For all the talk about automating many elements of the finance function, teams are still apparently “drowning” in manual tasks.
That’s among the takeaways from a recent survey of CFOs, CAOs and other finance leaders conducted by California-based enterprise tech firm Zuora. The survey of 991 finance leaders in North America, the United Kingdom and France found that 79% of respondents said their teams are “swamped” with manual work. Ironically, it was even worse among respondents working at Software-as-a-Service firms, with 97% of respondents among this set saying their teams are tied up with manual tasks.
This comes even as leaders say they’re prioritizing investments in artificial intelligence technologies intended to streamline workflows. Ninety-three percent of respondents said they’re prioritizing AI capabilities when evaluating new fintech investments. “AI is a strategic priority in both technology and skill sets — but its impact has yet to fully materialize,” Zuora officials wrote in the report.
The report also highlights a shift in expectations for finance leaders: 89% of respondents said they’re “increasingly expected to act as a strategic adviser,” per the report. Still, 70% said their organizations’ current tech is preventing them from doing so. Zuora’s report described this as a “modernization catch-22.” Notably, every respondent working in SaaS said, “manual data issues and reconciliation work are preventing strategic focus.”
“We’re seeing that CFOs oftentimes are taking a backseat in some of the technology decisions that are being made,” said Zuora CFO and COO Todd McElhatton in an interview with CFO.com.
To help finance chiefs overcome these limitations, the report recommends leaders “position finance as a strategic enabler.” What might that look like exactly? In part, it means becoming less reactive and more forward-looking, McElhatton said. That might mean playing a more active role in deciding which types of tech to invest in, and having the vision to make the case for it.
“A lot of times people thought of CFOs as looking in the rearview mirror and reporting the results, keeping controls in place, and that’s the extent of their swim length,” he said. “What we’re seeing today is that finance leaders are being asked to step up more and more and help decide where investments are made. It’s no longer just reporting, but also making sure they have a vision of where things are going.”
The report surveyed respondents across a range of industries, including hospitality, financial services, retail and consumer products. But Zuora didn’t include industry-specific findings, except for companies working in SaaS. “Although this report looks at findings across industries, it also zooms in on SaaS organizations as they represent the epicenter to modern finance complexity,” the company explained in the report.
McElhatton said Zuora today has over 1,000 customers. That includes industry stalwarts like General Motors and Schneider Electric, as well as media giants like The Guardian and The New York Times.
