More Enhanced Technologies Deliver Tangible Results

In an analysis of the survey results, BearingPoint found that only 28 percent of participants considered themselves data-driven, meaning they have implemented data-driven tools for several or most of their business use cases. Advanced analytics is the technology with the highest adoption frequency; 96 percent of respondents rated advanced analytics as either already implemented or relevant to their business. More modern and sophisticated technologies like blockchain, event streaming, and data lakes have yet to unfold their potential in CFO functions.

Integration capabilities remain a top criterion for organizations when selecting a technology. At the same time, security and cloud-based solutions significantly increased in priority. The study covers technology developments, such as continuous and predictive accounting, which aims to deliver real-time insights and automation in accounting departments, shifting accountants’ responsibilities to more value-adding tasks and changing the organizational setup.

In controlling, extended planning and analysis (xP&A) is a method that enables enterprises to find the relationships between the many entities engaging in transactions with one another, thus allowing them to detect for example trends and seasonality in the demand of items with the help of historical data to simplify cost allocation for the corporation.

The recent advancement in data technologies also benefits treasury in fraud prevention, risk management, and cash management, allowing treasury employees to focus more on strategic, value-adding tasks while mitigating risks and enhancing efficiency in a time-sensitive environment.