The post-pandemic toolkit

How CFOs can use technology to support growth.

The last 18 months have forced finance leaders to become agile, make fast decisions, and reassess processes to keep pace and remain afloat. As businesses aim to flourish in the post-pandemic era, it’s time for chief financial officers (CFOs) to consolidate their position as strategic leaders. This requires CFOs not just to stabilise their organisations, but lead them through recovery and spark financial growth. Consolidating this role successfully relies on capitalising on digital infrastructure to boost financial performance.

Finance functions becoming the ‘go to’ for data

PwC’s March 2021 CFO US Pulse Survey indicates that the CFO’s top priority for the finance function in 2021 is establishing finance as a business partner across the enterprise. To reach this goal, the CFO must create a more agile, efficient finance function, and one that can deliver value across the organisation to all stakeholders. Using technologies like cloud computing, automation, and artificial intelligence, finance teams can enable more efficient planning reporting and financial closes.

In addition to embracing the right technologies, the finance function must position itself as the trusted source for real-time data. Today, stakeholders demand fast and accurate insights to plan, report, and take action in response to rapidly changing challenges. The ability to share data through digital, cloud-based infrastructure enables the finance function to focus on strategy and analysis, rather than data collection and distribution.