The decision has been made and the ‘die is cast’. Whatever camp you were in last night we all have to deal with the consequences of the UK vote to leave Europe today. So what should CFOs be doing this morning? These are monumental events but I don’t think we should be too distracted by … Continued
The requirements of a modern CFO are as wide as they are deep. Constrained by financial governance, limited by ageing technology, swamped by demands to broaden their financial stewardship into business partnering, technology and strategy, CFOs can’t do it all. At least, not all at once. Time is the crucial factor holding CFOs back. Despite … Continued
More than two decades after ERP systems first appeared in the business landscape more than half of all CFOs say that they spend too much time on transaction processing. That was one of the startling conclusions from FSN’s research “The Future of the Finance Function Survey 2016” conducted among the 46,000 members of the FSN … Continued
After decades in which business applications have coalesced, the world now seems to be shifting into reverse gear, accelerated by the gradual demise of large ERP suites, the complexity of multi-vendor environments in the cloud and the fragmenting influence of the so called ‘Internet of Things’. At the same time there is unrelenting pressure on … Continued
Small accounting firms that have not kept up with accounting in the cloud could find themselves on the ‘endangered species’ list in the face of innovative and disruptive business models being rolled out by the Big 4 accounting firms. In the past SMEs have been served by the thousands of small firms of accountants but … Continued
A recent study by KPMG found that less than half of CEOs from high-performing organizations think their finance functions are doing a good job in exploring and implementing new technology. Not all CFOs are responsible for the entire IT function, but they will all be required to assess the strategic imperative of each technology investment. And some … Continued
Women are good for business. There should be more of them in finance leadership positions, but the solution isn’t merely to hire a few more female CFOs. It requires a well-considered, long-term strategy, otherwise companies could face expensive legislation to tackle the gender imbalance. At one extreme lies the quota system. It works fast but … Continued
Some analysts have expressed strong doubts about the sustainability of ERP in the cloud, but the notion that ERP is the cloud will not succeed is greatly exaggerated. Here are 5 reasons why. The ERP concept is proven – who wants to turn the clock back? Whatever misgivings CFOs may have about the chequered history … Continued
“How are we performing compared to our closest competitors?”…. is a constant concern for CFOs seeking to drive growth and profitability. Yet it is a stubbornly difficult question to answer. Traditional benchmarking services are expensive and time-consuming, added to which they frequently ‘straight-jacket’ businesses into a narrow range of performance measures that leave nagging doubts … Continued
Gary Simon, CEO, FSN says “Having been partially responsible for persuading businesses and CFOs to use email in the early 1980s I feel a little guilt-ridden saying that I would now like to get rid of it. But after 30 years I think it’s fair to say that email has run its course and the … Continued