How Top CFOs
Steer Enterprises to Win
Finance leads business functions
through collaboration
13 22 37 40 54 66 70 73 84 87 89
90%
Of senior finance executives believe that finance should facilitate collaborative enterprise planning to ensure that operational plans are aligned with financial and strategic plans.1
As a finance leader, you’re in the best position to steer your organization to achieve strategic business mandates. Through budgeting, planning, and forecasting processes, you are the custodian of quantitative expressions of management expectations and actual business performance. This gives you a unique perspective and opportunity to advise, guide, and lead the business forward.
According to a new survey of 800 finance executives by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), your success as a leader depends on effective collaboration with line-of-business leaders.
Innovative technologies unlock deeper, more effective business engagement
To steer the enterprise, finance leaders need to embrace technology that supports easier information sharing, predictive analytics, and automation to free up time for greater business engagement. The EIU report makes the following observations.2
13 15 17 20 24 26 30 33 34 37 40
42%
Of finance activities can be fully automated using currently available technologies.
13 15 17 20 24 26 30 33 34 37 39
40%
Of the CFO role will be automated in the next 5 to 10 years.
13 15 27 30 34 46 47 50 53 54 56
57%
Of senior finance executives want to use time freed up through automation to focus on finance department training in more advanced financial and technical skills.
13 15 27 30 34 46 47 50 59 62 64
67%
Of CFOs view cloud and real-time information sharing technologies as key enablers of collaboration.
Are you ready to steer through
effective collaboration?
Successful collaboration requires more than technology. You also need communication and other soft skills, a solid understanding of business strategy and operations, and better ways to do the following.
 
 
 
Break down silos and work with all areas of the business   Meaningfully analyze data across business units and regions   Share information and data in the pursuit of common objectives
 
Priorities for collaboration between finance and other business functions
Top-performing CFOs also define clear, focused priorities for collaboration within business functions.3 See how finance leaders are driving performance across the enterprise.
Operations
Current collaboration
13 15 17 20 24 26 30 33 44 47 50
54%
Work together in developing product quality assurance strategies
 
13 15 17 20 24 26 30 33 44 47 50
53%
Collaborate on guiding regional management on evolving tax procedures and business regulations and on labor management policies and legal requirements
 
Desired involvement
13 15 20 25 27 32 36 40 45 49 50
52%
Want greater involvement in cybersecurity risk analysis
 
13 15 20 25 27 30 34 38 44 47 50
51%
Want a bigger role in the review of risks associated with automated and outsourced processes
Priorities for collaboration between finance and other business functions
Top-performing CFOs also define clear, focused priorities for collaboration within business functions.3 See how finance leaders are driving performance across the enterprise.
Procurement and supply chain
Current collaboration
13 15 20 25 30 36 42 46 55 58 60
62%
Work together on effective supply-chain finance management
 
13 15 20 25 30 37 40 46 50 53 56
59%
Collaborate on contract negotiation with suppliers and distributors
 
Desired involvement
13 15 20 25 27 32 34 37 39 42 45
47%
Want more involvement in vendor selection and procurement assessment strategies
 
13 15 20 25 28 31 33 36 38 42 44
46%
Want a greater role in fraud and corruption detection as well as supply chain strategies
Priorities for collaboration between finance and other business functions
Top-performing CFOs also define clear, focused priorities for collaboration within business functions.3 See how finance leaders are driving performance across the enterprise.
Human resources
Current collaboration
13 15 20 25 30 37 40 46 50 53 55
57%
Collaborate on employee benefits and salary negotiations
 
13 15 20 25 31 38 41 45 49 52 54
56%
Work together on employee training and development strategies
 
Desired involvement
13 15 20 25 30 35 38 40 41 43 47
49%
Want more involvement in employee retention strategies
 
13 15 17 20 24 26 30 33 34 43 46
48%
Want a greater role in talent acquisition strategies
Priorities for collaboration between finance and other business functions
Top-performing CFOs also define clear, focused priorities for collaboration within business functions.3 See how finance leaders are driving performance across the enterprise.
Sales and marketing
Current collaboration
13 15 20 25 31 38 43 47 51 55 57
58%
Collaborate on customer acquisition cost analysis
 
13 15 20 25 30 37 39 46 48 50 52
53%
Use collaboration to assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and tools
 
Desired involvement
13 15 20 25 30 37 38 40 42 44 46
48%
Want more involvement in assessing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
 
13 15 20 25 30 37 38 40 42 44 46
48%
Want a greater role in developing sales strategies by product, geography, or client
Realize the benefits of effective collaboration
As a CFO, when you’re empowered to drive decisions and lead through company-wide collaboration, everyone wins.
Watch how Vivint uses collaboration to reinvent finance and drive innovation.
The benefits of collaboration between finance and other business functions include the following.4
10 11 12 13 12 14 15 16 17 18 19
20%
Better understanding of the business, including intransigent and recurring costs
10 11 12 13 12 14 15 16 17 18 19
20%
More accurate financial forecasts
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22
23%
Better strategic investment planning
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22%
Better risk management
Want to learn more?
Want to learn more about how to collaborate more effectively with lines of business – and the soft skills and enabling technologies that are essential to your success? Access the full report from The Economist Intelligence Unit.
1.–4. “Steering Through Collaboration: CFOs Driving New Priorities for the Future,” The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2018.