Le guide du contrôleur pour l’automatisation des finances
Dans ce guide
According to a survey conducted by Deloitte's Center for Controllership and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA),* 65% of respondents in finance and accounting say their organisations' controllership function is either unprepared or only somewhat prepared to meet future demands. In this guide, we’ll cover how to identify key areas of weakness throughout your financial reporting processes, and how and when these can be addressed using automation in accounting and finance to help you arm your organisation, including your board and executive team, for the future.
Who is the financial controller: the financial compass of the company
As a financial controller, you operate at the center of a high-performing reporting function with one eye on financial operations, ensuring regulatory adherence, and the other providing strategic financial insights that empower informed decision-making. You act as the lynchpin between multiple internal stakeholders from FP&A, internal audit, and general counsel, all the way to the CFO. This comes with a unique set of responsibilities—and risks:
Fournir des données financières exactes
As a controller, credibility is king. As such, your first priority is to ensure the financial data and related financial insights you provide are accurate and reliable. This includes meticulously examining financial statements, transaction records, and other relevant documents.
Leading the financial reporting cycle
Being at the core of the financial reporting cycle, financial controllers must ensure their internal processes remain as efficient and pain-free as possible. Tackling inefficiencies while mitigating the risk of burnout in your team is key to keeping this well-oiled machine going smoothly.
Fournir des informations commerciales fiables
It’s not just about the numbers. It’s also about the financial story they tell. The insights you provide regarding the financial performance of the business directly inform strategic direction. When done well, this can help you take the next steps in your career—but rushed insights based on inaccurate data can be devastating to your organisation.
A recent Workiva survey** revealed that minimising risk, protecting data integrity, and ensuring efficiency are the three top concerns for finance professionals.
Des priorités essentielles aux pressions extérieures
Bien que ces priorités demeurent inébranlables, votre rôle de contrôleur financier est probablement très différent de ce qu'il était auparavant. Les attentes à l'égard des contrôleurs augmentent. En fait, 80 % des contrôleurs interrogés par Deloitte et l'IMA estiment que leur travail est devenu plus analytique et tourné vers l'avenir*. Cela s'explique par l'évolution rapide de la toile de fond :
Volatilité économique
Between volatile markets and an unstable socio-political landscape, there’s more pressure than ever to arm your company with regular, accurate financial insights that enable agile decision-making. Cash flow might also be tighter, so it’s likely you’re being asked to do more with less.
Exigences réglementaires
New regulations are coming in and shaking things up. The information contained in financial reports is being scrutinised more closely, heightening the need for traceable data. Integrated sustainability and financial reporting requirements mean that more data needs to be reported on and verified. For you, this means keeping the ship steady as your team adapts to new requirements while mitigating risk by continuing to ensure accuracy across everything you report.
Difficultés en matière de personnel
Talent shortages and the rise of remote work have transformed the way accounting, finance, and sustainability teams operate. While businesses strive to break down silos, departments remain disconnected and overstretched, using inefficient systems and outdated tools. Finance controllers are grappling with overstretched processes and staff burnouts making team productivity and satisfaction more of a challenge than ever before.
Pourquoi utiliser l'automatisation des processus financiers ?
Eliminate costly processes
Working in this risky, high-pressure environment, you know firsthand that significant changes are necessary—but you’re also being asked to do more with smaller budgets and sometimes even a smaller team. Hiring new staff may not be an option at present, let alone embarking on a full overhaul of existing financial processes, structures, and tools.
Accelerate financial processes
Faced with these challenges, many finance teams find themselves turning to modern, cloud-based finance process automation solutions that promise measurable benefits without the disruption, expense, or risk of a full overhaul. From accounting to financial planning, finance process automation solutions can automate repetitive manual tasks, strengthen data accuracy and consistency, and help improve the quality of insights.
Improve regulatory compliance
In many cases, the slightest deviation from compliance norms can have far-reaching consequences. Utilising finance process automation helps enforce consistent processes and reduce the likelihood of non-compliance due to human errors. This is especially crucial in industries such as banking, insurance, and energy & utilities—with strict financial regulations.
Choosing the right finance automation tool
Mais avec un tel choix d'outils et de plateformes, comment choisir le(s) bon(s) outil(s) pour votre équipe ? Découvrez les trois étapes d'une transformation numérique réussie.
Étape 1 : Déterminer où l'automatisation financière est nécessaire
As pressures mount, it can be tempting to tackle financial process challenges on a case-by-case basis. Unfortunately, this can lead to a disconnected set of short-term solutions that work only until the next problem arises.
Being prepared for the long term requires a more strategic approach. To find out where you could benefit the most from accounting and finance automation, start by mapping out strengths and weaknesses across your three key priorities—your insights, your data, and your teams.
Insight considerations for the controller
Data considerations
Team considerations
Étape 2 : Connaître les signes d'une solution forte
Answering the above questions in detail will help you highlight and connect underlying issues in your financial reporting process and identify which areas are in most need of addressing with financial process automation.
Your individual ERP systems may be very effective however, inefficiencies and risks can often arise as data travels between different systems and teams. Automating finance processes from beginning to end can alleviate any discrepancies that may arise between ERP systems. Having identified areas in which finance automation can be most strategically deployed, what are the key indicators of a robust finance automation solution?
Must-haves in finance automation solutions
Step 3: Plan your finance automation implementation
According to a survey conducted by Deloitte’s Center for Controllership and the Institute of Management Accountants,* the biggest barriers to a successful transition to finance process automation include a lack of time, financial resources, capacity, and expertise in implementation. Of course, even the perfect tool won’t go far if the adoption phase isn’t thought through. Here are our top suggestions for a seamless implementation process:
Nos recommandations
Le rôle de Workiva
Des données fiables et accessibles
Aggregating data from both systems and people? Across multiple places? We’ve got you covered—automate the collection of financial data and connect directly to your source systems with comprehensive finance automation.
Productive, happy reporting teams
Réduisez la nécessité d'une saisie manuelle des données, longue et risquée, grâce à la technologie d'automatisation des finances. Faites-en plus avec une confiance accrue tout en travaillant en temps réel avec plusieurs équipes sur notre plateforme en nuage.
Deeper, accurate financial insights
Workiva’s finance automation platform connects information across multiple reports and presentations, helping your story stay consistent and up-to-date while giving you full oversight across multiple teams. With less time spent updating and verifying data points, you can focus on going deeper in your insights and providing them with more certainty.
