Majority of CFOs lacking visibility on transactions

A study of more than 500 chief financial officers (CFOs) has revealed that more than 60% of CFOs lack complete visibility into the transactions within their organisations. 

The research conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), commissioned by Coupa Software, also found that 76% think leveraging new technologies or improving processes would enable their organisations to work better with other functions to execute corporate finance strategy.

The study, titled, “The Strategic CFO in a Rapidly Changing World,” takes an in-depth look at how CFOs and senior finance professionals are responding in a rapidly evolving world where new technologies, uncertainty, and emerging threats abound.

Qualitative interviews were completed with CFOs from Ally Financial, Driftwood Acquisitions and Development, Hays, Micron Technologies, and Zendesk.

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“The results of this study are not surprising – visibility remains a huge challenge for CFOs in today’s dynamic and ever-evolving business environment,” said Rob Bernshteyn, chief executive officer, Coupa.

“It’s critical that CFOs adopt a cloud-based strategy for Business Spend Management that enables them to have visibility and control over their spend to make more strategic and informed decisions about their business.”

Additional findings include:

• 67% see process or technology improvement as critical to managing risk.
• To better manage costs, 60% believe process or technology improvement is critical.
• Breaking down silos and improving cross-department collaboration is key. Nearly 60% who assess their organisations as most able to manage risk, cost, and capital also describe their companies as collaborative.
• Automation and cloud computing are the top two emerging technologies that finance executives most expect to help execute corporate finance strategy.
• Business performance risk is the number one threat with the potential to impact the financial position of those organisations surveyed.