Digitally savvy in a tech-driven world

The speed of digitalisation and emerging technologies means the finance function and finance professionals need to quickly adopt new technologies and adapt to new skill sets for organisational success.

Future-proofing your career is essential amid this transformation. But where do you find trusted resources that can help you develop and stay on track?

Future of Finance 2.0 series

AICPA® & CIMA® Future of Finance 2.0 research explores the future state of the finance profession and its wider ecosystem. The research is about understanding the various drivers of change that are affecting the finance function.

The research project also defines essential competencies, skills, knowledge, and behaviours. And the findings underpin the development of management accounting qualifications, thought leadership, and learning resources.

Digitalisation is pivotal to success

‘The Digital Journey of Finance’ is one of the emerging theme reports from the Future of Finance 2.0 research that focusses on how technology affects the finance function. The report follows the 2019 thought leadership paper Re-inventing finance for a digital world. Amid growing cultural and technological disruptions that are changing the world, the report examines the evolving scope and role of finance professionals and the skills needed to thrive.

Jocelyn Turner, FCA, ACMA, CGMA, and Nancy Marc-Thrasybule, CPA, CGMA, are Associate Technical Directors at AICPA® & CIMA®, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. They are co-authors of the 2023 Future of Finance 2.0 Digitalisation emerging themes report. A dedicated research team conducted 96 interviews with leaders representing 92 organisations and 14 countries, followed by 92 roundtables with over 640 participants representing 445 organisations in over 40 countries. Additional findings will be published later in 2023 which will include the findings from a global survey — the final stage of the Future of Finance 2.0 research.

The role of finance is rapidly evolving due to digitalisation

The role of finance is rapidly evolving due to digital transformation and underpinning technologies. Finance roles have transitioned from focussing on data collection and collation to dealing with increasing volumes of data, new regulatory requirements, and cybersecurity concerns. Customers are demanding better, faster, more efficient services. And organisations need to drive growth, innovate, and maximise new business opportunities. Technology can make these changes possible.

Digitalisation helps finance professionals become more agile, forward thinking, and data driven, which facilitates strategic decision-making and ensures that they are contributing to organisational success. “Emerging technologies and the role of data continue to shape the way finance works and the tools they use,” said Turner.

Thrasybule agreed: “Technology is now a vital piece to any organisational growth and success. It is no longer an option to embrace technology. It is becoming a must to stay in business.”

Technology enables value creation

Future of Finance 2.0 research on digitalisation confirmed that organisations are increasingly using software robots to automate routine tasks across the finance function. Robotic process automation (RPA), for example, can perform data entry, invoice processing, and reconciliations tasks. Chat GPT 4.0 can revolutionise data analysis, processing, and response times.

Automation allows finance professionals to focus more on value-added activities. For instance, using data analytics to interpret and communicate data in a timely fashion to influence decision-making instead of gathering the data manually.

‘Creating value comes in many shapes and forms. With technology, finance professionals are able to respond quicker to both internal and external demands, work faster, save time, drive efficiency (consequently reduce costs) and increase productivity’, said Thrasybule.

Finance skills for the digital age

The mandate of finance is expanding to include leading and driving digital strategy. Therefore, finance professionals need to reskill and upskill a combination of technical and nontechnical skills to remain relevant.

Technical skills — including data analytics and some data science skills — are required to extract valuable insights from data, make data decisions, and use data visualisation tools to communicate complex information effectively to the business.

Nontechnical skills — including strong communication skills, data analysis, and agility — help finance professionals work better across business functions. They can cooperate to drive change, capitalise on new opportunities, and tell the organisational story. Digital transformation requires interdisciplinary collaboration for success.

‘Perhaps the most important skill is the digital mindset. New tools and technologies are continuously being introduced and finance professionals must be adaptable and embrace the opportunity to learn about these and stay updated with industry trends and best practices’, said Turner.

‘Automation is not a replacement for human expertise but instead empowers finance professionals with the tools and data needed to make better decisions and drive value’, concluded Turner.