Board International, a leading provider of a decision making platform, has announced the launch of the Resurgent Finance Leader global research report, revealing now more than ever is the time for finance leaders to back their own transformational capabilities and take on a more strategic and valuable role within the business.
The Resurgent Finance Leader research conducted among 600 finance leaders worldwide, on behalf of Board by independent research organisation, Vanson Bourne, found the vast majority (89%) of finance leaders know they have a choice, either watch as the finance function is automated out of existence, or seize the opportunity to change and take on a new and crucial role in the business.
The report highlights how the vast majority (90%) of finance leaders agree it’s time to accelerate the change from being a scorekeeper to performance driver, and 91% agree finance is the natural hub for the most strategic asset of the digital age, one that holds unprecedented opportunities for business growth: data.
While more than a third (36%) of finance decision makers believe fundamental transformation of the finance function is needed to survive, and almost a quarter (23%) focus most of their time and resources leading the future of finance, and one third (33%) on becoming a digital champion, the Board report shows there remains a substantial number (18%) of finance leaders, almost one in five, who admit they still spend most of their time and resources on fixing the basics.
“The Resurgent Finance Leader report from Board shows finance leaders worldwide know now is the time for the office of finance to make the transformational leap to become the strategic hub for driving more value from their data,” said Karlo Bustos, VP Professional Services, Board International. “Yet more time and resources are being spent fixing the basics, clearly resulting in less opportunity for more innovative and strategic time investments elsewhere, and not all finance leaders are completely convinced their office of finance is entirely ready to drive business decisions, profitability and performance.”
Just under half (47%) of all global Finance Leaders surveyed are totally confident in their office of finance’s capability to capture valuable insights which drive business decisions and profitability. The report identifies 62% of finance leaders who don’t believe current finance reporting enables them to totally accurately project performance and adapt forecasts in real-time to reflect changing market conditions. Perhaps more concerning, is the report’s evidence highlighting the majority of finance Leaders (81%) believe how their office of finance uses technology to influence business decision-making and drive strategy needs a complete overhaul ora lot of improvement.
Thankfully the vast majority (94%) of global finance decision makers both believe their organisation’s executive leadership are willing to completely rethink traditional finance roles and responsibilities. Further reassurance is taken from the fact that the same proportion (94%) believe their executive leaders are willing to support the office of finance, to become more strategic and accelerate the digital enterprise by enabling the function to become the hub of the of data.
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