Today’s Finance Managers Should Have A Digital Mindset. Why?

 

 

Today’s finance managers are expected to be tech-savvy and having a digital mindset is inevitable. They cannot afford to lag behind in this rapidly evolving financial and business landscapes driven by technology.

Time and again, professional bodies like CIMA, ACCA, CPA, and their ilk keep reiterating the importance of technology in the financial environment and how cohort of accountants and finance managers should embrace this “here-for-ever” change in their functions.

Having said that, let us explore why and how finance managers and accountants should accept and adapt to the new era of technology in finance.

 

• We all know businesses are growing manifold and are increasingly leveraging digital tools and platforms to improve efficiency, reduce costs, gain competitive advantages and mostly to increase their market presence. Finance managers must be adept in understanding and implementing these technologies to stay relevant. Senior finance professionals must not hesitate to endorse digital mindset across organization.

 

• There is surfeit of data available to businesses either generated internally or from open sources. I must admit, a digitally inclined finance manager can freely access these data which can be harnessed using data analytics and business intelligence tools to make learned strategic decisions. Today’s decisions are mostly made in double quick time with access to real-time data.

 

• With the help of new technologies such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) that helps finance functions to automate routine tasks such as accounts payable/receivable, reconciliations, and reporting. Few other technologies like blockchain can facilitate secure processing of transactions with heightened controls.

 

• Digital mindset helps finance managers to identify opportunities to automate mundane processes, improve efficiency and free up resources for more specialised activities like analytics, data acquisition and business intelligence.

 

• As digital systems become integral, business (like individuals) stands exposed to risks of fraud, data breaches, and financial mismanagement. If a finance manager has a digital mindset, he would spot lacunae in his business environment and would facilitate build and implement robust cybersecurity measures.

 

• Till the early decade of this century, there were no digital tool to help uncover inefficiencies and optimize spending. But ever since the last one and half decades, more sophisticated financial software and applications have come into play, finance managers have learnt to adapt to technological solutions to all their needs like optimal resource utilisation, increase revenue using multiple avenues to marketing, compliance to regulatory requirements and meeting standards prescribed in reporting. All these functions are automated today.

 

• Digital mindset fosters a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. This enables finance teams, led by senior management in finance functions, to quickly adapt to market changes, implement new technologies, and support organizational growth. I see many start- up’s finance functions are agile in embracing new technology and bringing in efficiency from day one.

 

• Digital transformation often spans across departments. Finance managers and his/ her team, with a digital mindset, lead from the front in creating a collaborative environment with other cross-functions like IT, operations, HR. Many finance managers have become tech evangelists for their organisation in driving digital solutions.

   

• Many digital tools are tailored for tracking environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics. Finance managers with a digital mindset leverage on these to comply with regulatory requirements and support sustainability goals.

 

• I always reckon, digital mindset in finance managers makes them forward-thinking and keeps himself and his team agile and adaptable to change.

 

• The role of a finance manager is shifting from traditional accounting manager to a strategic and a thought leader. A digital mindset ensures they remain relevant and valuable to an organisation in an increasingly tech-driven world.

 

Gone are the days, where a finance manager or his deputies are complacent within the confines of recording financial transactions and bookkeeping, finalising financial statements and had different functions carved out to certain limited activities.

Today, with the advent of digital technology, a finance professional are expected to perform multi-functional roles like data analysts, financial data scientists, creator of efficient data visualisation, provider of timely information to senior management in most efficient way possible, influencer of data-driven decisions, a single point of contact (SPOC) for finance function, so long and so forth.

 

We can safely surmise the present-day finance professional (particularly finance managers) is ready to wear different caps, provided they are digitally inclined in their mindset.

 

But let me also reiterate here that a finance professional need not be a fully qualified IT person. He/she need not be a whiz-kid in writing codes or algorithms at the backend for their tasks. It is sufficient if they have 30% of technical awareness (yeah you read right, just awareness, not an expert in application or software that is used). They need to be aware of the features of those software or application in use and its relative applicability to the functions of finance. Or they should at least be able to advise their requirements to the IT software developers.

 

So, get prepared to be a digital mindset finance professional or be prepared to be beaten down on your tracks.