The last few months have illustrated beyond doubt the urgent need for finance process improvement around the financial close and the need to successfully automate the financial close.
CFOs agree that process standardisation should be the first step on the path to automation yet many organisations gloss over standardisation and leap straight to automation with disappointing results. For example, FSN’s research finds that that process standardisation is a key objective of automation initiatives for 90% of CFOs, yet only 50% achieved this.
So, what can we learn from the 50% who are successfully undertaking process standardisation and automation? and how can CFOs successfully automate the financial close process?
In this live 30-minute video-panel debate, Gary Simon, Chief Executive FSN, interviews three exceptional individuals and influencers, who are at the leading edge of developments in the Record-to- Report (R2R) process.
* James Wilkinson, Director of Finance, at global luxury brand Burberrys, was responsible for building the record-to-report team at Burberry, providing best practice financial and performance reporting in this £2.63 billion business.
* Varun Dewan, UK Director with global consulting firm Protiviti, specialising in finance transformation and accounting, he was formerly a Director at EY.
* Alan James, Director, Trintech, who has twenty years of experience in finance and tax technology. Originally working in the Big4 before moving into the technology sector, Alan specialises in helping companies automate their Record-to-Report processes.
Recommended Reading:
Innovation in Financial Reporting Global Survey 2018
The innovation in Financial Reporting Global Survey 2018 builds on earlier research about attitudes to innovation in the finance function and fascinatingly highlights that innovation in reporting is at the vanguard of the finance function’s attempts to modernize.
Almost half (46%) of respondents to this global survey said they had made innovative changes to their reporting procedures over the last three years compared to just 37% in FSN’s earlier survey, “Innovation in the Finance Function” 2018, that had implemented innovations across the finance function as a whole.
Crucially, the Innovation in Financial Reporting survey underlines the importance that innovation plays as finance professionals seek to transition from their traditional role in financial stewardship and good governance to a more outward facing role as strategic advisor and business partner to the rest of the C-Suite. Broadly speaking, innovation in reporting releases more time for finance professionals to devote to the delivery of business insight and growth. Find out more.