Findings Highlight Plans to Accelerate Digitization, Prioritize ESG Over the Next One to Three Years
In
The survey findings showed that only 19% of CFOs have automated nearly all their finance processes and are currently handling financial reporting digitally. With the majority of organizations in the midst of digital transformation, CFOs also reported gaps in their data, ultimately affecting performance over the past year. The lack of data to make critical business decisions impacted product launches, according to 28% of CFOs, with 24% citing missed financial forecasts, and 17% citing misaligned resource investments.
Additionally, key survey findings show:
- Execution during COVID-19 was significantly impacted due to lack of accurate data. Nearly half of CFOs (49%) say their organization’s biggest gap over the past year was the ability to execute with accurate, timely data that drives quick, informed decisions.
- As a result, over the past year CFOs prioritized investments to close the data gap. When looking at investments, 50% of CFOs said they made the most progress over the past 12 months closing the data gap by prioritizing intelligent data foundations (creating a single source of truth for finance, worker, and operational data) and advanced analytics for better decision making.
- Looking ahead, CFOs are prioritizing cloud and machine learning investments over the next one to three years. Nearly two-thirds of CFOs (60%) are investing in reimagining finance operations in the cloud and deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions to address finance digital transformation.
- Beyond technology investments, environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) as well as diversity and inclusion (D&I) are emerging as business priorities. ESG (29%) and D&I issues (26%) are listed as the emerging topics that businesses are most focused on prioritizing beyond technology — ranking higher than cybersecurity and cryptocurrency.
Comment on the News
"It's clear that a lack of insights during the pandemic resulted in missed opportunities for companies to drive top and bottom line growth across a variety of areas," said
For more information:
- Read the blog “Where CFOs Are Prioritizing Resources to Enable a Frictionless Finance Future”
- Download the report, “CFO Indicator Report: Frictionless Finance”
- See previous CFO survey data from Workday
About the Survey
Workday surveyed more than 260 CFOs in
About Workday
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