Financial Transformation is the Future. Here’s How to Get There
Discover the future of finance. Embrace financial transformation for a strategic leap into tomorrow.
Between a tumultuous economic environment, rampant burnout, rapidly evolving tech tools, and more, the finance and accounting industries desperately need change. FloQast’s CEO, Mike Whitmire, breaks down the movement for financial transformation and how leaders accommodate this revolution.
The accounting and finance industries are at a critical crossroads in an era of rapid technological advancements and shifting economic landscapes. Traditional practices and processes are no longer working, recruitment and retention are becoming increasingly challenging, and employees are burnt out.
As organizations struggle to remedy these issues and keep up in these ever-changing industries, it is increasingly evident that financial transformation is necessary for survival and success. Here, we consider financial transformation as the reshaping, rethinking, and modernization of financial processes, allowing companies to unleash employee potential, uncover more accurate, relevant, and usable insights, establish more efficient systems, create a better company culture, and make better business decisions.
Financial transformation is empowered by new, innovative digital technologies, like artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning, to streamline, simplify, and optimize processes and systems. Financial transformation can positively impact everyone across the business and help achieve overarching company success.
I know that sounds grandiose, but let me explain.
Employees Are the Canary in the Coal Mine
Perhaps the number one indicator that financial transformation is critical to companies’ operations and future success is the growing number of employees eager to see these changes transpire.
To overcome the challenges the accounting and finance industries are facing, employees are confident that these new tech tools have the power to reshape and revolutionize their work. A recent study from FloQast found that accountants believe that having the right technology would mean that upstream and downstream processes would be better integrated with their work (76%), the execution of their work would be solid (75%), company performance would be improved (75%), and company culture would be more robust (67%). Even further, 70% of accountants said that their company is in vital need of financial transformation.
With accounting and finance professionals chomping for financial transformation, CFOs and other C-suite leaders are pressured to get on board and usher their organizations through this change.
However, as companies look to integrate these new, innovative digital tools quickly, they must be implemented in a way that supports employees and helps to streamline their work, not make their lives harder. In another study, they found that employees who sustained “synergistic” and “routine” relationships with their technology had far less stress and burnout compared to those with “adversarial” relationships: only 25% of those with “synergistic relationships” reported average to high levels of burnout, compared to 49% of those with “routine relationships” and 73% of those with “adversarial relationships.”
It is clear that while employees are eager to see financial transformation take place, the process must be done intentionally and thoughtfully if leaders want to see greater productivity, efficiency, and progress.
See More: The Very Real Impact of AI on the Future of Accounting
The Recipe for a Successful Financial Transformation
The benefits of financial transformation are far-reaching – it can impact employee well-being, enhance strategic capabilities, and improve overall company performance. However, as companies move towards financial transformation, ensuring they integrate these new tools and modernize processes correctly is critical.
There are three key steps leaders must take to ensure they are unlocking the most potential:
- Think about every single process your team performs. How often is it run? How long does it take? Conducting a thorough assessment of all your current infrastructure applications, processes, timelines, and more will give you a better idea of where digital tools will be most effective for your teams and how they can kickstart financial transformation.
- Ensure you have a clear strategy and path forward. After determining where changes need to be made, and tools need to be implemented, ensure you have a plan outlining clear objectives and goals. How will these new processes help accomplish both overarching company and individual employee goals? How will these tools help unleash employee potential? What data needs to be gathered, and where should it be utilized?
- Lastly, ensure your employees are prepared. Financial transformation is only possible if your employees are set up for success. Invest in their training to ensure they have the skills and resources to work alongside these new tools effectively. Even further, make sure you are listening to their feedback. If there is an issue, they will be the first to know. Collaborating with them can be critical to quickly solving problems and achieving broad strategic change.
See More: Unleash the Power of Data To Drive Innovation in Finance
Creating a Financially Transformed Future
The finance and accounting industries are at the precipice of a new era. Between rapidly evolving technological innovations, the tumultuous state of the economy, the rampant levels of burnout, and more, we desperately need change.
Financial transformation is the answer. It’s not just about embracing the latest technologies; it’s a holistic approach that empowers employees, fosters a culture of innovation, influences the company’s strategic direction, and reshapes the core of financial processes. The resounding enthusiasm among accounting and finance professionals for this transformation and the increased pressure on CFOs underscores its urgency. It’s not merely a desire but a demand for change.
Financial transformation is not just a box to check off or a singular goal to achieve; it is a dynamic process that, when executed correctly, can drive strategic change and slingshot accounting and finance into the future.
Why is financial transformation vital for your business? How can innovation revolutionize your financial processes? Let us know on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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