ARE YOU READY TO BE A DATA-DRIVEN CFO?
76% of CFOs believe they could have positive impact on enterprise profitability if they devoted more time to strategic initiatives
In April of 2018, Argyle Executive Forum, in collaboration with Sage Intacct, surveyed 75 U.S.-based senior finance executives regarding best practices for becoming a data-driven CFO. The survey sought to discover insights into what drives major process and technology decisions by CFOs, and how technology enables finance transformation.
If you were able to spend an optimal percentage
of your time on strategic initiatives or activities, what impact would it have on your organization’s profitability?
What percentage of your time is currently occupied
with strategic initiatives or activities?
CFOs admit their finance functions need better visibility into the state of the business.
64%
Say their finance function is not proactive enough in using data/analytics
to identify, prioritize, and address critical issues in the business
the biggest challenges
in creating a data-driven finance function
38%
31%
29%
(e.g., monitor, prioritize, isolate, hypothesize, test)
24%
22%
(e.g., analytical, creative, curious, intuitive)
20%
CFOs know that their finance functions must be more “data-driven.”
77%
Say their organization requires a datadriven finance function to achieve its strategic and profitability improvement goals
81%
Say that, over the next two years, the pressure on their finance function to become more data-driven will increase substantially
CFOs see cloud-based financial management systems as a path to becoming more effective in their jobs.
89%
Have a clear, functional understanding of what “The Cloud” is and why organizations like theirs are using it to host financial management solutions
77%
Believe that a best-in-class cloud-based financial management solution would make their job easier.
the most important benefits
of a cloud-based financial management system
36%
32%
32%
29%
29%
26%
17%
15%
CFOs can be more data-driven with the right set of reporting tools
“Performing analytics against big data sets needs state-of-the-art database and analytics technology
that runs close to the data in the cloud.”
-Ian Howells, Head of Marketing, Sage Intacct
the report-creation features
that are most important
43%
40%
37%
28%
ABOUT SAGE INTACCT
Sage Intacct is the innovation and customer satisfaction leader in cloud Financial Management. Bringing cloud computing to finance and accounting, the Sage Intacct system includes accounting, cash management, purchasing, vendor management, financial consolidation, revenue recognition, subscription billing, contract management, project accounting, fund accounting, inventory management, and financial reporting applications, all delivered through the cloud. For more information, please visit www.sageintacct.com.
ABOUT ARGYLE EXECUTIVE FORUM
Argyle Executive Forum brings business information and thought leadership to leading professionals from Fortune 1000 companies in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Argyle serves a curated membership community of over 2 million business leaders in finance, marketing, data analytics, technology, strategy, customer engagement, human capital, legal, supply chain, and security. Clients use our engagement events, marketing services, and content solutions to communicate their brand and spotlight their product innovations to our members. Along with our CFO Publishing and Innovation Enterprise divisions, we reach both highly targeted senior executives and broad industry groups.
Learn More
