Unlock Your Finance Team’s Digital Potential

Two-thirds of finance leaders believe the digital competency gap in their team is widening. This is a concern as you accelerate finance digital transformation because it will affect the benefits you’ll see from the investments you make.

But how can you close the digital competency gap? At the moment, it seems most finance leaders aren’t sure – 69% are waiting for clarity on the digital competencies that are relevant to finance. Of course, the longer you wait, the bigger the gap will grow.

To overcome the challenge, Gartner analysed 50 digital competencies and revealed the five that are most relevant for finance. Together, they can help you make the most of your investment in finance automation.

1: Using Finance Technology to Get Better Business Outcomes

When you implement finance process automation it will have a significant impact on the efficiency of the finance team. For example, businesses that use Concur Expense typically see 36% more efficient expense report intake and handling. 

But finance automation has so much more to offer than this initial efficiency improvement. 

By automating finance functions you open up the ability to further optimise processes and deliver further improvements – the finance team needs to be equipped to take the next step on this journey. 

You also have access to more data more quickly than ever before. Your team needs to be able to interrogate this data so they can get informative and insightful reports to decision-makers in a timely manner to help drive business strategy. 

2. Understanding How Digital Unleashes New Capabilities 

When finance professionals understand how AI and machine learning underpin finance automation solutions they are in a much stronger position to help the business realise the value the tools have to offer. They can then translate finance requirements from the wider business to drive even more benefits.

For example, administrators can work with teams across the business to understand the exceptions that can be automated, helping to reduce the amount of manual intervention that is required. 

In middle management, it’s about developing and building on actionable reports. SAP Concur solutions have standard and bespoke reporting functionalities while tools such as Consultative Intelligence give you access to data experts who can uncover unique insights. 

For finance leaders, consider how data from your finance automation solutions could feed into other systems in the business, providing more joined-up insights.  

3. Committing to Continuous Digital Development

The speed of digital change is legendary. For the finance team, this means that training on automation isn’t a ‘once-and-done’ activity. Instead, it’s a continuous process of learning and development. 

When you choose SAP Concur solutions there are self-directed trainings to help users get the most out of their tools. There are also always experts on hand to help troubleshoot and advise. For advanced users, the SAP Concur Community is more than 30,000 members strong and growing every day. It’s where customers from organisations of all sizes, across industries, and around the world come together to learn, share ideas, connect with peers and industry leaders and advance their careers.

4. Understanding and Mitigating Digital Bias

We’re probably all aware of the drawbacks of AI in certain contexts, inadvertently introducing unconscious bias into job candidate selections, for example. And while AI offers undeniable advantages when analysing huge finance datasets, it’s important to maintain objectiveness and seek opportunities to improve the output.

Combining the power of AI with the human touch is the best way to increase trust in the power of automated finance solutions – and ensure we do not lose common-sense skills as automation is implemented.

In administrative roles, finance employees need to be able to tread a careful line. What happens if AI tools flag up an invoice from an important supplier or the expense submission of a member of the C-Suite? Finance employees need to have the confidence to evaluate the best way forward and double check the result.

Further up the hierarchy, the key is to add value to AI-driven reporting, refining the input but also evaluating the output with experience-driven insights.

5: Embracing Technology as the Future of Finance

Ultimately, automation is the future of the finance function. For example, SAP Concur travel and expense solutions have a three-year ROI of 628% and bring annual savings of $777,000 on business travel and expenses, so they make a compelling case for themselves.

But away from the numbers, automation gives employees the opportunity to do more meaningful work and build a fulfilling career in finance. Rather than resist change, embrace it. No matter what level of finance you work at, it’s vital to see the opportunities and be curious about where technology could and should add more value. 

And if you’re exploring options in your finance automation journey and want to help your team unlock their digital potential, take a look at what SAP Concur solutions have to offer your expense, travel and invoice processes.