Driving the Strategic Agenda: The CFO’s Road Ahead

What business

priorities are impacting the CFO?

Supported by research from KPMG and Gartner.

And why are CFOs moving to the cloud to help

them support these business demands?

The Changing Role of the CFO

“More than half of global CEOs think the CFO role will gain the most importance in the next three years."

- KPMG—Global CEO Outlook Survey

Operational Excellence

Strategy+ +

Growth

What CFOs Care About

Growth Regulatory Environment

Business Insight

Continuous Innovation and Transformation

Four business priorities that will impact the focus of the CFO and strategies for

driving the company forward are:

Growth

“A majority of CEOs view growth as their top priority during the next three years.”

- KPMG—Global CEO Outlook Survey

Acquisitions

Geographic Expansion and Organic Growth

Help drive growth strategies across the organization.

Regulatory Environment

“45 percent of CEOs rank the regulatory environment as the biggest issue having the most impact on their companies.”

- KPMG—Global CEO Outlook Survey

Policies

Regulations

TransparencyLaw

Requirements

Governance

Rules

Adapt to new regulations while also looking for opportunities to create more value for

the business.

Business Insight

Support functional leaders with relevant data and insights, and advise on

strategy.

“Nearly half of global CEOs reported that embedding more finance skills into the business through partnering was important.”

- KPMG—“The View from the Top” Report

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Continuous Innovation and Transformation

“One out of three CEOs say experience with transformation is one of the most important attributes of a CFO.”

- KPMG—“The View from the Top” Report

Help organizations evolve with change and drive transformation.

How Cloud-based Finance Systems Can Help

“Leveraging IT, such as cloud-enabled ERP systems, should be the main focus of CFOs in the future.” - KPMG—”The View from the Top” Report

Top reasons leading CFOs to the cloud are real-time data and analytics, flexibility

and scalability, and operational efficiencies.

Real-Time Data and Analytics

Gain accurate, real-time data and insights about the current state of the

business.

Flexibility and Scalability

Create an agile and scalable technology foundation that can

support rapid growth and significant change.

Operational Efficiencies

Enable finance to spend less time on managing transactions

and more time on value-add activities.

Next Steps• Consider how these four business priorities will

impact the CFO’s focus and business strategies at your company in the next several years.

• Evaluate current finance systems to determine if they can deliver the capabilities and tools needed for success.

• Consider how cloud-based finance systems can support business demands and the evolving role of CFOs today and in the future.

Learn More

Driving the Strategic Agenda: The CFO’s Road Ahead