Often known for being task-focused and grounded, many nonprofit CFOs actually have their heads in the clouds. When asked for the top three technology investments they plan to make with their organization within the next 18 months, 37 percent of CFOs prioritized moving more systems to the cloud. The sum ranked third in a recent survey behind systems integration, 72 percent, and data analytics, 61 percent.
The data comes from Intacct’s newly released CFO Perspectives Survey. The San Jose, Calif.-based business-management software company conducted the survey during its annual customer conference in November, collecting the input of 114 CFOs presiding over mid-size organizations.
“Greater visibility and insight into financials has always been a top CFO priority. This survey shows we have entered a new era in the office of the CFO as they invest and deploy new systems to gain previously hard or impossible to find insights,” said Robert Reid, CEO of Intacct.
Other key survey findings include:
* Systems integration, data analytics and a move to the cloud aren’t the only objectives on CFOs’ minds. Deploying mobile capabilities, governance and risk compliance, and security were all identified by better than 20 percent of CFOs, at 28 percent, 25 percent and 22 percent, respectively;
* Business reporting and analytics were cited as one of the top three organizational finance initiatives by 80 percent of respondents. Automation of financial processes, facilitating better decision making and tighter monitoring of performance followed with 60 percent, 55 percent and 41 percent, respectively; and,
* The vast majority of CFOs are managing multiple business systems, 89 percent in total. 20 percent of CFOs manage two systems, while 57 percent are in charge of between three and five systems. 11 percent of CFOs handle between six and 10 business systems.
Source: NonProfitTimes