In today's ‘digital’ world, the role of the CFO extends far beyond the financial management of the company, taking on increasingly strategic functions, where active analytical management of data allows the CFO to obtain information that serves to ‘feed back’ into the innovation process and, in this way, drive the sustainable growth of the organisation.
This is how finance is interrelated in a direct way with business, therefore, with the company’s strategy, where the CFO is in charge of driving growth inside the organisation, identifying opportunities, as well as anticipating the challenges that lie ahead.
The evolution of his role can not be explained without considering the technological advances, where a good use of the different existing solutions, combined with his knowledge of the business and its associated risks, incorporates a differential factor to his figure, which is still what distinguishes it from the other areas of the company.
We can say that technology remains his greatest ‘ally’, and even more so if we refer to data analytics management that allows them to identify trends, opportunities and business risks, that otherwise would be very difficult to detect.
The same applies to the possibility of recognising inefficient tasks or processes and thus achieving potential cost and time savings, which, by the way, goes beyond the scope of the financial area and reaches all areas of the organisation.
In this way, the ability to convert huge volumes of data into valuable insights for the organisation, it facilitates and allows better decision making and even more so when we it comes to strategic issues.
Thus, the adoption of new technologies, not only improves any type of forecasting, but also it optimises the work, positioning the organisations before a sustainable growth over time.
It is worth noting that for a true business transformation to take place, incorporating new technologies is a necessary but not sufficient condition, as what is important is that they are aligned with the company's strategic objectives.
But we should not only consider the technological aspect, because one of the principal functions of the CFO, is still creating a cultural organisation that promotes innovation and creativity.
In this context, a treasury management platform allows the CFO to make decisions with a better understanding of the company's real financial capacity. It is not just a matter of automating, but of having a solid base of information - structured, updated and accessible - to help him or her assess whether an initiative can be sustained over time, how it aligns with liquidity forecasts and what implications it has on the rest of the financial structure. Thus, cash management ceases to be an isolated exercise and becomes a natural part of the strategic decision-making process linked to innovation.
At the same time, its functions include managing the risk associated with each of the innovation projects to be carried out, enhancing their return, as well as mitigating the occurrence of possible losses.
This new reality implies for the CFO the incorporation of new knowledge, where it is no longer necessary to know ‘a lot of little’ (finance), but rather ‘a little of a lot’, which requires him/her to be aware of the latest technological trends, in order to be able to take advantage of those solutions that improve efficiency in the organisation, as well as decision-making.
Effectively combining innovation with strategic technology solutions has therefore become a key function of the CFO, where his or her expertise becomes relevant in the decisions to be taken in today's rapidly changing business environment.
This is why it must be prepared to adjust plans quickly to changes as they occur, where the capacity of pivoting strategically in the face of a new ‘road map’ requires vision, precise information and the capacity to adopt new decisions without the loss of time.
In short, efficient data analytics management can drive innovation and thus improve the organisation's strategic decision-making, enabling the CFO to ‘transform’ his or her function from a traditionally reactive perspective to a fully proactive one, focused on creating sustainable value over time.
