Technological advancements become mainstays of society when they begin to show positive returns. In this vein, digital maturity, often through automation, has been shown to boost company revenue and profits. Recently released research by Financial Executives International (FEI) provides an interesting perspective on how the bottom line can be boosted through digital innovation.

Benchmark from Industry Leaders

In the highly-competitive world of business, financial success is the most visible indicator of high performance and industry leadership. Among the most digitally mature companies surveyed by FEI, the following four characteristics correlated most with financial performance:

1. A clear vision and dedicated leadership
2. Engaged employees who are intrinsically motivated
3. An ability to leverage data for insights
4. Digital interactions are convenient and effortless

Still, when it comes to automation, many companies are hesitant to implement a transformational solution until they see it working for their peers. To overcome such obstacles to innovation, FEI’s research provides companies with guidelines of the methods to benefit from digital maturation. Below is a quick overview.

1. Overcome the Objections

Alongside the larger organization, the office of finance can also stand to reap the benefits of digital maturation—though change has been slow. When the finance and accounting team chooses to cling to manual processes, everything is slower than it should be. Documentation is easily misplaced, workflow encounters bottlenecks, errors compound until the end of a reporting period and the quality of work decreases—all leading to lower revenue.

By introducing automation as a form of digital innovation, revenue and profits are bound to increase. Projects are completed faster, with fewer errors, more communication and better insights. While this result seems to be common sense, implementation is always more difficult than simple visualization.

2. Bring F&A Onboard

Once F&A teams overcome obstacles to technological change, automation can bring greater usability to financial data gathered and analyzed throughout the reporting period. According to the research, “More than four in five respondents from very digitally mature organizations strongly agree [that] their organization is highly adept at leveraging data for insights, predictive outcomes, and business growth; two percent of digitally immature organizations could say that.”

Conclusion

With an automated solution in place, the office of finance can contribute to the greater organization as value-added resources assisting in financial growth. While previously F&A teams were relegated to money counters and spreadsheet mangers, they can now be full partners in driving the growth they once merely catalogued.

To learn more, click on the banner below to discover how automation can increase your company’s competitive edge and financial output.

To read the FEI article in full, please click here.

Written by: Chelsea Downey