CFO Challenges: Dealing with Outdated & Contrasting Data (2 of 5)

In our previous article, we talked about the first challenge for CFOs in 2023. As a CFO, you’re also tasked with making financial decisions based on data that must be accurate and up-to-date. But when your company is dealing with outdated and disparate data, how can you make informed decisions? In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the challenges CFOs face when dealing with outdated data and how they can overcome them. 

According to Accenture, 76% of CFOs believe that bringing disparate data together is essential to achieving business goals. Another vital aspect of helping address data siloes is the need for CFOs to ensure the accuracy and auditability of a company's financial statements.  

We know from forward-thinking companies that agility is crucial to business growth.  

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Agility is required of businesses in 2022, which has increased the need for timely and accurate data to support decision-making. Combining data for analysis eliminates the need to extract data from disparate databases and spreadsheets. At the same time, a single data source also increases reporting speed and reduces the inefficiencies and errors inherent in manual processes.  

The agility demanded by organizations increases the need for timely and accurate data to support decision-making.  

This ongoing problem for public companies will affect public and private companies of all sizes in 2023, for example, when applying for credit. A benefit of unified data is the simplification of audits and reducing professional services and overtime costs for the finance department.  

So how can CFOs address this challenge?  

Work on Available Data Sources  

CFOs are being called to become stronger decision-makers and more flexible in their work. Leveraging real-time AI data and using analytics to gather insights can be a big help when it comes to making quick decisions and adjusting them as more information becomes available.  

A PwC study found that 90% of all companies try improving decision-making through digital initiatives and AI tools to help them analyze data as accurately as possible. Many CFOs spend 18.5% of their time on these projects.  

Robust data tools and financial planning and reporting software provide CFOs with a complete picture of their organization's financial health, enable them to adopt a proactive and insightful approach to decision-making, and give them a technological edge over their peers.  

Use data projections to identify growth opportunities 

To make the best decisions, CFOs will need to analyze as much data as possible that is available to them from both internal and external sources.  

A significant amount of financial technology is still used to improve process efficiency and historical reporting accuracy. However, CFOs who use data critically can uncover powerful insights beyond business metrics. No more data is needed. We need data from the proper perspective.  

Epicor Financial Planner (EFP) is a powerful and reliable financial reporting, budgeting & forecasting, and consolidation solution that has a built-in understanding of your ERP data´s structure. It can easily handle voluminous transactions and millions of rows of data without slowing down. With EFP, you can easily set up dashboards and create reports with a user-friendly interface. 

Tying It Together  

Companies need to implement intelligent technologies that can help them analyze large volumes of data for a shorter time or combine data from various sources. The latest FP&A software like Epicor Financial Planner also has advanced capabilities that allow it to automate tasks, identify and improve performance issues, proactively detect patterns in business performance, and guide CFOs to optimize their contingency plans better.  

CFOs actively engaged in cloud adoption and digital transformation initiatives are better positioned to reap the benefits and stay more adaptable.  

Explore how Epicor Financial Planner has helped companies of all sizes better manage their data. EFP today optimizes and automates the reporting and budgeting process of over 2000 mid-sized to large organizations within Epicor across the manufacturing, aged care, retail, service, and lumber sector. 

Visit efpcloud.com today.