Since the rise of the cloud, CFOs and finance teams have been busy adopting a wide range of financial technology solutions.

In the CA ANZ 2024 Technology Research report, 93% of respondents indicated they use a combination of specialist tech tools. For some, the piecemeal solution is working, but nearly half of the respondents rated their technology solution as unsatisfactory.

Those unsatisfied are dealing with large integration issues and manual processes. There is another way.

1. BI and the appeal of a FP&A platform

Only 7% of organisations had an all-in-one platform that integrates data for all planning, financial and management reporting from ERP, CRM and HR systems.

James Pakenham, head of group planning and analysis at Phocas, expects that number will rise as technology adapts.

“What’s happening now is that a lot of functionality is starting to be bundled together in software, so that you don’t have to manage lots of different systems and the integrations between them,” Pakenham says.

“Having a business intelligence (BI), and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform in place means you can have a single source of truth. Data can be closer to real time and reporting can include non-financial data – something you mostly cannot do with ERPs.”

2. Real-time data and analytics

According to the CA ANZ report, human error is still the biggest technology challenge for finance teams (69%), followed by incompatible systems (45%), data silos (43%), and data migration issues (35%).

Pakenham says true and accurate data is needed, which can be hard with combination solutions.

“All too often, where you’ve got so many different data sources, that can get blurred,” he says. “Fewer separate systems means less transition error and more data integrity. Automation with a BI system can allow you to consume data closer to real time, and you can better articulate and visualise data for KPIs.”

3. Automating for strategic gain

Despite the abundance of technology tools, 82% of respondents said they still use spreadsheets for real-time reporting. Technology systems can now take over a lot of the grunt work, says Pakenham, freeing up time for the team to focus on forward-looking strategies.

“If you manually touch a process, there’s the risk of error. You’ve then got to build in control checks, taking up valuable time,” he says. “In my experience, IT teams should try and automate all the manual, repetitive and logical tasks, allowing finance teams to deal with the value-adding work, like more detailed analysis.”

4. Reforecasting a different way

Many businesses are also still relying on manual processes to reforecast their budgets, which is time consuming, says Pakenham. With an integrated BI and FP&A system, organisations can easily build budgets and feed in actual results to update forecasts.

“With an all-in-one solution, budgeting and forecasting sits on top of a BI platform. There are no integrations required,” Pakenham says.

“You can create outturn reports instantly and then decide whether to do a full reforecast or a light touch. Most teams I have spoken with prefer a rolling light touch, with a more formal forecast one to three times a year.”

5. Tech stack consolidation

Some organisations are using anything from 20 to more than 100 technology software solutions in their tech stack. To make the leap towards greater data value and accuracy, Pakenham suggests a full integration with a BI and FP&A platform, instead of patching multiple systems together.

“CFOs need to work with IT to put a finance systems strategy in place, roll this out and train the teams to use it appropriately. It’s a big piece of work, but there’s a really good return on investment from a time and data accuracy perspective.”

Find out more

Phocas Software is a CA ANZ Member Benefits Partner. To learn how Phocas’s business intelligence (BI) and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) solution can transform your business, scan the QR code or visit: phocassoftware.com/ca