55 VISION & STRATEGY www.ceotodaymagazine.com have will prove its worth in the long run. After all, these uncertain times won’t last forever. It’s important to make changes that enhance agility and provide a platform for the business to thrive in all conditions. Identifying where to make efficiency gains Finance teams will need to ensure the business is lean, operations are streamlined and are agile enough to withstand change. According to Tipalti research, over twothirds (68%) of accounts payable teams still manually key invoices into their ERP or Accounting software, while 56% spend over ten hours a week processing invoices and supplier payments. These inefficient and time-consuming tasks are simply not fit to withstand change. Moreover, with a potentially reduced headcount, finance teams will quickly drown in the volume of manual processing needed to just keep the business running. The same research shows 32%of finance professionals already believe that increased disgruntlement, churn or even burnout is likely if current AP challenges continue or worsen. Considering one-fifth (20%) of UK CFOs say they have seen a greater demand placed on them by the CEO to strategically impact the business, it’s impossible for finance leaders to address efficiency issues across the entire operation when their own team is one of the main culprits. The first step has to be stopping their own team from potentially burning out, and instead, that same team is arming them with data-driven insights needed for better decision making. The value of automation As outgoing costs continue to rise, the value of having complete visibility and control of all the business operations can not be understated. Four in five finance leaders believe finance can only become a strategic driver of growth in the business when AP inefficiencies are minimised. However, as little as 9% of finance teams are fully automated, leaving efficiency low and manual processing high. The impact of manual operations has become too big for businesses to ignore. By shifting the mindset from short-term growth to maximising efficiency, businesses can use this time of economic uncertainty to become more productive, increase visibility and control, and ultimately, be fit to scale and grow in the future. Automation will eventually transform every business’ operations, however, those early adopters will help ease the pressure their teams are currently going through and face the challenges that lie ahead. “By shifting the mindset from short-term growth to maximising efficiency, businesses can use this time of economic uncertainty to become more productive, increase visibility and control, and ultimately, be fit to scale and grow in the future.”
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