Before the pandemic, finance digital transformation was largely considered “nice to have,” but non-essential. Companies got by without the anywhere, anytime technologies they needed, or waited longer to adopt them than most. Not anymore. “The notion of a tipping point for technology adoption or digital disruption isn’t new, but the survey data suggest that the COVID-19 crisis is a tipping point of historic proportions—and that more changes will be required as the economic and human situation evolves.”
That’s the conclusion in a McKinsey & Co survey of hundreds of global business leaders about their digital transformation efforts before the pandemic compared to now. Overwhelmingly, the results show companies embracing the concept that surviving the pandemic and remaining competitive long-term are both dependent on your ability to embrace technology like never before.
It’s not a surprising result after all we witnessed during recent events. The overnight requirements to enable remote work proved conclusively that entire businesses could run on a mix of video conferencing, messaging apps, and cloud collaboration tools. But in a lot of cases, it had the opposite effect by highlighting in real time how much a company will suffer and lose without a strong digital foundation. The pandemic made it painfully clear that your finance digital transformation isn’t optional any more.
Rethinking Risk Tolerance in a Post-Pandemic World
As we look ahead, companies that want to be agile must strive to become a more efficient, intelligent, adaptable organization. In the wake of COVID, agility (the ability to move fast in the right direction) will elevate successful organizations, just as an inability to change will make late adopters increasingly at risk. Without a doubt, this is a pivotal crossroads. And your single biggest risk is rejecting digital transformation in favor of the status quo and doing nothing.
Resilient and agile companies will rely on the cloud, operate intelligently, allowing them to remain seamlessly linked from points across the globe. The digital future is here sooner than anyone anticipated. Finance digital transformation is the only way to keep up.
Preparing for the Next Era of Accounting and Finance
As companies make their finance digital transformation a priority, they’ll need to single out departments and processes that are overdue for digitization. Take a long look at your accounting and finance processes and tools. Your financial engine must be able to withstand any disruption, whether that be a pandemic or a severe storm.
Cloud-based accounting software gives your team the flexibility to operate from anywhere. Financial processes can tend to be repetitive and are detail-oriented, making them ideally suited to automation. AI in the accounting department can improve accuracy, efficiency, and productivity while uncovering strategic insights for smarter decision making.
Don’t wait to get started on your finance digital transformation. Enlist the guidance of a business continuity consulting expert to help you adopt the technologies that will enable your organization to emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever with a solution that will support whatever your future requirements may be and will grow with you, so you can remain agile and adaptable. We have a guide that breaks down what to do and when to do it. Please download the guide here.
March 22, 2021
2 min read
