Improving the working relationship between your finance and information technology departments can make a big difference in your company’s overall performance.
The capabilities of IT to provide finance with more and better information faster is growing at an ever-increasing pace due to strong demand. According to Accounting Today, 93% of chief financial officers envision a more digital, data-driven future. Business process automation in finance and accounting has shifted from a perk to a must-have, in part out of a need for real-time business data. Ninety-nine percent of these CFOs called real-time data “critical,” and 44% plan to transition “nearly all” finance processes and operations to real time in the next several years.
Here are three potential strategies to improve the contribution IT can make to a company:
Revisit online meetings. According to Employee Benefit News, over the last two years, the average time spent in meetings jumped from 14.2 hours to 21.5 hours, more than half of employees’ time. Thirty percent of weekly work time is spent attending virtual meetings, in particular. For IT professionals, this represents a double tax on their time. While they might find their own time eaten up by calendar invites, they also have to attend to the technological needs of a workforce increasingly dependent on virtual platforms for real-time conversation.
There are some solutions to consider, such as developing “no-meeting days,” which have profound, positive effects when it comes to engagement, employee independence, idea exchange and productivity. Another option: establish communication practices that prioritize email and alternate channels, such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, to allow for more focused work time.
Review IT automation opportunities. Automation opportunities exist beyond finance and accounting. IT automation, often referred to as infrastructure automation, is the use of software to create repeatable instructions and processes to replace or reduce human interaction with IT systems – and is key both for IT optimization and for making sure the digital transformation is integrated across all aspects of business.
One of the simplest automation opportunities to explore for any IT group should be application programming interfaces. API integrations allow companies to automate tasks by integrating their existing in-house software with third-party, cloud-hosted applications – often efficiently and at a low price. Using API, new application components can be incorporated into a company’s existing architecture, meaning third-party technologies, tools and software are plugged in and ready to use with minimal effort. The investment in APIs has exploded, with over $2 billion invested in recent years, according to Forbes.
Reduce tasks that don’t add value. According to the Cynetia Institute’s State of Third Party Risk Management survey, 84% of companies utilize security questionnaires to evaluate the IT health of organizations with which they work. These questionnaires are often lengthy, with the Cynetia Institute reporting 70.5% of questionnaires falling in the range of 11-100 questions, and about 20% including over 100. Each question may necessitate involvement and coordination between multiple departments, potentially including IT, human resources and legal consultation.
If you are trying to gain the confidence of a vendor or customer, consider a third-party assessment of your IT’s health. A System and Organization Controls 2 report can serve as a demonstration of your preparedness in the face of threats and help ensure that controls and protocols are in place to protect your business.
If you have questions about using IT to a better advantage in your company, consider the assistance of a qualified consultant.
Scott Woznicki is managing director and the national System and Organization Controls practice leader at CBIZ & MHM Inc. He works out of the Providence and Boston offices.
