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How Is Paper Still a Thing?
It’s almost 2017. The accounts payable (AP) manager has an abundance of technology innovations from which to choose to make the process run faster, better, and cheaper. For example, there are workflow automation solutions that help to reduce duplicate payments, late payments, strengthen internal…
The Finance Mission—A Good Time for Reflection
As we head into the last quarter of the business year, financial analysts are surely keen to see how useful their forays into data analytics will look when the final buzzer goes off. Have these efforts to buoy business performance paid off? What are CFOs planning to do to balance investments in new…
Finance Needs New Skills to Stay Relevant
Three quarters of finance executives who responded to a recent APQC survey are engaged in some form of finance function improvement. Unsurprisingly, CFOs want finance to push for greater cost-efficiency. That campaign will never end, especially as finance moves stridently toward robotics and…
Finance Transformation in 2016: Raising the Bar on Business Analysis
According to new research conducted by APQC, finance leaders are keenly aware of the need to improve the finance function. What’s so new about that? A lot, actually. For starters, business managers are changing their tune when it comes to what they want from finance. They now insist that finance…
Finance Process Efficiency: the Hunt Continues
When an overwhelming majority of finance executives say they want to be sure their financial process costs are in line, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve stumbled into a time warp. APQC has been tracking these efficiency metrics for many years. CFOs and corporate controllers in the U.S., Europe, and…
Get Serious about Finance Training
The current fascination with using big data to sharpen business decision making is not lost on finance and accounting leaders. They know it is imperative that finance get up-to-speed with this powerful trend and learn how best to apply big data concepts in the realm of financial planning and…
Three Reasons Why Finance Transformation is Back in Vogue
Finance process improvement is back in full swing—or is it? Some would argue that it’s not back, per se; they’d say it never left. Surely they are thinking of companies run by CEOs with the will to make process excellence a cornerstone of competitive strategy. But what about those without such…
Analytics Maturity: Getting the Intersections Right
In any organization, during the early stages of building analytical muscle, there will be competing views on what the maturity ladder looks like. To sort out what’s what, start with a common language for describing how analytics will serve strategic aims of the enterprise as a whole. Avoid being…
Microsoft Finance: Digital Transformation Takes Form
I read everything I can get my hands on when it comes to financial management process change and improvement. I consume both the magnificent and, out of necessity, the mundane. A recent article falls into the magnificent category: Microsoft Finance and the Journey to Digital Transformation.…
World Economic Forum: Global Risks Worsening
“Risks are more elevated and interconnected than ever before,” observes Cecilia Reyes, Chief Risk Officer, Zurich Insurance Group. She was quoted in the report just released by the World Economic Forum: The Global Risks Report 2016. Zurich served as strategic partner for the report. At APQC, we…