{"id":6016,"date":"2019-03-05T04:51:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T09:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=6016"},"modified":"2026-02-16T06:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:05:24","slug":"cfos-unlock-trapped-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/cfos-unlock-trapped-data\/","title":{"rendered":"How can CFOs unlock the power of trapped data?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTechnology & Innovation<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow can CFOs unlock the power of trapped data?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tTrey Johnson<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Using data to drive efficiencies, save costs and generate growth has become an integral part of the role of today’s CFO.\u00a0 However, with more data available to businesses than ever before, finding the most valuable insights to achieve strong, data-driven growth is rarely quick or easy.<\/p>\n

In this article, I’ll explore the challenges CFOs can face when harnessing financial data.\u00a0 I’ll look at how using software automation<\/a> can build a better data culture within finance teams and how it can drive growth, minimize risk and identify new opportunities.<\/p>\n

Don’t let your financial data cause staff burnout!<\/h2>\n

It may sound like a bold warning but, after a recent workshop with our partners and customers, the impact of inefficient and complex financial data processes on IT staff became clear.<\/p>\n

Everyone laid on the table the IT department\u2019s pain points in financial reporting and I gathered them into these five key hurdles:<\/p>\n

Hurdle one: The raw data<\/h2>\n

It all starts with the data, of course, stored in ERP systems<\/a>, accounts and finance software and – for almost every organization, no matter what they might claim – a ton of Excel spreadsheets.<\/p>\n

For many IT teams delivering reports to a CFO, what should be a straightforward act of connecting to and accessing these systems is often a major challenge.<\/p>\n

Hurdle two: Complexity and mismatches<\/h2>\n

There are so many layers of complexity in financial reporting to wrestle with.\u00a0 Not least currencies, countries, and differing terminology\/semantics.<\/p>\n

In terms of mismatches, it\u2019s fair to say that integrating, consolidating and understanding the relationships between and data and databases is a job in itself.<\/p>\n

Hurdle three: Timings and adjustments<\/h2>\n

Deadlines, chase-ups and late submissions\u2026 According to Companies House in the UK, there\u2019s been a 10% increase in late submissions of accounts in recent years, despite continued investment in ERP, accounts and finance systems.<\/p>\n

Fast reporting is clearly a struggle that\u2019s on the increase and adjustments, reviews and redrafts remaining a lengthy, manual and labor-intensive task.<\/p>\n

Hurdle four: Error correction<\/h2>\n

Detecting and correcting errors in financial reports is the next major hurdle and one which can also be quantified.<\/p>\n

Looking at just one example from the UK, 176,000 companies were fined last year for errors in their financial reporting (again, according to Companies House), with the total fines amounting to \u00a389 million ($117 million).<\/p>\n

Hurdle five: Security<\/h2>\n

Above all of these hurdles, there\u2019s the overarching work in security and data governance that\u2019s a vital part of every organization. Compliance to GDPR<\/a> and numerous financial and auditing standards \u2013 which, of course, vary from territory to territory \u2013 all need to be considered.\u00a0 Again, another manual task that has traditionally been very time-consuming.<\/p>\n

How can software help?<\/h2>\n

Is there a fix for all of this?\u00a0 While there\u2019s never going to be a magic wand solution, software automation of business-critical, time-consuming aspects of financial reporting are emerging which I think are well worth a discussion.\u00a0 They\u2019re worth considering in the IT department and they\u2019re something the CFO (and the CIO and CEO) of an organization should also be cognizant of.<\/p>\n

The last few years have seen the arrival of software automation into the world of finance and data processing, designed to tackle all the hurdles above.\u00a0 To my mind, there are four key ways that automating data management with software can relieve the ‘data headaches’ that surround financial reporting.<\/p>\n

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  1. Firstly, being able to automate data integration is a major step forward. Software can consolidate all your data automatically, so nothing is missed. As a result, tasks that might have taken your finance team weeks or months can be turned into quick, app-based clicks.<\/li>\n
  2. For reporting itself, it’s possible to put software in place to that can deliver a central, consolidated ‘data hub’ from which efficient and accurate analysis can be pulled at any given time.<\/li>\n
  3. Also data modeling, with software, can become a fast, intuitive \u2013 rather than manual, laborious \u2013 process. Certain variants of data management software will come with a user interface that makes it easy to prepare complex financial data for reporting at the user-\/IT-level, without the need for technical experts.<\/li>\n
  4. Finally, security and governance. If all data management is automated, a very useful result is that you then have an overarching system in place that will control, audit and log all activity.\u00a0 From password and access control to reconfiguring mismatched data.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What do the analysts think?<\/h2>\n

    For a second opinion on all of this, I\u2019d recommend Helena Schwenk\u2019s white papers.<\/a>\u00a0She\u2019s a chief analyst at IDC, an organization that looks at both the underlying technology (in this case ELT \u201cor extract, load, transform\u201d processes) and the bigger picture. Helena explains,<\/p>\n

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    \u201cELT routines (in data management software) provide automated profiling and transformations for data sources, including the ability to identify and manage custom aspects of deployments, alongside prepackaged data warehouse models for specific business applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    On that data security\/data governance angle, data management automation software can, IDC explains, \u201cprovide configurable administration and security capabilities \u2013 with additional support for extracting security from ERP systems \u2013 to help ensure access and compliance requirements are upheld. \u00a0In addition, auditing modules provide IT administrators with data on user activity, resources usage, and system monitoring to help fine-tune performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Financial reporting without the headaches<\/h2>\n

    As for my take on the bigger picture, with data management automation software, CFOs and IT teams get \u2013 at the basic level \u2013 faster reporting without the data headaches.\u00a0 They also become able to better manage their data, by removing the hindrances of accessing legacy systems, while still tapping into its legacy data.<\/p>\n

    Their ability to navigate through periods of growth \u2013 and downturns \u2013 are less obstructed by data trapped in silos.\u00a0 Instead, they have increased confidence in the financial intelligence readily available to them, regardless of whether it\u2019s in the cloud, on-premise or a combination of both.<\/p>\n

    Utilizing software automation solutions which improve the accessibility and manageability of data across the financial arm of a business enables CFOs to identify trends and issues before they make an impact (rather than after).\u00a0 It also improves processes and drives efficiencies.\u00a0 Fast reporting \u2013 and gaining insight quickly and easily \u2013 allows the CFO to stay ahead of the curve, by anticipating the next question before it\u2019s even asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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