Covid made its first appearance in 2019, while all other areas were barricaded by the pandemic, finance and technology emerged as a ray of hope. When the pandemic raised uncertainty, CFOs turned over to short-term plans. Focusing on nimble technology, several CFOs came forward with pressing issues due to technological advancements. Indeed, adapting to technological advancement is difficult for everyone, including CFOs. While Chief Financial Officers of companies like SaaSgave statements addressing the efficiency that technology brings to the table, they also addressed that adapting to it at the same speed as technology is evolving, is quite a challenge.
Even simple tasks like sending the mail are now seen as burdens on the financial teams. It is true that technology has provided the right set of tools, but these tools are ever-evolving. With every new update, the difficulty in adapting it to the system increases and thereby managing the team morale is also difficult. Gone are the days when CFOs were limited to crunching numbers, with digitalization their tasks are now more complex. Regardless of the organisation, catching up with the speed of technological development is evolving the role of CFOs. Their role is now centred to lead the team towards a higher level of technical expertise while also working closely with the IT sector.
Apart from analysing the “numbers”, CFOs now have to adhere to business intelligence as well. Catching up the real-time data and most importantly keeping the team in sync throws a major challenge. Another challenge that technology brings is finding new technologies to keep the market value and brand image of the company.
While there are reasons to address technology as a challenge, it also has a silver lining. Process automation, data analysis and tracking of the finances are some of the brownie points. On the other hand, technological advancement is a major challenge, it also puts forward side effects – Frauds and Cyber Security.
While it is believed that technology brings tracking options, identity theft and phishing are two hand-in-hand cons of digitalisation. It is pretty hard to find who is sitting behind the screen and what danger it poses. With involvement in the role and its challenges, it is mandated for CFOs and their teams to crawl their attention on fraud, cyber misuse, and data privacy protection. They need to stay ahead to eliminate any uncertainty.
