5 Key Priorities for the Modern Finance Leader

In today’s economy, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) find themselves at the helm of organizations navigating turbulent waters. Global economic uncertainties, geopolitical volatility, and rapid technological advancements are reshaping the financial landscape.

A recent report by SAP Concur, CFO Insights: Top Priorities for CFOs in 2024, reveals that 90% of senior finance leaders now view preparing for the unexpected as their key task. This statistic underscores the transformative role of today’s CFO – no longer seen as just a number cruncher or confused for the accountant, but a strategic partner to the CEO, helping to steer the ship through unpredictable seas.

Let’s explore 5 priorities and the broader trends shaping them:

1. Getting Back to Basics in a Complex World

In an era of increasing complexity, CFOs are paradoxically finding value in returning to fundamentals. This means focusing on efficient resource deployment, waste elimination, and cost optimization. 

However, “getting back to basics” in 2024 is far from simple. This return to basics involves bringing finance expertise to the rest of the business, obtaining visibility into spend, understanding intricate details of operations, and making informed decisions that drive both profitability and sustainable growth. 

As Benoit De Saeger, Regional Director CFO at Terumo, aptly puts it, “CFOs used to not have to know the business. But now, they have to get into the details of the company and each market it serves and have a very broad sense of business acumen if they want to drive profits and growth.”

2. Balancing Short-Term Stability with Long-Term Growth

The current economic climate presents a significant challenge: how to maintain stability while positioning for future growth. The SAP Concur report reveals that 56% of finance leaders find financial forecasting challenging in these unpredictable times, while 50% struggle with cost management and budgeting.

This creates a delicate balance for finance departments as they teeter between stability and growth. CFOs need to develop strategies that ensure financial resilience in the short term while also investing in initiatives that will drive long-term growth. 

At PEX, we’ve found that CFOs want expense policies to scale over time while being easily enforceable. Our built-in spending controls allow CFOs to manage team members, set spending categories, and establish limits, ensuring stability and oversight. Simultaneously, our diverse range of card products, including virtual card issuance, provides the financial agility needed to capitalize on growth opportunities. This dual approach empowers CFOs to maintain tight control over expenses while having the flexibility to swiftly adapt to changing market conditions and seize new business prospects.

3. Embracing Technological Acceleration

The pace of technological change is relentless, and CFOs must keep up. According to the SAP Concur report, over half (56%) of CFOs are investing in data analytics, AI, and reporting tools to better manage change and uncertainty. AI, in particular, is being leveraged to streamline processes like travel and expense management, automate routine tasks, and provide data-driven insights for more accurate forecasting and risk assessment.

Reducing manual errors and improving data accuracy are critical benefits of embracing these technologies. AI and automated data entry, such as PEX’s AI receipt matching,  minimize human error, ensuring more accurate financial records and enabling CFOs to make well-informed decisions, faster. This helps finance teams to close the books faster, and frees them up to focus on strategic activities that drive business growth.

4. Driving Digital Transformation

Digital transformation has moved beyond buzzword status to become a critical business imperative. IDC predicts that companies will spend more than $3.9 trillion on digital transformation worldwide by 2027. 

This transformation involves integrating digital technologies into all business areas, fundamentally changing operations and value delivery. CFOs play a crucial role in this process, not only by managing the financial aspects of digital investments but also by using digital tools to enhance financial operations and decision-making processes. 

When chatting with finance leaders, we often hear that there are multiple solutions in place for expense management. They’ve gone digital, but now there’s too much data to deal with, and it becomes difficult to reconcile. Instead, the back-office needs to be built for resilience and growth. This is why it’s essential to create a unified view into systems from the get-go, in order to maximize productivity, reduce errors, and make organizational processes as easy to manage as possible. 

For instance, corporate cards offer a sensible solution for businesses that give employees spending power. Instead of processing expense reports after the fact, it’s easy to control employee spending — from their access to funds to the retailers at which they can make purchases. 

5. Creating Value Beyond the Balance Sheet

Today’s CFOs are expected to contribute to value creation across the entire business. This involves working with various departments to optimize product lines, develop processes around spend that are easy to understand, allocate capital effectively, and enhance customer value propositions. 

CFOs are increasingly partnering with other C-suite executives to drive strategic initiatives, identify new revenue streams, and improve overall business performance. This expanded role requires a broader skill set, including strong leadership, communication, and strategic thinking abilities.

According to Tamara Dzule, VP of Finance/CFO Brazil, Mastercard “Technology allows us to connect. If we’re not connecting, we won’t be able to anticipate trends. We’ll go nowhere.” This means it’s critical that CFOs have comprehensive financial visibility and control into expense management, in real-time. Detailed insights into spending patterns enable CFOs to collaborate with other departments to identify cost-saving opportunities and reinvest in growth areas, driving long-term value and enhancing customer experiences.

Empowering CFOs for the Future

As we look towards the future, it’s clear that CFOs face a complex array of challenges and opportunities. The global business environment demands leaders who can navigate uncertainty, leverage technology, and drive value across their organizations.

In light of these challenges, we’re excited to announce our new partnership and direct API integration with SAP Concur. This collaboration aims to empower CFOs with the tools they need to address their most pressing priorities. 

The PEX and SAP Concur integration offers:

• Unlimited prepaid expense and charge cards for your organization, providing the flexibility needed to adapt to changing business requirements
• Total visibility and control over corporate spending, addressing the challenge of balancing short-term stability with long-term growth and creating value beyond the balance sheet
• Automation that reduces manual errors and closes books faster, supporting the embrace of technological acceleration
• Scalability to meet the evolving needs of growing businesses, facilitating digital transformation efforts

Our partnership combines PEX’s deep understanding of the challenges facing modern finance leaders with SAP Concur’s robust expense management capabilities. The result is a powerful, all-in-one solution that empowers CFOs to lead their organizations confidently into the future.

Learn how our integrated solution can transform your financial operations and position your organization for success.