digital decision- maker in the organisation.
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So embracing a digital-first strategy will help me reshape the finance
department fit for the future? Yes! The CFO of the future will become the digital pioneer, using technology to inform business decisions and strategy. Using the latest innovations to automate processes to free up time to work on business strategies, it will help to ensure the organisation is lean, flexible and competitive. They will anticipate future needs, enabling the use of non- financial data for reporting and predicting potential future requirements, and ensuring the organisation is agile enough to respond. They will also need to carry out complex compliance and risk analysis – and by using real-time data gathered from having the right technologies and systems in place, it will ensure teams make the right decisions, at the right time. It’s no longer an option of whether the
finance department should incorporate digital technology, but rather a question of when. CFOs must therefore rethink the role of their finance department and take steps to reimagine and reshape it to ensure continued growth and remain one step ahead.
Find out more
ANDREW HICKS is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Advanced, having joined the company in December 2015. He is responsible for leading the Group’s strategic and operational finance, legal and HR departments. He also drives strategic organic and inorganic initiatives across the group. Andrew brings 15 years’ experience in the soſtware
sector, serving in senior finance roles in public and private equity backed firms both in the UK and USA. Most recently,
he was CFO of Kewill, a global leader in multi-modal transportation soſtware solutions, which he helped transition from a public company to private ownership. Prior to that, he worked for a number of Vista portfolio companies including Advanced’s sister company, financial services soſtware provider Misys, and as CFO of Vista’s P2 Energy Solutions, the world’s largest soſtware and data solutions company exclusively servicing the oil and gas industry. This business was formed from the assets of Thomson Reuters’ Trade and Risk Management Soſtware business unit based in the UK.
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