{"id":722,"date":"2021-09-06T10:35:48","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T10:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/?p=722"},"modified":"2025-08-20T02:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T07:16:15","slug":"on-cfos-and-digital-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/on-cfos-and-digital-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"On CFOs and Digital Transformation","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At one time, enterprise CEOs and boards expected their CFOs to manage business financing and financial record keeping, reporting and statutory compliance. In truth, the job varied somewhat depending on the organization. For some, the role of the <a href=\"\/blog\/the-future-of-finance-is-autonomous-a-cfos-strategic-roadmap\/\">CFO might include strategizing<\/a> value-creation with the CEO. But for most, it was about finance, recording, reporting and compliance.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-flat ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/on-cfos-and-digital-transformation\/#digital-transformation-true-automation\" >Digital Transformation: True Automation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/on-cfos-and-digital-transformation\/#accounts-receivable-transformation\" >Accounts Receivable Transformation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/on-cfos-and-digital-transformation\/#process-transformation-value\" >Process Transformation Value<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>The finance role is a significant undertaking\u2014even if bookkeepers use computers instead of books. Accurate accounting, reporting and compliance is no small task. The CFO also has the critical job of saying, \u201cIt\u2019s not in the budget.\u201d Probably more than one CFO has gone by the moniker \u201cDr. No.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If such a <a href=\"\/blog\/5-transformative-ways-autonomous-finance\/\">CFO role<\/a> was limited, it is changing, and the change is accelerating. The finance role is assumed, but CEOs and boards are looking to CFOs to handle increasing responsibilities. McKinsey has reported that the number of functional areas reporting to the CFO is growing. Areas reporting to the CFO now can include <a href=\"\/blog\/b2b-credit-risk-management-best-practices\/\">risk management<\/a>, corporate strategy, investor relations, board engagement, post-merger integration and \u201cdigital.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With expectations increased, CFOs must make finance responsibilities more streamlined and efficient. They need unified, complete information in real time for data-driven decision-making. The only way for this to happen is through digital transformation.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"digital-transformation-true-automation\"><\/span><strong>Digital Transformation: True Automation<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For CFOs to succeed in the new responsibilities demanded of them requires true automation of financial processes. By true automation, we mean holistic, integrated automation rather than discrete function automation. True automation requires several state-of-the-art technologies working together to manage all functions in a financial process, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/products\/order-to-cash-automation-software\/\"><strong>order-to-cash (O2C)<\/strong><\/a>, procure-to-pay (P2P) or record-to-report (R2R).<\/p>\n<p>Robotic, cognitive, and analytic technologies must operate in a single, big-data environment containing all requisite data. Unification of all data in a process such as O2C is the only way to automate it fully and obtain complete visualizations and reporting, predictions and prescriptions.<\/p>\n<p>These technologies include robotic process automation (RPA), deep learning neural networks, natural language processing, and rule-based expert systems. The combined application of such technologies brings true automation (also called hyper-automation) to the O2C team\u2019s job.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"accounts-receivable-transformation\"><\/span><strong>Accounts Receivable Transformation<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/products\/receivables-management-and-automation-software\/\"><strong>accounts receivable<\/strong><\/a>, digital technology can execute the bulk of the daily work that AR staff traditionally has done, freeing up staff for problem-solving and other higher value activities. It also scales to handle growth without increases in FTEs.<\/p>\n<p>The new automation provides real-time or near-real-time information that once involved considerable time and effort to assemble. In addition, automated real-time reporting and visualizations replace manually produced reports that were out of date upon completion.<\/p>\n<p>As significantly, AR\u2019s hyper-automation also improves <a href=\"\/blog\/digital-invoices-digital-payments-and-ai-o2c\/\">customer experience<\/a>, perhaps the most vital outcome. CFOs will have more time for expanded responsibilities, along with a complete set of information to support decision-making.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"process-transformation-value\"><\/span><strong>Process Transformation Value<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While much of the talk of digital transformation implies complete cultural or organizational transformation, there are other facets, including process, business model, and core business transformation. The question is how to get started.<\/p>\n<p>Process transformation provides an excellent starting point. It is easier to grasp and its execution manifests the new possibilities that digital transformation offers. It creates significant internal value while externally transforming customer experience\u2014the vital component in the competitive marketplace. Success in <a href=\"\/blog\/how-digital-assistants-can-transform-the-o2c-process-and-ease-hiring-challenges\/\">O2C process transformation<\/a> provides a foundational understanding and generates new thinking to transform the organization.<\/p>\n<p>Emagia, by way of example, offers an AR\/O2C system incorporating RPA, AI and analytics interacting with big data to provide enterprise-wide automation. Management can access real-time visualizations. Customers interact 24\/7 with a conversational digital assistant trained in AR skills. Internal teams are relieved of the manual and repetitive tasks to focus on higher-value problem-solving.<\/p>\n<p>Emagia\u2019s system automatically gathers data from disparate sources and formats and interprets both formatted and unformatted documents. It aggregates the data from all regions, systems and sources into one data lake, out of which various functions operate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/products\/credit-management-software\/\">Credit decisions<\/a> in seconds and minutes instead of weeks<\/li>\n<li>The system prioritizes and automates collections supported by the digital assistant<\/li>\n<li>Machine learning improves cash application to exceedingly high percentages<\/li>\n<li>Customers have any-time, self-service access, receive tailored communication, and pay via any method<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Visualizations and reports provide current global and regional stats. Descriptive analytics show up to the minute history; predictive analytics show what\u2019s coming according to a scenario, leading to prescriptive analytics for action.<\/p>\n<p>For CFOs, digital transformation in financial operations will make the enterprise more agile and competitive while providing valuable learning and experience that will carry through the organization\u2019s ongoing transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At one time, enterprise CEOs and boards expected their CFOs to manage business financing and financial record keeping, reporting and statutory compliance. In truth, the job varied somewhat depending on the organization. For some, the role of the CFO might include strategizing value-creation with the CEO. But for most, it was about finance, recording, reporting &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/on-cfos-and-digital-transformation\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">On CFOs and Digital Transformation<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":3344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-receivables-automation"],"acf":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6512,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions\/6512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emagia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}