Expectations for the finance and accounting function have changed; finance departments are expected to be more efficient and agile, while also becoming more strategic. In addition, finance leaders have new demands on their time, including digitizing key business processes and evaluating new technologies, in addition to traditional finance activities.
Unfortunately, a gap is evident. Many finance and accounting teams are still utilizing unintegrated on-premise apps and spreadsheet-driven processes for core accounting, financial close, planning and reporting. These outdated methods are preventing organizations from modernizing processes and doing more with less.
However, many finance and accounting teams are now taking ownership of their app destiny, leading the charge and deploying apps themselves in order to work better and smarter.
By working directly with finance and accounting teams of every size, RSM has developed an effective, three-part game plan for modernizing your finance and accounting application landscape. The plan is designed with practicality in mind to gain rapid value through accounting automation, to use efficiency gains to enhance financial planning and analysis (FP&A), and then to renovate the core.
The RSM CAP Game Plan provides a foundation for integrating new finance and accounting technology. The foundational components can help drive technology and process transformation within finance and accounting. The three-part plan includes:
- Close automation and controls: Includes cloud-based automation technology, unaltered integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP), general ledger (GL) and subledger, improving efficiency while providing completeness validation and reducing control risk
- Accounting/ERP and transactions: Integrates financial ERP with all financial applications, designs ERP to support effective processes (process-led transaction enablement), and enables real-time visibility into financial drivers
- Performance management and analytics: Integrates corporate performance management (CPM) tools with the GL and other financial data sources, eliminates the use of Excel to provide more informed decision-making, aligns financial performance with expectations, and reduces planning cycles.
Expectations have changed for finance and accounting, but there’s never been a better time to upgrade the finance technology stack to meet these challenges. Learn how your company can thrive by tightly aligning people, processes and technology with strategic vision and goals.
