Know How CFOs Are Optimizing Costs Through New-Age Solutions Here's how CFOs strategize and focus on areas that would deliver the maximum impact to a business

With the emergence of contemporary, digitally enabled solutions, CFOs are finally able to solve the paradox between cost reduction and rapid growth and developments. After spending nearly a decade in giving more attention to reducing costs, present-day companies are more focused on increasing the competitive edge and the ability of the organization to grow. A recent research by Accenture validated the same, with nearly 82% of executives agreeing to invest in growth initiatives, instead of cost reduction. In addition to managing costs, present-day CFOs are thus being called upon to bring about growth and development.

However, there is no handy magic wand available for CFOs to bring about productivity and growth. As of today, the businesses operate in an environment that is always on. With social media and internet connectivity being an integral part of our daily lives, the expectations of key stakeholders of the business are also evolving. At the same time, the current expectations of business leaders, investors, human resources etc. are also changing. This slew of changes puts tremendous pressure on the CFOs and hence, making it more complicated for them to deliver efficiencies and sustainable growth while containing costs.

When pressed with such challenges, financial leaders of today are increasingly turning to new-age solutions. By outsourcing critical tasks to leveraging key business metrics, a CFO has come to rely on these disruptive methods, in order to make an organization more productive, effective and inclined towards exponential growth. Let us take a closer look at some of these new-age solutions that are helping CFOs optimize costs, whilst ensuring optimum growth.

Robotics & ChatBots

Process-level automation via robotics and chatbots seems to be the most in-vogue opportunity for businesses to optimize costs and productivity. It takes away the scope for human error in the processes and ensures complete compliance. After successful implementation of these new-age technologies, various enterprises have clocked up as much as 80% cost reduction. A study by Accenture further predicts that by 2020, robotics would eliminate or automate up to 40% of work pertaining to transaction accounting. Thus, instead of being discouraged by the cost of adoption, financial leaders must shift their perspective to long-term growth and to be at par with global competencies, in order to deliver an impactful performance.

Optimizing Transport Cost

Strategizing plays a crucial role in helping the present-day enterprises attain the growth they aspire for. One such critical area that skips the notice of many financial officers is ground transportation which companies provide as a key employee benefit. In fact, ground transportation is perhaps the only non-core activity for an enterprise that consumes the highest costs and, if managed well, could deliver the highest impact. By extension, a well-managed ground transport policy would result in a highly satisfactory work environment, hence enabling an enterprise to truly gain from this investment.

To the same end, several futuristic enterprises are presently tying up with experts in the domain to manage daily employee commute. In addition to optimizing the costs, these services ensure compliance with company policies and deliver a positive social impact by reducing deployed resources. Thus, without compromising on the quality of services or productivity, enterprises are able to save a lot of costs. Therefore, instead of being saddled with inefficiencies and uncontrollable inefficiencies of prevailing practices, financial leaders must discover the most plausible ground transport partner to implement an easily auditable and transparent integrated transport management solution backed by latest technology.

Business Analytics for the CFOs

CFOs need actionable insights, in order to commission process overhauls, come up with more transparent reporting and rightly gauge the impact different processes are having on the overall cost and productivity. This is further paramount in the times of cloud computing and other mobile-based technologies. With the help of advanced analytics, CFOs are able to process disparate internal and external data points and come up with cost centres and projections in real-time. Furthermore, with the help of predictive analytics, CFOs are able to proactively pre-empt the challenges and mitigate the same. This is a big leap for organisations at a minimal investment. Therefore, instead of relying on conventional tools and human limitations, financial leaders must engage professionally in the field to develop customised models for their business and needs.

In a nutshell, there are a number of technologies that are helping CFOs focus on creating value for the enterprise. Furthermore, by taking care of the mundane and tedious tasks, these new-age solutions help CFOs to better strategize and focus on areas that would deliver the maximum impact to their business. Leaders in the domain are already gaining by adopting these new and disruptive tech-led solutions. For a futuristic Head of Finance of a progressive organization, the best time to act is NOW!