CFO Journal: Finance 2025: Operating Models, Data Integration, ERP, and the Workforce

“Does your company have a streamlined finance data infrastructure that can help you take advantage of advanced technologies and deliver insights? Finance data serves as a core foundational component of other accelerants, such as extracting an increasingly sophisticated level of business insights that can drive corporate strategy and are also relevant to stakeholders. This will require a comprehensive driver-based data architecture that tells the full back story and doesn’t just report on the outcomes without the underlying causes.”

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FP&A Trends: Finance Transformation and the Future of FP&A

“While a reliable FP&A function relies on a solid business strategy and a sound financial acumen, at the execution level, the future of FP&A depends on three key building blocks: Digital, Data and Analytics. What are these building blocks and why do they matter from the FP&A perspectives? “

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CFO Dive: Transformation Starts with Fixing One Big Tech Problem, Former Oracle CFO Says

“Where much of the value-add comes from today from a technology standpoint is in the specialized applications that surround the ERP, and that’s where finding out where the pain points are, or bringing in a business systems team, can make a difference in how well the CFO tech stack is adding value to the broader organization’s business goals.”

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CFO Journal: CFOs Hold Varied Roles in Leading, Guiding Transformations

“As sponsors of company transformations, CFOs were most likely to play this role with respect to technology/systems upgrades (56%), strategy/model/offering shifts (48%), and process efficiency/redesign (20%).”

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Forbes: The Power Of Storytelling In The Finance Function

“We are in the era of big data and in every organization and in every finance team you will have the opportunity to work with data. You will have to inform, guide and lead your business. I have no doubt that in the role of business partner many CFOs will be responsible for a majority of the data transformations.”

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CFO Journal: By Stepping Up, Controllers Can Keep Pace With New Demands

“As CFOs turn their attention to these enterprise-level and business model transformations, they often rely more on their controllers to drive finance transformation. Why? Controllers are critical to the three outcomes finance transformation seeks to deliver: enhanced information for decision-making and resource allocation; increased speed in reporting critical information to decision-makers; and increased productivity, cost efficiency, and capabilities of the finance organization.”

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CFO Magazine: CFOs: The Architects of Enterprise Transformation

This article from CFO magazine states three hats CFOs must wear to truly be transformative:

1. Systemic Strategist
2. Change Champion
3. Tactical Technician

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Forbes: Speeding Towards Transformation: 2021 Trends In Finance And Accounting

Jeff Thomson’s “top 6 mega-trend predictions for 2021 in finance and accounting”:

1. Automation will no longer be debated
2. Remote working will become the norm for finance teams
3. Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting will become more important
4. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) becomes a finance accountability
5. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) will be a competitive differentiator, in addition to being the right thing to do from a core values perspective
6. Upskilling is the call-to-action

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CFO Journal: What’s on Your Transformation Risk Checklist? Part 2

In finance transformations, CFOs have a strong chance to effectively identify and manage existing risks.

Here’s part two of the list:

5. Ineffective planning and alignment processes

6. Behavioral resistance to change

7. Black swan and other contextual risks

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