Why traditional finance transformations are broken and how to fix them
With 70% of finance transformations failing to meet objectives, it’s time for a new approach
The double-edged sword of Autonomous Finance: Productivity gains versus security risks
Paul Fisher, Lead Analyst at KuppingerCole on strategies for securing Autonomous Finance systems
Recurring revenue trends CFOs should consider for 2025
Insights from 100+ U.S. enterprise executives
How Finance leaders in Insurance can benefit from modernized accounting solutions
Modern financial platforms are transforming Insurance finance functions and helping them unlock real-time insights to optimize liquidity and revenue
A letter from our CEO
As we move forward, it can feel like time is accelerating - and in business, the need for speed, agility and efficiency is becoming even more critical. Aptitude Software is at the forefront of this shift, disrupting the finance transformation market with solutions that drive meaningful change in record time.
As our Chief Client Experience Officer, Paul Tassinari, highlights in this issue, the very process meant to help finance teams move faster - finance transformation - is fundamentally broken. According to our Global Autonomous Finance Benchmark, 60% of respondents say it takes three or more years to realize value from traditional transformation efforts. In today’s fast-paced tech environment, the technology may be outdated by the time these programs are complete!
In his article, Paul shares his thoughts on the new approach supported by Aptitude’s Fynapse finance data management platform, designed to deliver value in months, not years.
In this issue, you’ll also find great articles from:
• Paul Fisher, Lead Analyst at KuppingerCole, offering perspectives on addressing security and governance risks in order to realize the full benefit of Autonomous Finance
• Minna Technologies CEO, Amanda Mesler, sharing insights on the recurring revenue trends CFOs should consider for 2025
• Tom Berger, HSO VP, Financial Services Global Industry Director, discussing how Insurers are finding value in modern accounting solutions
We have also included a fantastic interview with Musidora Jorgensen, Chief Impact Officer at World Wide Generation and recipient of many leadership, sustainability and advocacy awards. She shares her thoughts on the mission of WWG, how businesses can positively impact global climate goals and the success stories that are energizing her.
Thank you to all our contributors, sponsors, and readers for joining us on this journey toward the future of finance. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Alex Curran CEO, Aptitude Software
Autonomous Finance is set to transform financial operations, but for Paul Fisher, Lead Analyst at KuppingerCole, success hinges on addressing the critical risks in systems and data security.
Recurring revenue trends CFOs should consider for 2025: Insights from 100+ U.S. enterprise executives
Amanda Mesler, Chair and CEO of Minna Technologies, discusses findings from their recent report and shares what this means for CFOs, subscribers and the broader subscription economy.
Why traditional finance transformations are broken and how to fix them
Today, too many finance modernization initiatives result in failure, leaving organizations grappling with the same inefficiencies they set out to fix. Paul Tassinari, Chief Client Experience Officer at Aptitude explores how a new approach can drive the results companies desperately need.
How Finance leaders in Insurance can benefit from modernized accounting solutions
Finance illustrated: What the future holds
Going beyond the business to get to know Musidora Jorgensen, Chief Impact Officer at World Wide Generation.
Tom Berger, HSO VP, Financial Services Global Industry Director, on how Insurers are finding value in modern accounting solutions.
The double-edged sword of Autonomous Finance: Productivity gains versus security risks
By Paul Fisher
Autonomous finance is set to transform financial operations, but for Paul Fisher, Lead Analyst at KuppingerCole, success hinges on addressing the critical risks in systems and data security.
Name: Paul Fisher
Title: Lead Analyst
Organization: KuppingerCole
Location: London
Paul Fisher is a Lead Analyst who researches primarily on cybersecurity and identity and access management (IAM) with specialist knowledge of privileged access trends. He also studies AI, IoT and data governance developments for different industry sectors. Paul is responsible for managing relevant quantitative research at KuppingerCole.
1
Autonomous finance, the latest frontier in fintech, promises a revolution in financial operations. By harnessing AI, machine learning, and automation, it aims to streamline processes, reduce errors, and free finance professionals to focus on strategic tasks. The allure is undeniable: with mundane tasks like data entry, invoice processing, and financial reporting handled automatically, finance teams can redirect their energies toward driving growth and innovation.
Balancing opportunity with risk
However, as we rush to embrace the efficiencies and revenue opportunities that autonomous finance dangles before us, we must not overlook the inherent risks. The success of autonomous finance hinges not just on the sophistication of the AI and automation tools but also on the quality and security of the data they depend on. Access to that data and its governance will be as crucial as the automation itself.
Without robust safeguards, the sensitive financial data powering these systems becomes vulnerable - whether to external hackers, rogue internal actors, or even the AI tools themselves. The very technology designed to protect and optimize could, without proper oversight, become a liability.
Survey insights
Thankfully, IT leaders seem to be aware of this. A 2024 TechTarget survey1 highlighted the top drivers for IT investments: Cybersecurity and risk management, data-driven initiatives, and IT automation advancements. The alignment of these priorities is no accident; they’re interconnected in ways that should be obvious to anyone paying attention.
The three biggest risks? Quality and accuracy of data, data privacy and security, and the necessity to comply with ever-evolving legal and regulatory frameworks. Clean data means better automation and
business benefits, as shown in a Harvard Business Review study. But that’s only one side of the coin.
The value of
Autonomous Finance
At its core, autonomous finance aims to enhance and automate financial processes, increasing productivity and accuracy. Key elements include automated workflows, AI-driven decision-making, real-time data access, predictive analytics, and self-optimizing systems. These technologies enable organizations to respond swiftly to market changes, optimize financial strategies, and improve overall operational efficiency.
For example, AI can analyze vast datasets to uncover insights that inform investment strategies, manage risk, and forecast financial trends. Machine learning models can predict future financial outcomes based on historical data, enabling more informed decision-making. Over time, these systems learn and adapt, improving their performance and reducing the need for manual oversight.
Finance departments, perhaps more than any other part of an organization, stand to gain from these advancements. The potential for increased revenue and productivity is significant.
The Aptitude Global Autonomous Finance Benchmark 20242 revealed that 51% of finance teams see
technology as essential for efficiency, and 32% believe it optimizes financial processes. However, 13% cite challenges due to setup costs and, more revealingly, complexities. It seems end users are considering the undeniable advantages before fully contemplating the risks of getting it wrong.
“What’s Your Data Strategy?” by Leandro DalleMule and Thomas H. Davenport, May-June 2017. Two sides of the coin. Clean data
From "What's Your Data Strategy by Leandro DalleMule and Thomas H. Davenpоrt, May-June 2017
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Research from KuppingerCole shows that even with a growing emphasis on digital identity, companies remain vulnerable to backdoor compromises by threat actors.
Managing access
One of the most pressing challenges in securing autonomous finance systems is managing identities and access to data and workflows. As financial institutions increasingly depend on advanced software and automation tools, they become more vulnerable to cyber threats, with processes often deployed sight unseen by human users—efficient, but not necessarily secure.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM) are critical in safeguarding these systems. The latest tools can monitor machine identities used by automation and AI. Yet despite significant investments, many organizations still fail to protect privileged applications and data. Research from KuppingerCole shows that even with a growing emphasis on digital identity, companies remain vulnerable to backdoor compromises by threat actors.3
Mitigating the risk of generative AI
The rise of generative AI adds another layer of complexity. While AI enhances efficiency, it also opens new avenues for data leakage. The 2024 Splunk Cyber Report4 notes that 77% of respondents believe increased use of generative AI will lead to more data leakage, yet only 49% are actively prioritizing data
leakage prevention. This gap between awareness and action is concerning, especially as AI becomes central to many organizations.
The risk of human error
Even with advanced automation and AI, human error remains a critical vulnerability. Misconfigured systems are not only common but also one of the most concerning threat vectors identified by security professionals. The 2024 Splunk Report also underscores that while security teams are aware of the risks posed by misconfigurations, they struggle to manage them effectively due to the increasing complexity of systems and the scarcity of skilled security talent.
Strategies for securing autonomous finance systems
To fully realize the benefits of autonomous finance while safeguarding sensitive data, organizations must prioritize security from the outset. This begins with implementing robust access controls, such as the principle of least privilege, where users and systems are granted only the access necessary for their roles. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) should be mandatory to prevent unauthorized access, even if credentials are compromised.
Regular patching and updates of financial software are also essential.
Cybercriminals are quick to exploit known vulnerabilities, so a disciplined approach to patch management is necessary to protect systems. Additionally, comprehensive monitoring and logging can help organizations detect suspicious activity in real-time, allowing for quick responses to potential threats.
Finally, organizations must ensure that their AI and automation systems are configured securely. Regular reviews of system configurations can help identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities. Employee training is equally important; finance professionals must be equipped to recognize and respond to phishing attacks and other social engineering tactics. Sophisticated software can still be brought down by crude hacking techniques.
The path forward
Autonomous finance represents a significant opportunity for financial departments to increase productivity, streamline operations, and drive revenue growth. However, this potential can only be fully realized if the underlying data and systems are secure. As organizations continue to integrate AI and automation into their financial processes, they must not overlook the critical importance of data security.
The road to autonomous finance is paved with both opportunities and risks. By taking proactive measures to secure financial data, organizations can harness the power of autonomous finance while protecting themselves from the growing threat of cyberattacks. In this new era of financial technology, balancing innovation with security is not just advisable - it is essential.
Digital Transformation Through Identity and Cyber Security
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Recurring revenue trends CFOs should consider for 2025: Insights from 100+ U.S. enterprise executives
By Amanda Mesler
Amanda Mesler, Chair and CEO of Minna Technologies discusses findings from their recent report, Subscription Economy: Evolution Not Revolution, and shares what this means for CFOs, subscribers and the broader subscription economy.
Name: Amanda Mesler
Title: Chair and CEO
Organization: Minna Technologies
Location: London
Amanda Mesler is Chair and CEO of Minna Technologies, Non-Executive Board Member and Chair of Remco/Nominations of Amadeus, Non-Executive Director of Vodeno, and a Senior Advisor at Macquarie Capital. She was previously on the National Grid Board, a FTSE 20 energy company. She has an MBA from the University of North Carolina.
Amanda has extensive experience as Chair, CEO and NED developing strategy, GTM, M&A, leading SPAC, capital raise and exits to create shareholder value. As an executive, she has scaled up and transformed companies into highly valuable businesses. She has developed high performing leadership teams and managed P&Ls to deliver results across six continents, leading digital transformation, growth and teams in over 40 countries. Amanda has strong technology experience across multiple industries, including Fintech. She is a member of YPO, the global leadership community of extraordinary chief executives, and a speaker, including at Cambridge Judge Business School where she helps professional women and rising talent.
Despite economic headwinds, more than two-thirds of U.S. enterprise subscription businesses have experienced modest subscriber growth (up to 20%) in the last 12 months and 89% are confident about their revenue growth potential for the year ahead.
to market volatility. The CFO is increasingly involved in strategic growth initiatives and tech transformation to accelerate recurring revenue. According to the latest SEI report6, subscription companies have grown 3.4x faster than companies in the S&P 500 over
Top factors impacting profitability: changing customer demand and tech disruption
These are findings from Subscription Economy: Evolution Not Revolution1 , a new report from subscription management fintech Minna Technologies2 in partnership with specialist management consultancy FT Strategies3 and global market research firm Savanta4. This includes data and analysis of surveys of over 100 U.S. enterprise executives, spanning industries including financial services, software, streaming media, publishing and retail, and more than 2,000 U.S. consumers.
The global subscription economy has grown by 435% over the past decade5, and UBS forecasts it will reach a market size of $1.5 trillion by 2025. This presents a significant opportunity for businesses looking to unlock new revenue streams.
As enterprise businesses across sectors have embraced subscription models, subscription growth has become a strategic focus for the CFO, with the opportunity to generate predictable recurring revenue and reduce exposure
the past 12 years, underlining the CFO’s growing interest in this space.
“According
to the latest SEI report, subscription companies have grown 3.4x faster than companies in the S&P 500 over the past 12 years, underlining the CFO’s growing interest in this space.
Our research and analysis highlight a growing gap between what customers expect from their subscriptions and what businesses are offering.
Two-thirds (67%) of U.S. businesses say that changing customer demand will be the top impact factor on profitability in the next 10 years, followed by tech disruption (52%), such as the continued integration of AI into operations.
The data reveals notable subscriber demand for greater flexibility, including the ability to pause (39%), manage all subscriptions in one place (73%), and have a seamless user and payments experience unsubscribing and resubscribing. Yet just half (50%) of subscription businesses offer pause functionality at present, and only a third of businesses provide
dynamic offers and renewal pricing based on behavior.
More than a third (37%) of U.S. subscribers are now spending more on subscriptions compared to a year ago, with the average subscriber having 8.2 subscriptions and spending $1,416 per year. 63% of consumers prefer paying monthly to an annual fee and 55% think owning anything they don’t need now is a waste of time.
Given the growth in spend and number of subscriptions, six in ten (61%) subscribers would like
Gen Z and millennial subscribers have more subscriptions than older generations and are especially interested in this functionality. Eight in ten (80%) 18-44 year-olds want it, and nearly half (45%) are willing to switch banks for it. It’s critical that businesses cater to their expectations to remain competitive and boost profitability.
AI, diversification and total monetization strategies
Our research also shows that serial churners, who habitually cancel and resubscribe, continue to grow and
to be able to view and manage all their subscriptions in their banking app – with the flexibility to pause, change plans, accept offers or cancel – which 64% trust more than subscription platforms or app stores.
have become an increasingly large proportion of the customer base as subscribers become savvier, with two-thirds (67%) of businesses reporting that up to 20% of their churners return within six months.
This behavior continues to disrupt the predictability of recurring revenue that CFOs prefer, and complicates revenue recognition and reporting, highlighting the urgent need for businesses to adapt and cater to evolving consumer preferences.
Despite the challenges of keeping pace with evolving consumer behavior, there is a clear opportunity for businesses to track and meet changing demands with continual tech-enabled experimentation and innovation.
Nearly all (93%) businesses recognize the crucial role of AI in shaping customer service and retention. There are also growing opportunities to leverage AI to enhance products and services to increase their monetization appeal. For example, by deploying basic AI and machine learning tools, businesses can rapidly analyze customer data at scale to recommend highly personalized product packages, prices, complementary offerings or valueadd features that maximize value for each subscriber, as well as optimizing predictive churn and customer support capabilities.
83% of subscription businesses have already either invested, or are planning to invest, in AI to enhance
services including customer support, user experience, and personalization of pricing and products, and this will grow as businesses transition from theory to practice.
Subscriptions are no longer a static, one-size-fits-all proposition. They are an ongoing value exchange that fits into a wider monetization strategy. Businesses need to focus on enhancing flexibility, convenience, and control to succeed.
Customer demand has led to the emergence of new channels to manage subscriptions, such as banking apps and aggregators. By enabling customers to track and manage their recurring spend
digitally, banks can increase revenue, reduce chargebacks and OPEX, and enhance engagement and trust. In turn, businesses can retain, win back and grow subscribers.
Businesses are exploring broader total monetization strategies, through a range of recurring and transactional revenue streams. Product diversification, new channels, bundles and beyond have all emerged as critical components to complement core subscription offerings, add value and drive retention.
For CFOs, offering subscribers more choice and control – and cumulative value – is essential to develop
sustainable, long-term revenue strategies. As our research reveals, the main drivers for canceling a subscription are to save money or the perception that the service is not needed.
By putting customers at the heart of recurring revenue strategies and leveraging tech for personalization, automation and customer experience optimization, CFOs can ensure their organizations maximize long-term value, attract, engage and retain subscribers, and scale revenue.
Why traditional finance transformations are broken and how to fix them
By Paul Tassinari, Chief Client Experience Officer, Aptitude Software
Finance transformation - a term that’s been circulating for decades - has been heralded as the key to bringing the Office of Finance into the digital age. But after years of trial and error, it’s clear that traditional approaches to finance transformation are fundamentally broken.
Name: Paul Tassinari
Title: Chief Client Experience Officer
Organization: Aptitude Software
Location: Boston
Paul joined Aptitude Software’s Professional Services organization in 2016 with a background in software development and technology management. He has held various roles of increasing responsibility across Aptitude Software’s client facing functions.
Paul’s Client Experience team spans Professional Services Delivery & Assure, Client Success, and Client Support globally.
Client Experience aims to deliver the best service possible for Aptitude Software’s clients through expert advisory and maintaining close relationships.
Today, too many finance modernization initiatives result in failure, leaving organizations grappling with the same inefficiencies they set out to fix. In this article, I’ll explore why the old way of transforming finance doesn’t work and how a new approach - one that is rapid, incremental and agile - can drive the results companies desperately need.
The problem with the traditional finance transformation approach
To understand the challenges in transforming finance, it’s important to recognize the complexity of the function itself. The Office of Finance spans a vast array of functions, from transactional back-office processes and compliance reporting to financial planning and strategic support for the business. Large organizations add layers of complexity, including multiple regions, entities, product lines, and the baggage and technical debt of past mergers and acquisitions.
Adding to these layers of complexity is the tendency for organizations to approach a finance transformation as an exercise in attempting to plan for a vision five to ten years into the future. This approach requires heavy upfront planning and consultancy fees before you even get to the actual technology selection, implementation and deployment of the transformation itself.
Today, the rapid pace of technological change, driven by innovations like AI, means that companies can’t afford to wait years for transformation programs to yield value.
Why finance transformations fail
According to research from Gartner, while 85% of finance teams are in the midst of a finance transformation initiative, a staggering 70% of these projects fail to meet expectations.1
The origins of these failures are threefold: pace of implementation, resistance to change, and misaligned outcomes.
Pace of implementation
Finance transformations take years due to their scale, data complexity and the level of collaboration required across the organization. In fact, recent findings from our Global Autonomous Finance Benchmark2 survey of over 1,600 Finance and IT professionals found that for 60% of respondents, it took three or more years to experience value from their transformation efforts. 23% reported achieving results in 1-2 years while only 17% saw benefits in less than a year.
It’s not uncommon for companies to spend years preparing data and going through multiple rounds of testing and iteration before any value is realized. By the time a project is completed, technology may have already moved on, rendering the transformation outdated before it’s even fully implemented.
The challenges of the classic “Big Bang” approach to any type of transformation are well documented and we shouldn’t expect anything different with finance transformation in particular.
Resistance to change
Gartner research has shown that one of the primary obstacles to technology adoption in Finance – specifically around AI – is rigid mindsets on the part of finance professionals. A significant reason for this is that the sheer number of change events finance teams need to accommodate has dramatically increased, up 5x from 2014 to 2023.3
Additionally, large organizations often have competing priorities that lead to siloed solutions, making collaboration and change adoption difficult while the fear of high costs creates an environment where stakeholders are hesitant to embrace new technologies.
Finally, as outlined by Sara Sheehan4, Founder and Executive Consultant at Sara Sheehan Consulting, changing a behavior that has a well-developed habit supporting it can be extremely challenging. “It’s hard for the brain to break a habit once that neural connection has been made. That’s why organizations need to fully understand what behaviors need to change at the task level regarding what employees or business users will do differently in the future and what new behaviors will support a healthy organizational culture. This will require a planned approach throughout 30, 60, and 90 days to embed new behaviors. Without a planned approach, the behaviors will not stick.”
Misaligned outcomes
Finance transformations are expected to automate manual tasks, provide better access to data and free up resources for more valuecreating work. However, when these objectives aren’t met—whether due to insufficient technology or poor adoption—companies find themselves needing to restart their transformation with a different technology vendor or implementation partner, which is demoralizing for all involved. We’ve seen high-profile examples of this at HP5, MillerCoors6 and Revlon7 all of whom announced nine-figure losses only to begin anew.
The need for a new approach
It’s clear that the traditional model of finance transformationcharacterized by years of planning, complex implementations and massive upfront investmentsdoesn’t work. What companies need instead is a more agile approach that focuses on rapid, incremental and ongoing transformation. They need transformation that delivers a shorter time to value, a lower cost of delivery and a solution that not only meets their needs now but also grows with them.
“ Solutions that shift the data transformation process from Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) to an Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) model allow organizations to land raw data into the system and enrich it there, dramatically reducing time to value.
So how do organizations shift to a more agile approach to finance change?
In part, through a focus on automating data activities, faster solution configuration and incremental change.
Automating data activities
Many projects are immediately stalled because they can’t get their data preparation and requirements ready. This often ignored area, which can make up about 80% of a finance transformation effort, includes data requirements gathering, preparation, testing and iteration.
Solutions that shift the data transformation process from Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) to an Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) model allow organizations to land raw data into the system and enrich it there, dramatically reducing time to value. Additionally, using tools like automated regression testing and AI-driven configuration can also help companies reduce time spent on these cumbersome tasks.
Configure faster
The ability to configure a finance solution quickly offers immense value by accelerating time-tomarket, enhancing operational agility and reducing implementation costs. Faster, even automated, configuration also allows businesses to respond promptly to market changes, regulatory requirements, or growth opportunities without long delays. It also empowers finance teams to optimize workflows and access critical insights sooner, driving better decision-making and efficiency. However, many of the large ERP systems lack much finance IP, meaning they must be fully configured by IT which slows down the process.
When finance teams can reduce the number of configurations required and the time it takes to configure - not only for initial set-up but also over the course of maintaining and adjusting the solution – they can reduce implementation time, increase agility and lower the demands on finance resources. It also means finance can actually own and configure the solution on their own,
giving them the control they need to direct the business.
Iterative change
The market is lacking a viable alternative to large ERP systems. Organizations need composable, modular solutions that support small, iterative projects and allow finance teams to quickly show success and win buy-in.
Solutions that support quick changes and the ability to see results in real time are faster and less risky and can win over leadership teams that were previously intimidated by large scale change. In fact, when smaller use cases are delivered more quickly, adoption tends to increase, and excitement around the new system is sustained.
A new era of finance transformation
In a world where technology is evolving faster than ever, finance transformation can no longer be a multi-year process. It’s time for organizations to embrace a new way of thinking—one that values agility, automation, and, most importantly, speed to value.
At Aptitude, we’re excited about the potential of our finance data management platform, Fynapse, to disrupt the traditional finance transformation model – ensuring finance teams see value in weeks or months, not years. Learn how Fynapse can unlock the power of the finance function
How Finance leaders in Insurance can benefit from modernized accounting solutions
By Tom Berger
Modern financial platforms are transforming Insurance finance functions and helping them unlock real-time insights to optimize liquidity and revenue.
Name: Tom Berger
Title: Vice President, Financial Services
Global Industry Director
Organization: HSO
Location: New York
Tom Berger is the Vice President and Global Industry Director of Financial Services at HSO, a global leader in enterprise cloud solutions powered by Microsoft Dynamics. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Tom is dedicated to helping firms transform their business strategies and achieve their objectives through the innovative use of cloud technology and digital transformation.
CFOs, controllers, and finance leaders in the insurance industry face constant pressure to optimize revenue streams while managing a delicate balance between risk and liquidity. As the industry continues to evolve, there is a growing demand for faster, more accurate financial insights. Modern financial technology solutions, such as accounting hubs and subledgers, offer opportunities to meet these demands and drive real-time decision-making and the operational efficiency of a thin, modern GL.
Real-time insights for immediate revenue opportunities
One of the most significant challenges for insurance companies is managing their liquidity or “float” – the difference between liabilities and premiums collected. Insurance companies can generate substantial revenue by investing this float. However, traditional systems often delay the availability of critical data, leaving CFOs and finance teams with limited windows to make investment decisions.
Mark Aubin, a finance expert, highlights how modern finance platforms like Aptitude Fynapse provide real-time data processing, enabling insurance companies to capitalize on midday trading opportunities. “By the time all their policy systems and admin systems have performed their calculations, it’s often too late to make effective investment decisions,” Aubin explains. However, with a realtime finance data management platform, CFOs can see midday positions and determine if they have extra liquidity—like an additional $10 million—that can be invested immediately, maximizing revenue generation.
Shifting from reactive to proactive
Another common issue for insurance CFOs is the lack of granularity in financial data. Insurance companies typically receive highly summarized information from their policy and administrative systems. This makes it difficult to quickly identify anomalies, emerging risks, or opportunities in specific geographies or segments.
“Much of the data from policy systems is highly summarized, and by the time it’s received, it’s often too late to act,” says Aubin. This delay in data processing can hinder
“
By the time all their policy systems and admin systems have performed their calculations, it’s often too late to make effective investment decisions.
the ability to recognize trends or anomalies that may signal risk, leaving finance teams reactive rather than proactive.
A modern finance data management platform can change this narrative. These platforms allow for detailed, real-time data analysis, providing finance teams with the ability to pinpoint trends, risks, or opportunities as they happen. This empowers the office of the CFO to act swiftly, mitigating risks and seizing opportunities without waiting for the end-of-period data reconciliation.
A real-world example of transformation
A great example of how modern financial solutions can transform operations can be seen in the success story of a leading employee benefits company. This organization faced challenges in managing its financial data due to fragmented systems and delayed reporting. By implementing a unified financial solution, they were able to streamline their financial operations, gaining visibility into their financial performance in real-time.
This modernization not only improved operational efficiency but also gave the CFO’s office the tools needed to make faster, data-driven decisions that directly impacted their bottom line. The unified platform enabled them to integrate data across departments, giving
them a comprehensive view of the company’s financial standing and facilitating better forecasting and strategic planning.
Below is an overview of the challenges this organization is looking to solve and benefits their approach to modernization.
Global Financial Consolidation
The company had complex financial data from multiple entities, causing delays in reporting.
Solution: With the unified financial platform, they consolidated global financial data in real time, speeding up the closing process and providing instant access to accurate financial reports.
Standardization Across Entities
Inconsistent financial processes across global offices made it hard to track performance uniformly.
Solution: The unified system standardized accounting practices globally, allowing real-time financial insights and consistent tracking across markets.
Automated Real-Time Reporting
Manual financial processes delayed reporting and increased error risks.
Solution: Automating financial operations enabled real-time reporting, providing immediate insights into cash flow, revenue, and expenses without waiting for manual inputs.
Improved Cash Flow Visibility
Fragmented systems made it difficult to track cash flow accurately.
Solution: The new platform offered real-time cash flow visibility, allowing the finance team to monitor inflows and outflows more precisely and make proactive financial decisions.
Scalability and Flexibility
Growth required a financial system that could adapt and scale.
Solution: The unified system scaled with the company, maintaining real-time insights and adapting to new entities and regulations without disrupting operations.
Unlocking new value with modern financial platforms
For CFOs, controllers, and finance leaders in the insurance industry, the message is clear: modernizing your financial systems can unlock significant value.
Real-time insights allow quicker, more informed decisions, whether it’s investing available liquidity or recognizing emerging risks. Platforms like Fynapse provide the tools needed to manage increasingly complex financial data, allowing finance leaders to be more agile and proactive in their roles.
As the insurance industry continues to evolve, the need for real-time financial insights and enhanced data granularity will only increase. CFOs who adopt modern finance platforms will not only improve operational efficiency but also drive new revenue opportunities, positioning their organizations for long-term success.
Reprinted with permission from HSO.com
Autonomous Finance illustrated: What the future holds
By Sarah Werner
A fictional look at how pursuing an Autonomous Finance function could turn finance into a strategic, trusted advisor to the business.
In the bustling offices of BankCorp, a leading Financial Services company headquartered in the United States, the company’s CFO, Mary Reynolds, was at the forefront of a transformative journey. Over the last two years Mary and her team had been executing on their vision of moving from a traditional finance function to one that was truly autonomous – and working to shift the mindset of internal and external stakeholders alike.
Now she was preparing to present the results of this work to the board alongside her team. She quickly reviewed the talking points for the session.
From data silos to real-time insights
John, her Chief Data Officer, would cover the improvements in insight generation as a result of the program. A few years ago, despite investments in data visualization and reporting tools and improvements in data processing times, the organization was still struggling with data silos, a weekly batch process and a lack of transparency.
It took time, but the company had fully shifted to a cloud-first architecture which improved processing time and better supported AI applications. A finance data management platform was adopted to ensure data could be held in a configurable, centralized solution to support detailed queries and business insights.
Now, business events are instantly and correctly allocated and accounted for, allowing finance to monitor changes to reporting, KPIs and balances in real time. This has
improved capital allocation and forecasting while also allowing the finance team to make data available at the right time and the right level of detail via self-service reporting tools.
John would present the following benefits:
• An increase in the ability to make data-driven decisions, in real time
• Better quality forecasting that helped reduce collection issues by 20% and customer defaults by 10%
Defining Autonomous Finance
While the exact definition differs slightly, at Aptitude, we believe an Autonomous Finance function is one where:
• Systems are self-learning, self-improving, efficient and interoperable
• Tasks are optimized and intelligent
• An enterprise-wide data platform supports real-time insights, enabling finance to be a strategic and trusted advisor to the business
• Improved anomaly detection, reducing the time and resources needed for reconciliations
From manual processes to autonomous systems
Next up, BankCorp Chief Accounting Officer, Hannah, would talk about the changes in her department.
Three years ago, as a first step in the autonomous finance program Hannah oversaw the implementation of a cloud general ledger supported by an accounting engine and subledger. This centralized the application of accounting rules and established the automation and financial controls that laid the groundwork for autonomous finance. It also empowered the team with tools they could use without relying on IT.
This change, combined with the implementation of an AI solution, enabled the front office to introduce new products and offers, while also allowing the finance department to immediately assess regulatory and accounting requirements.
Over the last year, they had been able to implement a daily close through completely touchless accounting and were targeting a continuous close for next year.
Hannah would be sharing the following benefits:
• Successful move away from a period end close to a daily close for better business decision making
• A 50% reduction in the cost of the finance technology stack as a result of a reduction in data storage requirements and the decommissioning of legacy systems
• A reinvigorated, empowered finance team with the real-time data access and time to support strategic business goals
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Now, business events are instantly and correctly allocated and accounted for, allowing finance to monitor changes to reporting, KPIs and balances in real time.
Reducing the cost of compliance
Next up would be Julie, Head of Regulatory Compliance, in charge of making sure BankCorp adhered to all regulations including SOX, payment, consumer, lending, ESG, privacy and more. Given the increase in regulations over the last decade and the data volumes and levels of detail required, BankCorp implemented a cognitive automation tool to enable natural language processing for contract analysis and extraction of relevant compliance information from documents.
Machine learning algorithms analyzed the vast amount of data to identify patterns, anomalies
and potential compliance risks. Finally, Julie and her team created an immutable audit trail of ESGrelated activities, transactions, and reports, ensuring transparency and authenticity.
Julie would be sharing the following benefits:
• 20% reduction in time taken to identify and rectify compliance related discrepancies, reducing reporting time
• 60% reduction in time spent by internal and external audit teams, reducing the cost of compliance
• With better, real-time finance data, Julie worked with a cross-functional team to identify the most impactful
investment areas to support the company’s move to net zero
• Finance can now facilitate contracts that are proposed or reassessed and settled in real time.
Finally, Mary would end with an update on the People and Culture aspects of the shift to autonomous finance. As anticipated, this was one of the most challenging aspects of the autonomous finance program, but Mary was proud to see how far they had come. Finance and IT were now working in lockstep to execute on a shared vision.
The Senior Leadership Team had increased communication and created working groups designed to collect feedback, communicate learnings and share results across the company and establish a culture of experimentation around new technologies.
Tangible results included:
• An 15% increase in finance team satisfaction
The overall business benefits of autonomous finance were clear, and Mary couldn’t wait to share the news with the board.
Making the vision a reality
While the story of BankCorp is fictional, it serves as a compelling illustration of the potential benefits that organizations can realize by implementing an Autonomous Finance program. While the specific challenges and solutions may vary, the underlying themes of improved efficiency, enhanced decisionmaking, and reduced costs are universally applicable to businesses of all sizes.
As CFOs continue to navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape, autonomous finance offers a promising path forward. By leveraging advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, and automation, organizations can unlock new opportunities, mitigate risks, and drive sustainable growth.
How does your finance function compare?
We’ve developed an Autonomous Finance self-service Benchmark tool to help you compare where you are in your journey to your global, regional and sector peers.
5 Minutes with...
Going
beyond
the
business to get to know Musidora Jorgensen, Chief Impact Officer at World Wide Generation.
By Sarah Werner
With over 20 years of experience in the technology sector and a belief that business can be a force for good in the world, Musidora leads World Wide Generation’s growth, operations and partnerships across their global markets.
Dubbed one of the most influential women in sustainability and technology, Musidora has been heading up growth and leading teams within the IT industry for more than 20 years. This has been both within the UK enterprise private and public sectors undertaking leadership roles at some of the world’s biggest tech and telecoms firms including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle and HP.
She joined World Wide Generation from Microsoft UK where she was Chief Sustainability Officer and was accountable for creating sustainable outcomes for Microsoft customers, partners and internally.
Name: Musidora Jorgensen
Title: Chief Impact Officer
Organization: World Wide Generation
Location: London
Prior to Salesforce, she spent nearly five years at Oracle heading up sales into the Telco, Media & Utilities industries for human capital management, and held sales leadership roles in the consulting division of Oracle running both the UK public and commercial sectors. Musidora served as client principal at HP for nearly seven years where she was top performer with HP Enterprise Group’s consulting division and worked with Vodafone and BT Global Services as client and account managers.
As well as her achievements in business, Musidora is passionate about impact and business being a force for good. She has advocated for diversity, inclusion
and kindness in the workplace and received many accolades for her work. She was featured as one of Computer Weekly’s 2023 Top 50 of the UK’s most influential women in technology, she was also named as one of the Top 100 Women in Sustainability 2023, Top 100 Global Sustainability Leaders 2022, Yahoo Finance HERoes Top 100 Female Future Leaders 2020, and one of the 50 Leading Lights for UK Kindness and Leadership 2020.
Musidora (also known by her friends and colleagues as Muzzy) looks after the growth and impact of WWG, of revenue, clients and partners in her role as Chief Impact Officer.
Sarah: I love your title of Chief Impact Officer – it’s not one you see every day! I would love to hear what your mission and goals are in this role as well as what your day-to-day looks like.
Muzzy: As Chief Impact Officer, my job is all about making sure we’re delivering maximum impact for our clients, partners and other stakeholders. World Wide Generation (WWG) is a fast-growing sustainability fintech global business and we’re constantly expanding into new regions. My job is to support that growth journey while keeping us aligned with our mission and delivering results. I love it because it draws on my experience in many technology commercial roles, maximizing efficiencies, building culture and high-performing teams, and sustainability to make sure that we can support our clients across the world in delivering their overall sustainable transformations.
Sarah: Is there an overarching mission that you try and think about as you work with your various stakeholders?
Muzzy: World Wide Generation’s mission is to help deliver global solutions that support the financing and delivery of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and so we’ve created a global sustainability data, finance and solutions exchange. We’re focused on how we can support a more sustainable future and recognize that businesses play a crucial role in making that happen. My goal is to ensure that when we are working with our clients, our partners and through our regional channels, that we are simplifying the process of sustainabilityhelping our clients to get started, navigating their way through all of the complexity that sustainability can present and then executing their strategies effectively and ultimately driving the positive outcomes we all need for a more sustainable world.
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My job is to support that growth journey while keeping us aligned with our mission and delivering results. I love it because it draws on
my experience in many technology commercial roles, maximizing efficiencies, building culture and high-performing teams, and sustainability to make sure that we can support our clients across the world in delivering their overall sustainable transformations.
Sarah: You came up through several big tech companies. Is there anything about that experience that informed how you approach your role today?
Muzzy: I’ve worked for lots of big tech organizations and have seen how technology can solve business and global problems, drive innovation and enable great change in the world. But for me, the positive impact technology can have on people has always been the thread that runs through everything I’ve done.
One of the biggest challenges we face is climate change and the future our children will inherit if we don’t take action now. Technology can be one of the great accelerators of changes needed from a sustainability perspective. At the heart of it, again, are people and the changes that we all need to go through to support that. I am passionate about enabling people to make the changes needed to ensure together we can all be much stronger and have a more sustainable future.
Sarah: How do you motivate people – especially business leaders with competing priorities – to adopt sustainable approaches and how do
you communicate the value of those choices?
Muzzy: We’ve got into a position where we need to ensure that we don’t exceed a global temperature that is 1.5 degrees above preindustrial measurements to prevent a host of negative impacts in terms of resources being available, scarcity of water, devastation on biodiversity, food production challenges and more. We’re in the critical decade to create that change now and business is at the center of being able to achieve these global goals.
As a business community, we need to rethink our operations to create more sustainable outcomes. This involves changing business models, serving clients differently, and managing supply chains in new ways. It’s a complex challenge that needs systems change but at the heart of it is the ability to identify where we can make the biggest impacts and leverage data to support those changes.
Regulations are increasingly driving this shift, with governments worldwide requiring organizations to align with various frameworks and
reduce their environmental, social, and governance impacts – that’s the ‘stick’. But what’s the ‘carrot’? How do we communicate the rewards that these changes can bring? Research shows that companies that are aligned to sustainability or purpose are outperforming the stock market by 11% and attracting more talent, as younger generations in particular want to work for brands and leaders who can prove their impact on society and the planet.1
Additionally, financial institutions like banks, insurers and stock exchanges are looking to support and invest in organizations that can show their sustainability credentials –through better access to liquidity, additional loans, and better interest or insurance rates, for example.
But proving those credentials is actually a really tricky thing to do at the moment because that sustainability data that allows an organization to compare progress or prove sustainable practices is often scraped from out-of-date data that is sitting in lots of different places within an organization. It’s not realtime and it’s really hard to pull it all together.
Part of what we’re trying to do with our platform is make it easy for organizations to be able to get their sustainability strategy underway and gain access to real-time, trusted, comparable data that allows them to move from just having inputs and outputs to real and measurable outcomes and impact.
Sarah: Any great success stories that have energized you recently?
Muzzy: Absolutely. A global food production company uses our platform for their sustainability reporting and has been for the last three years. Every year they have increased the remit of what they’re reporting on and actually won a Reuters award for it recently which is amazing to see. The Singapore Stock Exchange, SGX, also uses our platform to look at the sustainability credentials of the listed companies that sit with them which is helping to support the overall transition that they need to go through.
We’re also supporting SME’s who are at the end of lots of big global supply chains and need to provide
sustainability data to back up the chain, which is helping them to compete on a global scale.
Sarah: Shifting gears a bit, I know you’ve been nominated for and won a number of awards around allyship and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. How do you keep that work front and center both individually and within your organization?
Muzzy: I’m the mother of three daughters so I’m personally driven to ensure they see a different world than the one I’ve seen coming up through the line, particularly in the male-dominated tech industry.
The argument has been proven that DE&I is not just the nice thing to do and the right thing to do – it’s good for business as well. The stats are stark – organizations who have a diverse board, who’ve engrained equality and diversity and equity across all business units, outperform those who don’t, every single time. And that really comes down to having diversity of thought around problem solving, having different people around the table with different perspectives, experiences, and ways of looking at problems. For me, it’s always been a no-brainer.
In the technology industry, I’ve noticed there’s a significant shortage of women entering the field, particularly in STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math. I believe part of the issue is the
misconception that you need certain qualifications to succeed in tech, which isn’t true – it’s crucial to have diverse experiences. Another challenge is the lack of visible role models who can share their journeys and challenges.
So, it’s great we’ve got inspiring women like Alex Curran leading Aptitude Software and showing that it’s possible to start in a graduate program at a company and ascend to CEO, and WWG’s Founder and CEO, Manjula Lee, who has been trailblazing in the world of fintech for many years now.
Sarah: Any career highs or lows that stand out?
Muzzy: Oh, plenty of highs and plenty of lows! There’s a great saying that I love which is “smooth seas don’t make great sailors.” No one gets where they want to be without overcoming challenges, learning from them and using those learnings to navigate and build out our skill sets further.
I wouldn’t be here today had I not had both the highs and the lows. Those experiences shaped me and allowed me to support others facing similar challenges. I count myself very lucky that I’ve had a 25-year career in the tech industry. I’ve seen constant change and innovation that has solved many problems for clients and industries within that time. And I count as one of the highs, the change
“ There’s a great saying that I love which is “smooth seas don’t make great sailors.” No one gets where they want to be without overcoming challenges, learning from them and using those learnings to navigate and build out our skill sets further.
I’ve seen in the industry in recent years with more people from diverse backgrounds in leadership roles and across organizations leading the change to drive greater impact for their organizations, communities and the wider world.
Sarah: Excellent. Any go to leadership or career podcasts or sources?
Muzzy: I’m a big believer in #leadersarereaders. That we must never rest on our laurels and remain curious and open to learning new things. I’ve always been someone who’s wanted to learn and so I read as much as I can. To me that means keeping up to speed with what’s going on in the world, across industries, learning from great leaders - listening to podcasts etc. I love Diary of a CEO, which is a great podcast over here in the UK that looks at the journeys of individual CEOs and what they’ve overcome. I’m a subscriber to the Harvard Business Review as well as keeping up to date on the constantly changing world of sustainability.
Sarah: Any final words of wisdom or advice?
Muzzy: For me, it’s important to focus on where the opportunities lie in any challenge I’m facing. I always ask myself what I can learn from the situation and how I can apply those skills and experiences to future endeavors. Having a growth mindset is key—it’s about believing that I might not be able to do something yet, but I can find a way. My career advice is to ask for help, be open to learning and feedback, always look for ways to add value in your current role and to always treat people with kindness.
Sarah: Thank you, Muzzy!
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