Challenges and benefits of cloud for the finance department
6 min read
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Going functions to the cloud can most likely gain a variety of organization departments, which include the finance division.
CFOs who are fascinated in going the finance function to the cloud ought to discover how to develop a organization circumstance for carrying out so, which include the rewards the shift can carry, as very well as likely difficulties. A cloud migration of the program utilised by a company’s finance operate — ordinarily main programs, like accounting, tax scheduling and CRM — might only entail migrating these finance applications from current company servers to VMs functioning on cloud IaaS. Undertaking so could support lower servicing overhead and lay the foundation for more migration. Having said that, migrating finance to SaaS instead can consequence in better price price savings in the lengthy operate and elevated automation, among the other rewards. However, SaaS can arrive with difficulties as properly, including probable protection challenges.
Learn more about the rewards that potentially come with relocating the finance operate to the cloud, as perfectly as the process’s linked troubles.
The rewards of relocating the finance purpose to the cloud
Right here are some advantages of going to the cloud that CFOs can include when building a small business case with other corporation leaders.
Better analytics
Cloud programs typically possess much more innovative analytics abilities than on-premises software package, and all those analytics can support the finance function boost operations.
Swastik Technopack, a enterprise centered in Mumbai, India, that would make machinery for industries this kind of as the cosmetics field, beforehand employed a legacy accounting application prior to shifting its finance perform to the cloud.
The corporation now has a substantially broader assortment of stories and analytics, mentioned Hiral Pancholi, task director at Swastik Technopack. Swastik Technopack’s new cloud services also can make it less difficult to personalize reports and check out info with other analytics resources.
Improved automation
Cloud applications also enable the automation of procedures like sending consumers messages, which can help save personnel time.
Swastik Technopack’s finance workforce can routinely audit order orders and ship out cargo status updates to buyers, amid other uses, Pancholi stated.
Automating consumer shipment updates could boost purchaser provider since customers acquire information about their purchases much more swiftly than if a finance staff member or consumer provider agent has to manually mail an e mail.
Diminished functioning costs
Businesses may perhaps practical experience decrease working expenditures immediately after relocating the finance perform to the cloud mainly because the cloud application requires considerably less worker labor.
Integrated cloud platforms normally demand less IT administration of the fundamental know-how stack, stated Shafqat Azim, spouse of electronic approach and methods at ISG. Workforce can also use cloud platforms to configure and control specialized stories, decreasing the load on IT groups. In addition, companies with a very well-built cloud atmosphere generally help you save income on platform upkeep fees.
All this can perhaps consequence in cost savings for organizations that make the go.
Improved decision-making
A fashionable cloud finance technique can give the finance operate extra granular insight into company gross sales general performance.
Retail corporations with fashionable applications can go after the price process of accounting, which provides them more insight into their product sales data, stated Kurtis Babczenko, U.S. finance transformation chief at PwC. A business working with the charge approach of accounting can study gross sales details by inventory-retaining unit, or SKU, and discover precisely which goods are selling effectively — for case in point, a woman’s blue polka-dot shirt. Older methods of accounting only report income facts by classification, like shirts.
Much more granular income data can assistance retail companies make much better obtaining decisions.
The difficulties of transferring finance to the cloud
CFOs and IT leaders have to also navigate various troubles when migrating the finance function to the cloud. Here are a couple to approach for when creating a business situation.
Employee teaching
CFOs ought to account for the actuality that personnel will require to receive education on the new cloud system.
Finance and IT need to perform with each other to establish a strategy for upskilling staff members who function on current units as portion of the transition to the cloud, stated Cenk Ozdemir, cloud and electronic direct at PwC.
CFOs and individuals doing work with them on the cloud enterprise situation have to contemplate the expenditure of time and income from the new application training and prepare appropriately.
Worker resistance
Even when legacy finance applications are outdated and clunky, accountants and other finance pros may perhaps be unwilling to adopt newer technological innovation that improvements their workflow.
Swastik Technopack’s group of accountants and economic professionals were not pleased with the move to the cloud, Pancholi mentioned.
“There was a enormous resistance internally from everybody working with our previous legacy process,” Pancholi stated.
He identified it a lot easier to swap the main accounting workforce with a fully new team that was prepared to learn the new software program, he said. Even so, the new staff of six accountants was in a position to approach a substantially better transaction quantity than the prior workforce of eight since of the cloud software’s greater automation and effectiveness, as properly as its enhanced analytics abilities.
Questionable company discounts
CFOs need to also think about irrespective of whether value financial savings will truly consequence from a go to the cloud.
Enterprises usually emphasis on perceived cloud charge personal savings, but prices could skyrocket if an company isn’t geared up to handle cloud operations with considerable demand administration, info management and stability practices, Azim explained. He thinks companies will experience additional substantial extensive-time period gains by utilizing AI and machine finding out to strengthen predictive analytics and company effectiveness modeling.
CFOs really should work with IT to evaluate the actuality of likely price savings from relocating finance to the cloud.
Who need to construct the business enterprise situation for cloud?
The CFO will will need to perform with other executives, like the CIO and CEO, to develop a organization scenario for moving finance to the cloud. Accounting leaders and technological know-how executives should get the job done together to pick the very best cloud support.
The finance crew ought to drive the small business case for moving finance to the cloud, but they will profit from discovering from IT about considerations like retiring present devices, Babczenko claimed. The two departments can also get the job done alongside one another to recognize prospects for automating processes and controls and acquire metrics for measuring economic operations’ progress.
Finance and IT doing work collectively may well assist get more than other corporation leaders to the cloud migration system because just about every workforce will carry experience that the other division lacks.
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Resource link Cloud technology and software solutions have become a common part of the modern business landscape and the finance department is no exception. Today, cloud-based solutions offer a range of advantages to finance departments, from enhanced efficiency and flexibility in operations to greater security and cost savings. While the many benefits of these solutions are undeniable, there can also be some challenges that must be addressed to make the most of cloud technology.
On the plus side, cloud-based platforms and software can allow finance teams to work more quickly and efficiently with team-wide access to information from anywhere. Automated services can give the department tools to streamline and even automate certain finance processes, such as invoicing and tax payments. Additionally, the latest cloud-based security measures are robust, meaning that sensitive financial data is kept safe from unauthorized access.
However, there are some challenges to consider when shifting financial operations to the cloud. Costs can add up quickly if departments are not careful to carefully assess the best choices for their needs. Additionally, the quantity and complexity of software features may be overwhelming, making it difficult to know which solutions are the best fit and require additional training for proper use.
In the end, cloud technology and software offer many potential benefits that the finance department can take advantage of. From faster transactions to enhanced security and compliance, the cloud is an essential tool that can be used to unlock greater productivity, accuracy, and cost savings. However, it is important to consider the challenges mentioned above when making the move into the cloud so that departments can enjoy the full range of benefits.
