siliconindia | | April 20199Finance as a function is evolving from Accounting to Analysing, Schedules to Structuring, Ledgers to Dashboard, People to Processes, Rationing to Optimising, Controlling to Enablingon three C's - Compliance, Cost and Control. Going fur-ther, a number of factors such as the rapid technological advancements, intense competition, growing population, industrialization and government interference have con-tributed to the increased focus on the effective & efficient use of financial resources. The shift from ep-isodic financing to managerial financing is a visible pointer to the emergence of finance as a function.Modern finance leverages technology across main accounting and finance process-es for enhanced performance. The finance as a function takes a broader view on var-ious business aspects, including profitabili-ty planning, determining the asset mix, risk analysis, optimal capital structure, financing, investment and dividend decisions, as well as the direc-tion of business growth.Finance as a function is evolving from Account-ing to Analysing, Schedules to Structuring, Ledgers to Dashboard, People to Processes, Rationing to Optimis-ing, Controlling to Enabling. From a close associate to CEO reporting numbers, finance has transitioned itself to technology driven shared services function heavily offshore leveraged with ERP and internet establishing robust connectivityBusiness is ChangingTechnology has changed the way business is being done. The risk of being `Ubered' is driving lot of changes in the way businesses are being restructured. Few years back, technology was primarily used to automate and improve efficiency in your support functions like HR and finance. But now, technology is embedded in business, whether you talk about self-driven cars or aggregators like Air BNB. This wave of transformational change is termed as `Digitization'.Digitization is widely seen as a competitive necessity. A majority of senior leaders acknowledge that it is far more than a source of efficiencies - it is required for survival. Changing customer and employee needs & behaviors, in addition to the emergence of new business models make older ways of working and delivering products and services far less effective. Technologies like Big Data, AI and Robotics are driving business into what is called the Fourth Industrial revolution.Finance in the Digital EraThe role of the CFO/Finance leader in enhancing the cus-tomer experience or business possibilities pivots between advisor and enabler. The advisor focuses on financial im-pacts and controls. The enabler works with the organiza-tion to coordinate all the strands of insight, development and launch needed to bring new customer experiences to market quickly and success-fully. Finance is doing things that it never could before, thanks to digital technologies. End-to-end multi-dimensional data access is enabling total visibility into both enterprise and customer data. The result? The finance organization will evolve from an expense control, spreadsheet-driven accounting and reporting center, into a predictive analytics powerhouse that creates business value.Finance in digital world or tomorrow's digital finance organization is a radical departure from the status quo. It deals in analytics and forward-looking decisions to create value and manage risk. It shifts traditional accounting and processing to cross-functional integrated business service models that use robotic process automation. It trades report-ing the past for predicting the future. As this model takes hold, the role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will change. Already in recent years, CFOs have become more influential within the business. 73 percent say that their engagement in strategic planning has increased in the last two years.Role of Finance in Digital world1. Finance Needs to Be Agile in Their Thought Pro-cess Collaboration: This will be an important aspect Sachin Chitlange
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