Technology, Efficiency, and Accuracy

Many businesses and organizations were heavily impacted by the past year’s events, and its effects will continue to transform the way global businesses function. From changing work environments to acceleration in automation strategies to adapt to remote working, mid-market organizations have had to shift how they approach their operations — specifically the financial close. Here are a few of the ways technology and workplace expectations have shifted in just the past year alone:

1. Job flexibility and new technologies are becoming workplace expectations.

A generational shift in the workforce meant expectations for the Office of Finance had already started rapidly changing, such as increased demand for job flexibility and the introduction of new technology to business processes.

For the Office of Finance, this means a migration away from outdated practices, such as spreadsheets and manual processes, and a focus on automation to shift accountants’ attention towards more strategic tasks.

2. A virtual workforce forced organizations to adjust their expectations and fostered an increase in technology adoption.

With the dynamic landscape that impacted all businesses and organizations, companies quickly figured out how to equip their employees to work from home productively. Organizations invested in video conferencing apps, task management software, and other tools that would allow their employees to limit disruption and conduct business from their homes.

3. Automation allows organizations to equip their finance teams for a sustainable, effective close process.

For Offices of Finance, the old go-to tool has been spreadsheets. However, issues that have always been present in spreadsheets — such as visibility into the workflow, lack of granularity, and an overall absence of security — now require additional fixes that weren’t as critical before the Office of Finance became remote.

Download the white paper to explore more on how technology is impacting the mid-market finance function.