2017 has been a particularly busy year for FSN, marked by the conclusion of three global research projects designed to assess the status and progress of the modern finance function. As we approach the end of the calendar year, I wanted to offer 5 stand-out observations arising from the research that have the potential to … Continued
The Modern Finance Forum’s most recent research reveals a healthy degree of scepticism about the prospects for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in the finance function. In a September 2017 survey of more than 850 senior finance professionals, 56% of respondents expected to become more dependent on machine learning to drive more accurate forecasts, but only … Continued
1.Spreadsheets: The Ultimate Disruptor Spreadsheets are without doubt the accountants’ favourite tool and there is no sign of that love affair abating soon. The Future of Financial Reporting Survey from FSN highlights that just 32% of CFOs believe that finance functions will be able to move away from spreadsheet reporting by 2030. Businesses talk obsessively about disruptive … Continued
In an interview this week with Bill Gates, he suggested that the use of robots should be taxed more or less equivalently to the humans they replace. The logic is at first sight appealing and irrefutable. Robots displace jobs that would have been done by humans who pay income taxes, social security taxes and insurances, (depending … Continued
After years of doubt and prevarication CFOs have finally accepted the inevitability of moving core financial processes to the cloud. After all, the cloud holds such promise…doesn’t it? But recent FSN research, “The Future of Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting” exposes the unpalatable truth that few organisations are fully benefiting from the cloud……..and that’s because they … Continued
As the year-end looms, CFOs in corner offices around the globe are poring over 2017 budget proposals, allocating resources and approving 12-month plans based on data they know will be out of date even before the Christmas trees have been recycled. This might suffice for another year or two, but nimble disruptors are appearing in every sector, … Continued
At FSN The Modern Finance Forum we ‘practice what we preach’. As you may know, our “Future of the Finance Function Research” released in the summer found that 52% of CFOs consider that they spend too much time on transaction processing and 42% spend too much time on management accounting. So, I wanted to share with … Continued
For more than a decade businesses have been talking enthusiastically about the need to put the customer at the centre of what they do. But subtle changes in the digital economy, particularly the shift from selling goods to selling ‘Everything-as-a-Service’ is profoundly changing business models, organisational models and information systems. It’s a transformation for which many … Continued
Modern finance should be automating for insight as well as productivity. The ability to do this is within our gift but many finance professionals fail to deliver on the promise because they have not joined up their ‘front office’ (customer-facing systems) and their core financial systems in the back office. Front-to-back office integration really matters … Continued
CFOs must first examine themselves to see if they have the right skills to take the finance function into a more strategic future, and then ensure that the rest of the finance team can support and drive this new direction. The finance function is in a state of flux. Technology is having a profound impact … Continued