What does digital transformation look like for finance teams?

Today, technology is changing the way businesses operate and deliver products and services to consumers. There is a huge impetus on moving from traditional approach to a more scientific and technical approach.

The digital transformation is very scary for all service related functions in general and Finance in particulars for their existing functions. But it opens up scope for lot of developmental and new avenues

Already, traditional accounting has been taken over by Localised ERP. In the year ahead with cloud based ERP and Cognitive innovation this will further simplify the process and free up accountants.

1.      With Blockchain in coming in big way Finance and accounting functions will further get evolved. Block chain will ensure

§ Trustworthiness of Ledger — Reconciliation is not required

§ Smart contracts can be written on BC and it will be self expecting and self controlling

§ Valuation of intangibles like IPR Data holding will become transparent and is a positive scope for Accountants

§ Measurement of Rights and Obligation of property will become easier.

§ Economic interpretation will become easier.

2.      IoT will be another technological advancement where digital transformation will impact Finance teams

§ As we speak, there are more than 25 billion devices which are connected with each other including close to 8 billions laptops and computers.

§ The power of connectivity will have huge impact on all the functions

§ It will change the process by which source and flow of Data and formation is happening. Flow of Information without Human intervention will make it more timely and accurate.

§ Budgeting process will be Adventurous, Inventory model will be based on self determined EOQ and reordering , Pricing could be based on usages , RPA could be implemented, predictive analysis and real time flow could reduce the Auditing process

3.      The third disruption will come in cloud computing and here Accountants should take as a big step. By adopting the technology and leveraging it, they can change the business performance. Accounting applications will be easily accessible, time savings and less expensive. It will make the whole model Document light cost agnostic and sharing information on realtime basis 

 4.      Finance functions and the ways and means of raising funds, deploying them and their usance will also change dramatically. Crowd funding With Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will change the landscape for business funding. Coupled with Block chain ,  Data Analytics and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the whole process will move to a different orbit of all together different dimension

 The above technologies is proving to be useful in Creation of platform which allow entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses to raise funds from all over the world

 Some of the things will make the CFOs uncomfortable, because Finance talent models are evolving quickly. Those talents laced with scientific analysis, analytical skills, forward looking approach and storytelling capabilities will demand premium. CFOs need to make a dramatic shift in their hiring policy. Every business need to think through their next decade requirement and make a hiring plan for finance department accordingly. Finance guys should come with added qualification and experience pertaining to strong customer service orientation, flexibility, and good collaboration skills—in addition to the technical capabilities needed for specific jobs.

 Also, new employees should come with mindset to work towards elevating the value of finance in terms of communication, impact, and influence.