Technology, naturally, will decide which CFOs outperform. Cloud systems help with scale. Cloud-hosted accounts eliminate issues around capacity. Software scales up and down as needed. Plus, the finance team can log on from anywhere with a cloud system, which is ideal for home working. It’s a technology tailor-made for the current, volatile economy.

Automation is critical. When budgets are tight it’s vital that drudge work is handed over to machines. Invoice chasing and payroll and expense management must be automated. The finance team want to focus on strategy, not data entry.

The board depends on business intelligence, again the job of the CFO. Dashboards and reports can be auto-generated by the right technology, giving each department exactly the numbers they need, updated as often as required.

And costs must be driven down. The arrival of artificial intelligence, machine learning and the cloud, can cut costs in the financial sector by 30% to 50% per year, according to the Bank of England.

This report dives into the positive effects a financial management system like Sage Intacct can have on a business in today’s climate.

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