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How technology The three levels of digital maturity

Digital transformation does not happen overnight. It can
is reshaping the happen gradually or quickly, depending on the systems
already in place. To determine a company's digital
finance industry maturity, a few basic levels apply:

1. Low maturity: Nearly all finance-related tasks are
done manually.

2. Intermediate maturity: Some reporting is
based on manual input and some processes are
automated.
3. Full-blown maturity: All planning and reporting
processes that can be automated have been
and offer real-time insights with a few clicks.
Forecasting is robust because it incorporates
predictive analytics, AI and/or machine learning.
How finance is changing

The pandemic sped up business innovation and stress-
tested the concept of 100 percent remote work for many
companies. Changes in the business world are nothing new,
but today's realities are based on even more uncertainty
By Rohan Kapil than ever before. With so much new technology flooding
Jedox Inc. the market and so much left uncertain, CFOs are
scrambling to make sense of it all and determine how to
igital transformation has been an upward effectively optimize value creation from within finance.
business trend for some time, but lately its Recent market conditions have changed, assumptions
importance has risen significantly. For years, have been modified and geopolitical tensions with their
D it simmered in the background, somewhere in ensuing sanctions have given rise to several finance
dark corners of the IT department, with no real connection trends:
to the payments department, HR, controlling or even the
office of finance. • The finance factory: Transactions will become
touchless as automation and blockchain reach
Today, digital transformation is an enterprise-wide deeper into finance operations.
endeavor, connecting and affecting all business units.
It's not just about "going digital"; it's also about the • The role of finance: With operations largely
transformation and the mindset behind it. automated, finance will double down on business
insights and service. Success is not assured. The
According to the "The Essential Components of Digital skills required by finance professionals will
Transformation," by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic in change, likely dramatically, as new combinations
Harvard Business Review, Nov. 23, 2021, organizations are of technology and human workforces permeate
predicted to have invested upward of $6.8 trillion in digital the workplace.
transformation efforts by 2023. Smart payments industry • Finance cycles: Finance has gone real time,
organizations will consider it part of their overall strategy meaning periodic reporting will no longer drive
this year, not the next. operations and decisions, if it ever did.

Transformative tools such as artificial intelligence make it • Self-service: Self-service will become the norm.
easier than ever to make powerful predictions that were Finance will need time to adjust to this new reality.
either extremely difficult or nearly impossible to do in the
past. Those predictions can not only help avoid potential • Operating models: With a widely dispersed
obstacles, but they also can shine a light on the places in workforce, finance will gain access to global talent
which the strategy needs to pivot to counteract them. pools and more specialized resources. It also will
make greater use of freelancers. As businesses
An important step in this process is to unify the data prize new capabilities, some CFOs will adopt
upon which finance professionals rely to ensure a solid the "center office" model, which emphasizes end-
foundation for an effective transformation. to-end processes, capabilities on demand and
coordination of external partner networks.

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