In a rapidly evolving landscape, CFOs need to play a more dynamic role than ever in aligning and integrating planning across finance and their supply chains. It’s not just beneficial-it’s imperative.
Organisations across the Asia Pacific have withstood an unprecedented pace and depth of change post-pandemic. A recent Gartner study illustrated the importance of the CFO’s focus on growth more than the CEO, spearheading digital transformation across the organisation.
The rise of the ‘digital CFO’ signals the importance of being able to anticipate or—at the very least—respond to unexpected market events quickly. When CFOs and supply chain are strategically aligned, shifts in market demand or supply chain disruption can adapt more effectively, exposing the potential risks and opportunities via effective modelling of potential responses to those shifts.
As the headwinds suggest that 2024 will continue to deliver challenges to organisations across Asia, the ability to respond quickly will be critical.
The modern economic climate demands agility and foresight.
Traditional business platforms often lack the flexibility and insights required for the rapid changes faced by finance and supply chain management.
However, when CFOs and supply chain teams work collaboratively, this leads to the development of executable and optimised plans that drive sustainable cost reduction and profitable growth through mature planning models.
Questions such as:
The critical component? The ability to harness data within the organisation to plan, test, and then execute.
The messy middle: Why a planning analytics tool trumps the humble spreadsheet
Many organisations rely on Excel and their ‘messy middle’ to pull data from disparate systems to build out their forward planning. It’s relatively simple, however it’s also very inefficient, cumbersome to manage, and prone to unintentional mistakes.
A planning analytics platform achieve two things: It can utilise data from existing, siloed systems and provide CFOs and Supply Chain leaders with cross-functional data far more efficiently. The benefits go beyond efficiency, however. The ability to speed up the reporting process from weeks to days supports greater agility, as does the reduction of errors from the data.
This is not simply a matter of internal efficiency; it’s about creating a competitive edge in a market where the ability to quickly adapt financial strategies to supply chain realities can make the difference between thriving and merely surviving.
Leading the Charge: CFOs as Visionaries in the Digital Transformation Journey
There are six pathways for the Office of Finance to lead the way:
Break Down Organisational Silos: The digital CFO’s role involves breaking down organisational silos and fostering collaboration across departments. This new approach is crucial for effective workforce planning and data democratisation, leading to more informed decision-making and enhanced organisational growth.
Think Like the Product Team: Modern finance teams need to adopt the agility and innovative mindset of product teams. This shift means leveraging technology for rapid modelling and decision-making, focusing on customer outcomes, and using data from traditional silos more effectively.
Become Agile: Embrace Nowcasting: The concept of nowcasting – analysing and forecasting based on current data – is becoming crucial for digital CFOs. This approach allows for adaptable reporting and rapid decision-making, moving away from traditional periodic data reliance.
Workforce Planning as a Core Strategy: Effective workforce planning is now vital to the finance team’s responsibilities. It involves accurate modelling and predictions for profit, cash flow, and capacity and requires the finance team to be agile and technologically adept.
Navigate the Supply Chain Landscape: Digital CFOs are navigating a continuously changing supply chain environment, as markets shift towards near-shoring, onshoring, and sourcing their materials in a rapidly shifting manufacturing market. This requires a significant shift in mindset and embracing new technologies and operational strategies.
Modelling the Transformation Strategy: The finance function is undergoing a significant transformation and organisations are recognising that their supply chains require greater investment and ROI. Digital CFOs are tasked with creating a new vision for their organisations, focusing on mastering their data and leveraging new tools to provide the critical insights required to be more agile and adaptable.
Leading the Charge: CFOs as Visionaries in the Digital Transformation Journey
As CFOs in look ahead to what the Asian economic landscape looks like in 2024, focus is increasingly turning to the need for a transformative approach in the finance function and the supply chain to enable them to embrace agility, technological adeptness, and collaborative strategies that drive growth.
The role of the CFO is more critical than ever in guiding companies through digital transformation. Connecting finance and supply chain planning is a necessity for modern businesses that seek to thrive in an increasingly complex and fast-paced world. The partnership between CFOs and supply chain teams is essential in overcoming the common obstacles faced by these two critical functions.
PMsquare Thailand delivers enhanced, data-driven business performance through collaboration between our passionate experts and clients. Our multinational experience is paired with local knowledge and industry expertise. We operate across Asia Pacific, with teams in Thailand, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
Our specialist SMEs and global consultant teams are enablers of change and transformation in supply chain, information management, FP&A, project delivery, and managed application services.
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