Gone are the days when being a CFO meant mastering the art and science of spreadsheets. Automation has taken the place of manual entering, of course, but for CFOs to stay competitive and be successful in today’s market, it’s increasingly important for them to focus on becoming a growth partner for the business, adding more value and impact than ever before.

“Growth” will of course mean different things to different CFOs and different companies, but the one constant is about finding a way to not only protect the business and protect the finances, but to also figure out what it looks like to help the business expand. Luckily, CFOs can help do so in a number of different ways.

1. Concentrate on efficiency of the cash and investments within a business.

“What that means is that a strong CFO — one who is also a growth partner — should be able to make effective and efficient choices about how the company is using their cash and their liquidity or their investment options, to drive growth,” said Colin Swain, Product Leader at Bottomline Technologies.

According to data from a recent Bottomline Technologies/Payments Dive survey, the large majority of CFOs already know this, with 80% reporting that a more complete vision of business cash and liquidity is one functional need that most drives their requirements. To take that concept a step further, “if a CFO feels that they’re not doing a good job, they should start by taking a look at how efficiently they are managing their cash and liquidity,” said Swain. “Maybe they’re essentially lending at a rate that’s not favorable, and they could be far more effective by starting their improvements in that area.”

2. Create strategic alliances by asking the right people the right questions.

Besides assessing how efficiently they are managing cash and liquidity, a CFO who wants to be a more effective growth partner might also consider reaching out to individuals on the C-level roster for collaboration. After all, 23% of CFOs report that talented staff is one essential functional need that drives their requirements, so why not lean on those people to help get the job done? More than half (54%) of CFOs also agree that one major advantage of a unified financial office — verses working with siloed departments — is increased coordination and structure, as well as fostering collaboration across teams (49%), improvements to the existing processes (49%) and streamlining operations and support (46%).

“On the growth partners side, that would probably be someone like the Chief Commercial Officer or the Chief Product Officer,” said Swain. Questions to assess together will likely revolve around overall company health and costs, including things like:

1. How do we benchmark against our competition?

2. How effectively are we using our resources and assets?

CFOs who cooperate and cultivate the right co-workers can access insightful answers to strategic questions such as the ones above and as a result will be more likely to achieve success with the thornier issues, such as cash forecasting.

3. Don’t leave payments fraud to security alone. (Or at least ask your chief security officer the right questions.)

A CFO who is working with well-connected processes and technologies should have a steady view across payments fraud as well. Especially “in a world where we’re highly unlikely to ever go back to having everyone in the office all the time, then both internal and payment fraud is more important than ever for a CFO to consider,” said Swain. For example, “CFOs may be more worried about external fraud and its impact on profits and losses, but if there is internal fraud, it’s probably coming from the CFO team, which is equally as important to get ahead of.”

Luckily, 48% of CFOs report that fraud defense is a high priority in their organizations’ plans for investments in the next 12 months. Depending on the company — and whether you’re working with a security or fraud team — a CFO should be asking questions about what their controls are for fraud, what systems are in place to stop internal fraud and what training is in place not only for the securities team themselves, but for the staff to help avoid and recognize fraud issues, as well. Some questions to ask:

1. What does our security tech stack look like?

2. Do we use data to help detect fraud?

3. Do we have a solution dedicated to insider fraud?

4. Make cash forecasting a solution more than a problem.

When it comes to cash forecasting, CFOs who are focused on growth should include cash forecasting in their overall scenario planning. For example, “we’re having issues now with inflation that’s through the roof and the war in Ukraine, whereas before it was COVID and those are the sorts of unknowns that we can’t foreshadow,” said Swain. “But it’s about being able to react quickly, and therefore plan and partner with the right companies for when those types of things crop up. That’s exactly where forecasting technology comes into play.”

The most important element to successful forecasting is automation, and nine out of 10 CFOs (89%) agree that their companies are in fact leveraging the latest technology and automation tools to the best of their ability to allow Treasury, AP and AR teams to optimize payments and cash management capabilities. Additionally, most any case study of a successful forecasting capability begins with ditching spreadsheets and doubling down on AP/AR automation. Accuracy and the ability to project revenue in a volatile situation depends on an automated solution.

5. Unify the technology.

Fragmented technology will produce fragmented processes. But while 83% of CFOs believe their treasury, accounting and F&P departments are totally or mostly unified to enable strategic decision making, the remaining CFOs may miss this because they’re just not aware of it. They or their staffs are busy stitching various platforms together as a quilt that they then wrap around themselves. So, there's no denying that the teams are giving the CFO what they need. But as Swain said earlier, timing, data analytics and visibility should be the goal of any technology.

For CFOs to create “success,” they must be willing to acknowledge the different ways that their roles have changed. Focusing on the above initiatives can help, but they’re just a jumping off point. Rather than focusing on the status quo, CFOs today should be creating a strategic plan for growth and forward momentum. Read the full Bottomline Technologies/Payments Dive survey — Connection. Visibility. Data. How CFOs Should Prepare for Success — for a deeper look at what CFOs say they’re doing to approach the challenges of today.