New research findings commissioned by TravelBank show that CFOs are eager to modernize their core finance department tech stack, with more than half saying that their departments have adopted technologies that apply automation to Accounts Payable and Receivable (56%) and reporting and analytics (53%).

The research — found in a new report driven by a CFO Dive survey of 150 finance executives — also shows that CFOs may be overlooking other ways to modernize processes that weigh down teams with manual work.

For example, just 21% of finance executives believe that travel and expenses would benefit most from enhanced automation — even though 71% agree that travel and expense management absorbs too much of the finance teams’ time and attention.

TravelBank, which provides an all-in-one, tech-driven expense and travel management solution, commissioned the research and resulting report to explore CFOs’ 2023 priorities and the state of digital transformation in the finance function. Key findings include:

• Nine out of ten finance executives (88%) agree that fintech will be an important growth driver for companies over the next five years.
• Finance executives report that their highest priorities for 2023 are adopting new technologies or replacing legacy systems in the finance department (42%) and maximizing productivity and driving efficiencies (41%).
• 73% of finance executives agree that employee violations of travel and/or expense policies will become a bigger issue as their companies grow over the next five years.

“Companies are advancing digital transformation in finance, but our research shows that 45% of them are still in the earlier stages,” says Duke Chung, Founder and CEO of TravelBank. “CFOs should consider looking beyond core areas like accounting and reporting to adjacent areas that can be error-prone and time-consuming — like travel and expense management — to pilot automation and measure the impact.”

Ultimately, investing in automation in finance is paying off in improvements — with 66% of finance executives reporting they have made technology investments to apply automation, measured the impact, and found they have experienced improvements. Expanding automation to areas like travel and expenses can create new benefits.

“Embracing automation in travel and expenses can drastically reduce the overhead costs of fixing errors while at the same time providing more accuracy and real-time visibility into expenses and reimbursements,” says Chung.

As the new TravelBank research report details, CFOs that haven’t invested in changing how they manage travel and expenses are missing out on improvements ranging from reduced costs to a better employee experience. To access the full report, click here.

Survey Methodology

Research results are based on a CFO Dive online survey of 150 finance executives from organizations with 100 or more employees and annual revenues of $500,000 or more.