Finance | Almost half of CFOs being left out of business strategy conversations

CFOs need to reshape their role through tech implementation new survey of 250 UK finance leaders reveals.

10th February 2022, Nottingham – An organisation’s financial data should be a driving factor in its decision making process, but new research by MHR International, the HR, payroll, finance, and learning experts, has found that 47% of finance leaders never get around to advising on strategic decisions.

The figure reflects the frustration faced by 44% of CFOs who are not getting the chance to reshape their role to take on more strategic functions due to being weighed down with other time-consuming and manual tasks. Even jobs such as long-term scenario planning, which is crucial when many industries remain volatile as a result of the pandemic, are falling by the wayside for 46% of stretched CFOs.

The survey of 250 finance leaders in the UK and Ireland also found that over half (51%) are still relying solely on Excel for most of their finance processes. This suggests that a lack of investment in technology, and in particular solutions which deploy automation and ensure greater visibility of data across an organisation, is denying finance leaders the opportunity to flex in their role and provide business-wide strategic insights.