When technology meets great finance professionals

This special podcast episode features an abridged recording of “When Great Technology Meets Great Finance Professionals” — a panel discussion from the 2018 Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference hosted by Financial Executives International. The panel, moderated by Myles Corson, included David Fabricant, SVP, Global Record to Report Controller at American Express and Dan Werries, formerly Global Director for Finance Systems, Purchasing Systems and Analytics at the Dow Chemical Company and now Vice President Information Technology, Corporate Enablement at Intel Corporation. They discuss how integrating technology into the finance function can create more than just immediate efficiencies and cost savings.

Emerging technologies can simultaneously represent both the solution as well as the challenge! When constantly bombarded with information about innovative technologies and all the ways it can change the finance function, how do we avoid implementing technology for technology’s sake and truly access the long-term value that technology can provide?

When the implementation of technology is strategically planned and is connected to the organization’s purpose, it can be the key to providing individuals with new and more meaningful experiences, while unlocking long-term value for the business.

Key takeaways

• Automation cannot fix a broken process. Automating processes that are suboptimal will amplify current issues and potentially cause new problems.
• A great finance function includes embedding the voice of the customer. As finance becomes more responsive, understanding the needs of the business will enable finance to better support the decision-making process.
• As technology takes more of the transactional work, finance teams will have more capacity to provide analytical and strategic support.
• While finance is inherently conservative with an emphasis on stability and accuracy, technology is about innovation, disruption and speed. A great finance function finds the balance between the two.