Chief financial officers are relatively satisfied with the current state of their finance departments. That’s according to a recent Bottomline Technologies/Payments Dive survey that found that nine out of 10 CFOs rated their companies’ current view across cash as either excellent (42%) or good (48%), while four out of five said integrated dynamic functions across cash were completely integrated (23%) or highly integrated (57%) in their businesses.

Despite reporting these high numbers, though, CFOs also listed many functional needs that drive their requirements in 2022 and beyond. A more complete vision of business cash and liquidity (80%) and better access to real-time payment data, analytics and insights (80%) were high on that list.

This data shows that although CFOs may say they are satisfied with the status quo, they also realize there’s work to be done. Here are four things they can do to achieve better connectivity in their treasury and finance processes to thrive. 

1. Make the best case for automation. CFOs need a fundamental understanding of what exists in their companies today to prove the importance of automation for forward growth. “If you don’t have a grounding of where your systems, people and your business are, it’s hard to build a case for the outcome of automation,” said Tom Leitch, director of sales and business development — treasury at Bottomline. “I think a lot of people say they’re only going to deal with half their business first and worry about the rest over the next three years. That’s the worst way to do it.” Instead, Leitch recommended CFOs take a serious look at their foundation to establish bandwidth and then develop phases for integration. “Saying you’re just going to look at what you think is the core section and leave the rest for later, that leads to a narrowing of focus or an overestimation of importance for certain parts of the business.”
2. Get used to passing the baton. CFOs often fall into one of two categories: those who have no idea what’s happening with the teams below them, and those who make it part of their job to know. “The most impressive CFOs are the ones who understand where their team strengths are,” Leitch said. “Not necessarily in the day-to-day movements, but they have enough comprehension to understand what individual teams are doing well.” This is essential knowledge for CFOs to have when it comes time for them to decide what to take on themselves and what to pass along. “When I look at the CFO office, the thing that really separates the good from the bad are the CFOs who are able to raise their hands and say, ‘This isn’t my strength. I will give it to someone else to do,’” Leitch said. “The strongest CFO offices are created by a CFO who recognizes individual capabilities within a team and allows them to build out those achievements.”
3. Create more meaningful data. Although nine out of 10 CFOs said that visibility of cash flow in treasury, AP and AR was meeting their needs extremely or very well, more than half of CFOs also said they had plans to increase visibility in AP (74%), AR (68%) and treasury (51%). It’s what they do with that visibility that will make the difference, though. “The main design today, unfortunately, depends on the data coming in and going out,” Leitch said. “Too many finance leaders look at data as just another brick in the wall. When we’re talking about how that relates to AP and AR, you need to know how to extrapolate a meaningful outcome from any data you have access to.” This, in turn, requires the right workforce. CFOs know this, with 23% reporting that talented staff was another functional need driving their requirements for 2022 and beyond.
4. Address existing gaps between legacy systems and fully functional, automated ones. CFOs often work with multiple systems on different platforms. To replace even one of them, they need to have a handle on where the company is going in the next three years. “If you are looking to migrate from one system to another, the thing that makes it difficult isn’t necessarily just closing one system and starting another,” Leitch said. “It’s how that data feeds in from the old system to the new format, and how frequently that data is being sent.” If there are existing gaps when it comes to migrating data or becoming fully automated, it’s much easier to come up with solutions before any changes occur. In other words, “you need to know how much effort it is to get data example A into data example B, because it needs to go back into the system seamlessly,” Leitch said. “Then, when that’s done, the data also needs to be meaningful and useful.”

It’s become increasingly important for CFOs to be open with their teams about what they’re doing daily. This is a change from the status quo. “Now more than ever, I think CFOs and treasury and other finance bosses are saying, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing in our business. Come have a look,’” Leitch said. “It’s become more about that connection, which has been a good change.” 

For more on what’s going on inside the mind of the CFO — and what they’re doing to prepare their teams for the future — read the full Bottomline Technologies/Payments Dive survey “Connection. Visibility. Data. How CFOs Should Prepare for Success.”