The Future of Finance Report
KPMG released a report and associated survey, CFO Agenda for Elevating Finance, to describe how the CFO function is changing towards the future of finance.
As per this report, 68% of CFOs are investing in Digital Transformation in 2023. In addition, 60% of leading finance organizations are deploying advanced capabilities around predictive forecasting and analytics.
This report makes the argument that the integration of people, data, and technology is more important than ever before. The future finance team must figure out how to operate with connected data, systems, and people to have a shot at leading the pack in their respective industries.
Another trend is a movement towards more business partners. This is when finance is embedded within operational business units to directly engage with those decision-makers on critical decisions and strategy. Business partnering as a strategy is directly related to the company’s maturity in technology and its digital transformation. If the finance team is fully tied down to traditional functions of data processing and reporting, there would be a limited opportunity to advance with a business partnering strategy.
Respondents to a KPMG survey of CFOs shared the following key priorities:
- Prioritizing investments in digital, data, and people
- Making faster, more informed decisions
- Leveraging data as their competitive advantage
- Elevating their digital fluency and empowering teams
These priorities must be in direct alignment with the following CFO agenda for 2023:
- Enable sustainable growth and value creation
- Gain an unbeatable competitive advantage
- Think digital, be human, and act with purpose
- Turn risk into opportunity
- Continuously evolve the operating model, embrace new ways of working, and prioritize talent
The report dives further into the 5 pillars that CFOs must execute to achieve their agenda:
- Strategy and innovation
- Digital Acceleration
- Data Intelligence
- Modern Workforce
- Dynamic Risk Management