Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
About the Author
Raef Lawson is Vice President-Research and Professor-in-Residence for the Institute of Management
Accountants (IMA). He received his MBA and PhD degrees from the Leonard N. Stern
School of Business, New York University. He holds a variety of professional certifications including
CMA, CFA, CPA.
Prior to joining IMA, Dr. Lawson spent 20 years as a professor in the Department of Accounting
and Law at the University at Albany, SUNY, where he also served as department chair.
Dr. Lawson can be reached at rlawson@imanet.org or 201.474.1532.
This study is sponsored by NetSuite, the world’s leading provider of cloud-based business
management software. NetSuite helps companies manage core business processes with a
single, fully integrated system covering ERP/financials, CRM, ecommerce, inventory, and more.
More than 10,000 companies and divisions of large enterprises use NetSuite to run more effectively
without the high costs and inefficiency of on-premise systems. Named by Gartner as the
world’s fastest-growing top 10 financial management solution company for the last three years,
NetSuite netted the 2011 CODiE Award from the Software & Information Industry Association
(SIIA) for Best Financial Management Software.
Contents
3 Introduction
3 Executive Summary
4 Key Findings
19 Conclusion
20 Appendix: Respondent Demographics
Published by Institute of Management Accountants
10 Paragon Drive, Suite 1
Montvale, NJ 07645
www.imanet.org
© 2012 in the United States of America by Institue of Management Accountants
All rights reserved.
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Rising to the Challenge
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Introduction
During these challenging times companies are facing the need to do more with less. This need extends
throughout the organization—and companies’ accounting and finance organizations are rising to the
challenge.
This report is based on research conducted by IMA in September and December 2011. The first study
had as its objective indentifying the most critical challenges faced by accounting and finance teams
today.
Based on the results of the first study, the most frequently cited primary concern was streamlining processes
and improving productivity in order to reduce costs. An in-depth follow-up study was conducted
to examine these challenges faced by the CFO organization of companies as they attempt to improve
the productivity of their staff and the effectiveness of their operations. For this “deeper dive,” 1,726 IMA
members participated in a survey examining trends in productivity in accounting and finance organizations.
The results of that study are discussed in this report.
Executive Summary
The single most critical challenge facing accounting and financial professionals working in organizations
is streamlining processes and improving productivity in order to reduce costs. It can be considered
“table stakes” for most organizations—something key to their survival.
Other key concerns include the challenge of running a global business efficiently, implementing/upgrading
information systems, and connecting the finance team with the front office.
Of the firms surveyed, 70% report improved productivity over time in their finance and accounting organizations,
with half of these firms reporting significant (> 5%) increases. These are long-term gains that
will generate permanent benefits to these organizations.
Over the past three years, nearly three-quarters of all firms have attempted to achieve gains in productivity
through business processes improvement efforts. While some processes are generally viewed as
being done efficiently, others – especially strategic activities such planning, budgeting, forecasting, cost
and profitability analysis, and providing performance scorecards and reporting—are still generally viewed
as in need of improvement.
Gains are also being achieved through the use of improved technology, by more effectively using technology,
and through automation. A substantial number of firms are increasing productivity by integrating
the various information systems within a firm. By doing so, firms may also be able to enhance their
responsiveness to customers. Improvements in the various information systems in an organization,
including CPM and ERP systems, also have the potential to increase organization performance.
To a lesser extent, better use of human resources, including the use of outsourcing, is also contributing
to greater productivity. Still, firms are facing challenges recruiting new hires with the necessary skills to
be immediately productive.
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Key Findings
Critical Issues Faced by Accounting and Finance Teams
The past three years have been characterized by increased globalization, rapid technological change,
and a tough economic climate in many sectors. These factors have combined to make it difficult for many
companies to remain competitive. While many other studies have examined how companies as a whole
are responding to these challenges, we focus instead on the finance and accounting function within companies
and the challenges these organizations face.
What issues do these areas face in enhancing the performance of their organizations? Which of these are
most urgent? Our survey participants were asked to rate the importance of 13 concerns on a scale ranging
from “Of Critical Importance” to “Not Important at All.”
The most important challenge, by a wide margin, is streamlining processes and improving productivity
(see Table 1). This is not surprising given the increasingly competitive environment faced by most organizations
and their need to become more efficient in order to stay in business and thrive.
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Table 1. Importance of Challenges Facing Accounting and Finance Organizations
Of Critical
Importance
Very
Important
Important
Slightly
Important
Not
Important
at All
Percentage
Responding at Least
“Very Important”
Streamlining processes and
improving productivity 35.7% 42.2% 19.5% 1.6% 1.1% 77.8%
Improving the management
reporting cycle 15.6% 44.1% 26.3% 12.9% 1.1% 59.7%
Achieving real-time visibility
across your organization 17.5% 39.3% 31.7% 8.7% 2.7% 56.8%
Becoming the Transformational
CFO—being an influencer of
change across your organization 11.8% 40.4% 32.9% 9.9% 5.0% 52.2%
Running a global business
efficiently 25.6% 26.4% 27.1% 12.4% 8.5% 51.9%
Handling financial consolidation
efficiently 14.4% 32.7% 34.6% 12.4% 5.9% 47.1%
Upgrading your company’s ERP/
business systems 11.7% 32.2% 29.2% 15.2% 11.7% 43.9%
Spending fewer cycles on the
period close 8.4% 32.4% 34.1% 16.8% 8.4% 40.8%
Improving collaboration in the
disparate finance organization 6.3% 32.1% 32.7% 18.9% 10.1% 38.4%
Accelerating the invoicing
processes 9.2% 25.4% 35.3% 19.7% 10.4% 34.7%
Connecting the finance team with
the front office 5.6% 28.7% 39.9% 21.9% 3.9% 34.3%
Automating order management 5.8% 18.8% 36.4% 25.3% 13.6% 24.7%
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Other issues considered very important or critical include:
• Improving the management reporting cycle
• Achieving real-time visibility across your organization
• Becoming the transformational CFO—being an influencer of change across your organization
• Running a global business efficiently
Survey participants were also asked to identify the single most critical challenge facing their organization.
Responses were diverse, but can be grouped into four somewhat inter-related categories:
• Streamlining processes and improving productivity in order to reduce costs. This was the most frequently
cited #1 concern. It can be considered “table stakes” for most organizations—something key
to their survival.
• Running a global business efficiently and managing change in a global environment. The increase in
international business and the increasing need to compete globally present businesses with new sets
of challenges, such as managing extended supply chains.
• Implementing/upgrading information systems, especially ERP systems. The need to streamline processes,
to improve productivity, and to operate globally can expose the limits of company’s information
systems and increase the need to upgrade these systems.
• Connecting the finance team with the front office. Competing globally requires that the finance team
be connected to others in their organization. Typically concerns of respondents included:
“Using the knowledge and experience in the business office to generate revenue—in this
economy, everyone needs to be a sales rep—or at least support the sales team with timely
information, important metrics, and the ammunition they need to make the sale.”
“Serving our top customers better than we have in the past from all aspects. Everyone from
Sales to Back Office should know who our top customers are and react differently than we do
for those customers that are just calling on us to place an order. Our top customers typically
are partners who not only buy our products and services they call on us to help them improve
their processes.”
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Trends in Productivity in the Finance and Accounting Area
In order to remain competitive, organizations are focusing on increasing the productivity of their
employees. While this may call to mind the productivity of manufacturing workers, improving
productivity is the top concern of finance and accounting (F&A) departments as well. As shown in
Figure 1, 70.3% of survey respondents reported productivity increases in this area in the last three
years, with half of those reporting productivity increases of greater than 5%.
Figure 1. Change in Productivity in the Last Three Years in F&A Organizations
This increase in productivity was achieved in several ways. More than half of the companies
increased productivity by improving their business processes (see Table 2). Utilizing improved
technology also contributed to the increase in productivity. Less common for the improvement
were “people” reasons—more skillful hires, better training of employees, working more hours,
and better morale/teamwork.
Table 2. Reasons for Increase in Productivity
Improvement in business processes 52.2%
Improvement in technology 41.5%
More skillful/knowledgeable hires 27.9%
Better training/education 22.8%
More hours worked 21.7%
Better morale or teamwork 20.5%
Improvement in equipment 8.7%
Better incentive programs 4.6%
Other 6.8%
7
Don’t Know
Fallen by more than 10%
Fallen by 5% to 10%
Fallen by 1% to 5%
Stayed about the same
Risen by 1% to 5%
Risen by 5% to 10%
Risen by more than 10%
3.0%
1.1% 2.2%
6.5%
17.0%
34.8%
28.2%
7.3%
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The changes in productivity in the F&A organizations are not, in most cases, temporary (see Figure 2).
One quarter of respondents indicated that the changes in productivity were permanent; another half
indicated that they were the start of a long-term trend.
Figure 2. Permanence of Change in Productivity
Even more encouraging is the relationship between the change in productivity and its expected duration.
The greater the rise in productivity, the more likely it was to be considered permanent. Conversely,
declines in productivity were more likely to be of a temporary nature (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Relationship Between Change in Productivity and Expected Duration of Change
8
Permanent
The start of a long-term trend
Temporary; productivity will
revert back to its previous level
Don’t know
Other
26.7%
53.0%
8.1%
11.2%
1.0%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Fallen by
more
than 10%
Fallen by
5% to 10%
Fallen by
1% to 5%
Risen by
1% to 5%
Risen by
5% to 10%
Risen by
more
than 10%
Permanent
The start of a long-term trend
Temporary; productivity will
revert back to its previous level
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Despite the importance of increasing productivity for many organizations, for many CFOs there are
other—sometimes many—competing priorities that also need to be addressed. Only 10% (see Figure 4)
of organizations indicated that increased productivity was the highest priority, although nearly half considered
it one of their top three priorities.
Figure 4. Compared to other corporate goals, to what extent is increasing productivity a priority
for your accounting and finance area?
Processes Trump People
When it comes to increasing productivity, organizations most often look to improving business processes.
When asked what organizational changes they had attempted in the past three years, fully 72.3% of
companies chose this route to improve productivity (see Table 3). Finance organizations were about half
as likely to make “people-related” changes: improved training, greater use of cross-functional teams,
and higher standards for new employees.
Table 3. Organizational Changes in the F&A Function
Improved business processes 72.3%
Improving training 41.1%
Greater use of cross-functional teams 37.9%
Higher standards, in terms of skills or
education, for hiring new employees 35.1%
Increasing the scope of decision making at
lower levels in the organization 21.6%
Flatter organizational structure 20.1%
Improving incentives 13.3%
None 6.2%
Other 3.8%
9
It is the highest priority
It is one of the top three priorities
It is one of many priorities
It is not a priority
Don’t know
9.6%
36.8%
42.1%
8.6%
2.9%
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Also of importance was the use of technology to increase productivity and enhance companies’ overall
competitiveness. In line with the desire to improve business processes to increase productivity,
mentioned above, automation of processes is perceived by two-thirds of companies as being one of the
technology investments most likely to achieve this goal (see Table 4). But organizations have other priorities
as well, such as better utilizing data to make smarter and faster strategic business decisions, as the
perceived value of data analysis/business intelligence applications indicates.
Table 4. Which of the following technology investments have the most potential to increase
productivity in your accounting and finance area? (Select up to three)
Automation of business processes 67.2%
Data analysis/business intelligence 51.6%
Enterprise application suites (ERP systems) 39.0%
Cloud computing/software as a service 14.2%
CRM 8.6%
Other 3.9%
Planning and Performance Management Systems
In the pursuit of greater productivity and profits, many progressive organizations have management
systems that enable them to formulate strategy, implement processes that support operations, provide
performance evaluation and operational control, and enable them to learn and change. Such systems
consist of metrics, methodologies, processes, and systems used to manage performance targeted at
the corporate level. While a majority of companies have such systems (see Table 5), a large percentage
(40.2%) do not. The failure of these organizations to have such systems can greatly impede their ongoing
success.
Table 5. Which of the following components are contained in your corporate performance
management system?
Planning (strategic, operational, and financial
modeling; budgeting; forecasting)
45.2%
Management reporting (dashboards/scorecards/KPIs;
standardized reports, etc.) 42.9%
Financial consolidation 31.7%
Operational performance analytics 28.2%
Profitability optimization and analytics 24.7%
Business intelligence reporting (e.g., predictive
analytics) 18.5%
Tax provision modeling governance, risk, and
compliance 9.8%
We currently do not have a CPM system 40.2%
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For organizations with CPM systems, the most common components are responsible for planning and
management reporting functions. The use of predictive analytics is still in its early stages.
ERP Systems
The use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is also often important to the efficient operation
of many firms. Yet here again, there are opportunities for improvement, as many of these systems (see
Table 6) focus on finance and accounting while neglecting keys areas such as e-commerce, CRM, and
supply-chain management.
Table 6. Which of the following components are contained in your Enterprise Resource
Planning system?
Finance and accounting 68.3%
Supply chain management 34.2%
Manufacturing 30.9%
Human resources 29.7%
Project management 22.1%
CRM 19.3%
E-commerce 13.6%
We currently do not have an ERP system 27.3%
People Are Important Too…
When it comes to the human side of increasing productivity, having existing employees work longer
hours is not high on companies’ agendas. Rather, better training of existing staff is viewed as the key to
increasing productivity, followed by the strategic hiring of new staff with specific skills (see Figure 5). Yet
this latter means of increasing productivity may be difficult to achieve, as most companies report difficulty
in hiring new employees with the skills and education to become immediately productive (see
Figure 6).
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Figure 6. Please indicate your level of agreement with this statement: “It is difficult for us to find
new employees with the skills and education to become immediately productive.”
12
Figure 5. What investments in human capital do you believe offer the greatest scope for increasing
productivity at your company? (Select one)
Other
More part-time staff
Don’t know
More hours from existing employees
Strategic hiring of new staff with specific skills
Training of existing staff
3.1%
55.2% 30.7%
2.6%
3.6%
4.9%
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
15.2%
19.3% 41.3%
21.8%
2.3%
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Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a commonly used technique for organizations to increase their efficiency and to focus on
their core competencies. Seventy percent of survey respondents engage in some sort of outsourcing.
Most frequently this involved the outsourcing of technology services (see Table 7), but other functions
are outsourced by the surveyed organizations as well.
Table 7. What type of outsourcing does your company engage in, if any?
Technology services 44.2%
Human resources/benefits 23.5%
Financial or accounting services 21.4%
Business processes 17.7%
Call center services 12.6%
Other 6.2%
None 29.7%
Contrary to what one might expect, the ability of organizations to find new employees with the skills
and education to become immediately productive is not related to the type of outsourcing in which they
engage.
The use of outsourcing is indeed related to increased productivity: by a three-to-one margin, more companies
agreed that outsourcing has increased productivity rather than hurt it (see Figure 7).
Figure 7. How have the changes in the level of outsourcing affected productivity at your company?
13
They have increased productivity
They have had no effect on productivity
They have hurt productivity
Don’t know
40.3%
25.9%
19.9%
13.9%
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When compared to their competitors, most companies believe that their CFO organization is at least as
productive, if not more productive, than their competitors’ finance organizations (see Figure 8). This was
true for firms of all sizes.
Figure 8. Which of the following is true regarding the productivity of your accounting and finance
area relative to your competitors?
Process Improvement Efforts
A deeper analysis of the processes performed by companies indicates that some are generally performed
well while others are often in more need of improvement and/or streamlining (see Table 8).
Those that are performed well include many financial accounting, external reporting-related processes
such as managing taxes, processing accounts payables and receivables, and managing treasury operations.
Processes most in need of improvement are largely management accounting-oriented and more
strategic in nature, including the preparation of periodic budgets/plans, the preparation of periodic financial
forecasts, performing cost analyses, generating performance scorecards, and assessing customer
and product profitability.
14
We are more productive
We have about the same productivity
We are less productive
Don’t know
30.4%
32.9%
25.3%
11.4%
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Table 8. For each of the following processes, please rate the need to streamline the process and/or
improve productivity.
Process
Critically in
need of
improvement
Greatly in
need of
improvement
Moderately
in need of
improvement
Little need to
improve
No need to
improve
Prepare periodic budgets and
plans 15.5% 30.2% 33.8% 15.0% 5.4%
Prepare periodic financial
forecasts 12.8% 30.4% 34.0% 16.5% 6.3%
Perform cost management (e.g.,
determine & measure cost
drivers, manage asset deployment)
12.7% 29.0% 33.7% 18.7% 5.9%
Perform cost accounting and
control (e.g., variance analysis,
profitability reporting) 12.5% 28.6% 32.7% 20.3% 5.9%
Prepare performance measures
(e.g., scorecards) 11.6% 28.5% 35.5% 18.4% 6.0%
Assess customer and product
profitability 11.8% 29.4% 31.7% 20.6% 6.6%
Manage financial risks 11.0% 21.9% 34.6% 22.9% 9.7%
Manage internal controls 10.0% 20.8% 32.2% 25.7% 11.2%
Perform cash flow analysis 9.9% 20.8% 30.4% 26.5% 12.4%
Manage cost improvement efforts 9.7% 29.2% 36.0% 19.5% 5.6%
Evaluate new products 11.0% 25.4% 32.8% 22.6% 8.2%
Manage cost improvement efforts 9.0% 28.4% 36.4% 20.3% 6.0%
Perform sales productivity
analysis 8.3% 28.9% 34.6% 20.4% 7.8%
Optimize customer and product
mix 8.4% 31.8% 32.4% 19.6% 7.9%
Perform financial close (monthly/
quarterly/ annual) 6.9% 17.6% 29.3% 27.7% 18.5%
Perform revenue accounting
(“quote to cash”) 7.3% 18.9% 32.6% 27.3% 14.0%
Manage consolidations from
multiple subsidiaries/regions 8.2% 20.8% 30.3% 25.3% 15.5%
Manage other treasury
operations 6.0% 16.0% 31.1% 30.7% 16.1%
Manage accounts payables and
receivables 5.3% 15.0% 28.4% 33.5% 17.9%
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Process
Critically in
need of
improvement
Greatly in
need of
improvement
Moderately
in need of
improvement
Little need to
improve
No need to
improve
Manage taxes 6.1% 13.9% 30.0% 31.7% 18.3%
Process accounts payable and
expense reimbursements 4.4% 15.3% 26.6% 32.2% 21.5%
Process payroll 4.4% 9.9% 24.6% 31.8% 29.4%
Perform other general accounting 3.9% 11.6% 32.1% 34.1% 18.2%
Calculate and pay commissions 4.3% 14.4% 25.2% 32.3% 23.8%
In keeping with the need for most companies to increase productivity in these challenging economic
times, the number-one goal of respondents’ process improvement efforts was to improve productivity
and reduce costs by streamlining processes (see Table 9). Survey respondents view the effective use of
technology—including the automation of routine processes—as an important part of this effort.
Table 9. Which of the following are goals for your process improvement efforts?
Improving productivity/reducing costs by streamlining processes 73.2%
Utilizing technology effectively to streamline business processes 65.2%
Automating routine processes 58.8%
Reducing business costs 54.1%
Improving forecasting accuracy 48.8%
Improving financial reporting accuracy 42.3%
Saving time spent on period close, consolidation, and financial
processes 40.2%
Improving accuracy of costing system 35.9%
Upgrading business (accounting) systems 35.6%
Gaining more real-time accurate business visibility 33.5%
Compliance with government rules and regulations 23.3%
Reducing the cost of technology 22.0%
Consolidating IT systems and decreasing IT expenses 21.9%
Better managing the finance function with a multi-location workforce 19.9%
Organizing and grouping all open business issues so proper
accounting and risk mitigation can be achieved 15.2%
Other 0.9%
Companies are adopting a variety of tactics in using technology to improve the efficiency of their finance
and accounting functions. Many of these (see Table 10) deal with integrating the various information
systems within an organization. Consistent with the goal of better understanding and responding to
customers, many (37.4%) companies are also exploring the use of business intelligence software.
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Table 10. Which of the following tactics/initiatives are you using to meet your goals?
Integrating disconnected business systems 39.9%
Adding business intelligence software 37.4%
Replacing siloed business systems (finance, CRM, etc.) with a single
business suite/database 33.7%
Consolidating global financial systems 27.4%
Adding data warehouse 24.9%
Moving current financial systems to cloud computing 18.1%
Moving subsidiaries and non-HQ divisions in the cloud 6.4%
Other 9.0%
Other Challenges: Improving the Management Reporting Cycle
Aside from improving productivity, the next most frequently cited challenge for CFO organizations is
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the management reporting cycle. The major challenges in
this regard (see Table 11) include what can be viewed as a set of three related items: the need to integrate
information from multiple data sources, the length of time required to close the books, and the
timeliness of performance reports and analysis.
Table 11. Which of the following are challenges around “Improving the management reporting
cycle”?
Timeliness of performance reports and analysis 46.5%
Integrating multiple data sources 42.1%
Length of time required to close books 41.2%
Cash flow reporting 35.6%
Reporting at the customer and product/service level 33.2%
Reporting on sales orders and revenue 20.3%
Reporting on subsidiaries and geography results 14.9%
We have no challenges in this area 9.7%
Other 1.3%
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Increasing visibility across a company is critical to the success of many of these organizations. As Table 12
indicates, visibility is generally seen as strong regarding traditional accounting measures of performance
such as accounts payable and accounts receivable results. More challenging are organization efforts to
understand their performance on leading, often nonfinancial, measures including cash flow, lead and
marketing, customer service, expense, and new sales performance.
Table 12. What are your greatest challenges around “Achieving real-time visibility across your
organization”?
Understanding lead and marketing performance 36.8%
Understanding cash flow 34.7%
Understanding customer service performance 31.8%
Understanding expense results 31.0%
Understanding new sales performance 30.8%
Understanding customer renewals and up sell performance 22.4%
Understanding accounts receivables results 20.3%
Understanding account payables results 15.0%
Other 5.2%
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Conclusion
The past three years have been characterized by many economic challenges, and companies have focused
on increasing productivity in order to survive and stay competitive. The CFO organization, which
faces numerous challenges, is not immune to this need.
Of the many challenges faced by the CFO organization, the most urgent is streamlining processes and
improving productivity. Other important challenges include improving the management reporting cycle,
achieving real-time visibility across the organization, becoming a transformational CFO, and running a
global business efficiently.
With regard to the first challenge, substantial gains in productivity are being achieved in the finance and
accounting area, gains that are long-term and that will generate permanent benefits.
These gains in productivity are being achieved through the improvement of business processes, the use
of improved technology, and, to a lesser extent, better use of human resources. Processes are being
improved by streamlining them, by more effectively using technology, and through automation. While
some processes are generally viewed as being done efficiently, others—especially strategic activities
such as planning, budgeting, forecasting, cost and profitability analysis, and providing performance
scorecards and reporting—are still generally viewed as in need of greater improvements.
A substantial number of firms are increasing productivity by integrating the various information systems
within a firm. By doing so, firms may also be able to enhance their responsiveness to customers. Improvements
in the various information systems in an organization, including CPM and ERP systems, also
have the potential to increase organization performance.
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Appendix.
Respondent Demographics
The Financial Challenges survey was emailed out to 44,787 members of IMA in December
2011. A total of 1,726 (3.8%) completed surveys were received back. The following
summarizes the demographic characteristics of the respondents.
Table A1. Industry
Manufacturing 27.8%
Finance 8.8%
Business Services 8.1%
Wholesale/Retail Trades 7.3%
Construction, Mining, Agriculture 6.4%
Transportation, Communication, Utilities 5.3%
Technology/Software 4.8%
Healthcare 4.3%
Nonprofit 4.0%
Government 3.2%
Education 2.7%
Insurance 2.7%
Real Estate 2.3%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 2.0%
Media and Entertainment 1.2%
Other 9.3%
Table A2. Company Ownership
20
Publicly Traded
Privately Held
Nonprofit
Government agency
Other
32.9%
50.6%
5.5%
8.5%
2.5%
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Table A3. Location of Primary Business Unit
Table A4. Survey Respondents’ Job Titles
Accountant 21.6%
Controller 21.3%
Director/Manager 18.1%
Consultant/Analyst 13.8%
CFO 10.5%
Vice President 2.5%
Executive Officer 1.6%
Corporate Officer 1.4%
Other 9.2%
21
The Americas
Middle East/Africa
Asia/Pacific
Europe
50.6%
18.7% 68.2%
7.8%
5.3%
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Organizations
Table A5. Annual Revenue
Table A6. Number of Employees
22
4.2% 12.2%
6.8%
14.0%
14.1%
11.9%
11.2%
9.9%
7.3%
8.4%
Under $1 Million
$1-$10 Million
$10-$30 Million
$30-$75 Million
$75-$200 Million
$200 Million – $500 Million
$500 Million – $1 Billion
$1-$5 Billion
$5–$10 Billion
Under 50
51-100
101-200
201-500
501-1,000
1,001 – 10,000
over 10,000
50.6%
15.6%
11.8%
11.9%
8.4% 13.4%
22.0%
16.9%
Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
About IMA
With a worldwide network of more than 60,000 professionals, IMA is the world’s leading organization
dedicated to empowering accounting and finance professionals to drive business performance. IMA
provides a dynamic forum for professionals to advance their careers through Certified Management Accountant
(CMA®) certification, research, professional education, networking and advocacy of the highest
ethical and professional standards. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.
23

Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
About the Author
Raef Lawson is Vice President-Research and Professor-in-Residence for the Institute of Management
Accountants (IMA). He received his MBA and PhD degrees from the Leonard N. Stern
School of Business, New York University. He holds a variety of professional certifications including
CMA, CFA, CPA.
Prior to joining IMA, Dr. Lawson spent 20 years as a professor in the Department of Accounting
and Law at the University at Albany, SUNY, where he also served as department chair.
Dr. Lawson can be reached at rlawson@imanet.org or 201.474.1532.
This study is sponsored by NetSuite, the world’s leading provider of cloud-based business
management software. NetSuite helps companies manage core business processes with a
single, fully integrated system covering ERP/financials, CRM, ecommerce, inventory, and more.
More than 10,000 companies and divisions of large enterprises use NetSuite to run more effectively
without the high costs and inefficiency of on-premise systems. Named by Gartner as the
world’s fastest-growing top 10 financial management solution company for the last three years,
NetSuite netted the 2011 CODiE Award from the Software & Information Industry Association
(SIIA) for Best Financial Management Software.
Contents
3 Introduction
3 Executive Summary
4 Key Findings
19 Conclusion
20 Appendix: Respondent Demographics
Published by Institute of Management Accountants
10 Paragon Drive, Suite 1
Montvale, NJ 07645
www.imanet.org
© 2012 in the United States of America by Institue of Management Accountants
All rights reserved.
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Rising to the Challenge
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Introduction
During these challenging times companies are facing the need to do more with less. This need extends
throughout the organization—and companies’ accounting and finance organizations are rising to the
challenge.
This report is based on research conducted by IMA in September and December 2011. The first study
had as its objective indentifying the most critical challenges faced by accounting and finance teams
today.
Based on the results of the first study, the most frequently cited primary concern was streamlining processes
and improving productivity in order to reduce costs. An in-depth follow-up study was conducted
to examine these challenges faced by the CFO organization of companies as they attempt to improve
the productivity of their staff and the effectiveness of their operations. For this “deeper dive,” 1,726 IMA
members participated in a survey examining trends in productivity in accounting and finance organizations.
The results of that study are discussed in this report.
Executive Summary
The single most critical challenge facing accounting and financial professionals working in organizations
is streamlining processes and improving productivity in order to reduce costs. It can be considered
“table stakes” for most organizations—something key to their survival.
Other key concerns include the challenge of running a global business efficiently, implementing/upgrading
information systems, and connecting the finance team with the front office.
Of the firms surveyed, 70% report improved productivity over time in their finance and accounting organizations,
with half of these firms reporting significant (> 5%) increases. These are long-term gains that
will generate permanent benefits to these organizations.
Over the past three years, nearly three-quarters of all firms have attempted to achieve gains in productivity
through business processes improvement efforts. While some processes are generally viewed as
being done efficiently, others – especially strategic activities such planning, budgeting, forecasting, cost
and profitability analysis, and providing performance scorecards and reporting—are still generally viewed
as in need of improvement.
Gains are also being achieved through the use of improved technology, by more effectively using technology,
and through automation. A substantial number of firms are increasing productivity by integrating
the various information systems within a firm. By doing so, firms may also be able to enhance their
responsiveness to customers. Improvements in the various information systems in an organization,
including CPM and ERP systems, also have the potential to increase organization performance.
To a lesser extent, better use of human resources, including the use of outsourcing, is also contributing
to greater productivity. Still, firms are facing challenges recruiting new hires with the necessary skills to
be immediately productive.
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Key Findings
Critical Issues Faced by Accounting and Finance Teams
The past three years have been characterized by increased globalization, rapid technological change,
and a tough economic climate in many sectors. These factors have combined to make it difficult for many
companies to remain competitive. While many other studies have examined how companies as a whole
are responding to these challenges, we focus instead on the finance and accounting function within companies
and the challenges these organizations face.
What issues do these areas face in enhancing the performance of their organizations? Which of these are
most urgent? Our survey participants were asked to rate the importance of 13 concerns on a scale ranging
from “Of Critical Importance” to “Not Important at All.”
The most important challenge, by a wide margin, is streamlining processes and improving productivity
(see Table 1). This is not surprising given the increasingly competitive environment faced by most organizations
and their need to become more efficient in order to stay in business and thrive.
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Table 1. Importance of Challenges Facing Accounting and Finance Organizations
Of Critical
Importance
Very
Important
Important
Slightly
Important
Not
Important
at All
Percentage
Responding at Least
“Very Important”
Streamlining processes and
improving productivity 35.7% 42.2% 19.5% 1.6% 1.1% 77.8%
Improving the management
reporting cycle 15.6% 44.1% 26.3% 12.9% 1.1% 59.7%
Achieving real-time visibility
across your organization 17.5% 39.3% 31.7% 8.7% 2.7% 56.8%
Becoming the Transformational
CFO—being an influencer of
change across your organization 11.8% 40.4% 32.9% 9.9% 5.0% 52.2%
Running a global business
efficiently 25.6% 26.4% 27.1% 12.4% 8.5% 51.9%
Handling financial consolidation
efficiently 14.4% 32.7% 34.6% 12.4% 5.9% 47.1%
Upgrading your company’s ERP/
business systems 11.7% 32.2% 29.2% 15.2% 11.7% 43.9%
Spending fewer cycles on the
period close 8.4% 32.4% 34.1% 16.8% 8.4% 40.8%
Improving collaboration in the
disparate finance organization 6.3% 32.1% 32.7% 18.9% 10.1% 38.4%
Accelerating the invoicing
processes 9.2% 25.4% 35.3% 19.7% 10.4% 34.7%
Connecting the finance team with
the front office 5.6% 28.7% 39.9% 21.9% 3.9% 34.3%
Automating order management 5.8% 18.8% 36.4% 25.3% 13.6% 24.7%
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Other issues considered very important or critical include:
• Improving the management reporting cycle
• Achieving real-time visibility across your organization
• Becoming the transformational CFO—being an influencer of change across your organization
• Running a global business efficiently
Survey participants were also asked to identify the single most critical challenge facing their organization.
Responses were diverse, but can be grouped into four somewhat inter-related categories:
• Streamlining processes and improving productivity in order to reduce costs. This was the most frequently
cited #1 concern. It can be considered “table stakes” for most organizations—something key
to their survival.
• Running a global business efficiently and managing change in a global environment. The increase in
international business and the increasing need to compete globally present businesses with new sets
of challenges, such as managing extended supply chains.
• Implementing/upgrading information systems, especially ERP systems. The need to streamline processes,
to improve productivity, and to operate globally can expose the limits of company’s information
systems and increase the need to upgrade these systems.
• Connecting the finance team with the front office. Competing globally requires that the finance team
be connected to others in their organization. Typically concerns of respondents included:
“Using the knowledge and experience in the business office to generate revenue—in this
economy, everyone needs to be a sales rep—or at least support the sales team with timely
information, important metrics, and the ammunition they need to make the sale.”
“Serving our top customers better than we have in the past from all aspects. Everyone from
Sales to Back Office should know who our top customers are and react differently than we do
for those customers that are just calling on us to place an order. Our top customers typically
are partners who not only buy our products and services they call on us to help them improve
their processes.”
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Trends in Productivity in the Finance and Accounting Area
In order to remain competitive, organizations are focusing on increasing the productivity of their
employees. While this may call to mind the productivity of manufacturing workers, improving
productivity is the top concern of finance and accounting (F&A) departments as well. As shown in
Figure 1, 70.3% of survey respondents reported productivity increases in this area in the last three
years, with half of those reporting productivity increases of greater than 5%.
Figure 1. Change in Productivity in the Last Three Years in F&A Organizations
This increase in productivity was achieved in several ways. More than half of the companies
increased productivity by improving their business processes (see Table 2). Utilizing improved
technology also contributed to the increase in productivity. Less common for the improvement
were “people” reasons—more skillful hires, better training of employees, working more hours,
and better morale/teamwork.
Table 2. Reasons for Increase in Productivity
Improvement in business processes 52.2%
Improvement in technology 41.5%
More skillful/knowledgeable hires 27.9%
Better training/education 22.8%
More hours worked 21.7%
Better morale or teamwork 20.5%
Improvement in equipment 8.7%
Better incentive programs 4.6%
Other 6.8%
7
Don’t Know
Fallen by more than 10%
Fallen by 5% to 10%
Fallen by 1% to 5%
Stayed about the same
Risen by 1% to 5%
Risen by 5% to 10%
Risen by more than 10%
3.0%
1.1% 2.2%
6.5%
17.0%
34.8%
28.2%
7.3%
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The changes in productivity in the F&A organizations are not, in most cases, temporary (see Figure 2).
One quarter of respondents indicated that the changes in productivity were permanent; another half
indicated that they were the start of a long-term trend.
Figure 2. Permanence of Change in Productivity
Even more encouraging is the relationship between the change in productivity and its expected duration.
The greater the rise in productivity, the more likely it was to be considered permanent. Conversely,
declines in productivity were more likely to be of a temporary nature (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Relationship Between Change in Productivity and Expected Duration of Change
8
Permanent
The start of a long-term trend
Temporary; productivity will
revert back to its previous level
Don’t know
Other
26.7%
53.0%
8.1%
11.2%
1.0%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Fallen by
more
than 10%
Fallen by
5% to 10%
Fallen by
1% to 5%
Risen by
1% to 5%
Risen by
5% to 10%
Risen by
more
than 10%
Permanent
The start of a long-term trend
Temporary; productivity will
revert back to its previous level
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Despite the importance of increasing productivity for many organizations, for many CFOs there are
other—sometimes many—competing priorities that also need to be addressed. Only 10% (see Figure 4)
of organizations indicated that increased productivity was the highest priority, although nearly half considered
it one of their top three priorities.
Figure 4. Compared to other corporate goals, to what extent is increasing productivity a priority
for your accounting and finance area?
Processes Trump People
When it comes to increasing productivity, organizations most often look to improving business processes.
When asked what organizational changes they had attempted in the past three years, fully 72.3% of
companies chose this route to improve productivity (see Table 3). Finance organizations were about half
as likely to make “people-related” changes: improved training, greater use of cross-functional teams,
and higher standards for new employees.
Table 3. Organizational Changes in the F&A Function
Improved business processes 72.3%
Improving training 41.1%
Greater use of cross-functional teams 37.9%
Higher standards, in terms of skills or
education, for hiring new employees 35.1%
Increasing the scope of decision making at
lower levels in the organization 21.6%
Flatter organizational structure 20.1%
Improving incentives 13.3%
None 6.2%
Other 3.8%
9
It is the highest priority
It is one of the top three priorities
It is one of many priorities
It is not a priority
Don’t know
9.6%
36.8%
42.1%
8.6%
2.9%
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Also of importance was the use of technology to increase productivity and enhance companies’ overall
competitiveness. In line with the desire to improve business processes to increase productivity,
mentioned above, automation of processes is perceived by two-thirds of companies as being one of the
technology investments most likely to achieve this goal (see Table 4). But organizations have other priorities
as well, such as better utilizing data to make smarter and faster strategic business decisions, as the
perceived value of data analysis/business intelligence applications indicates.
Table 4. Which of the following technology investments have the most potential to increase
productivity in your accounting and finance area? (Select up to three)
Automation of business processes 67.2%
Data analysis/business intelligence 51.6%
Enterprise application suites (ERP systems) 39.0%
Cloud computing/software as a service 14.2%
CRM 8.6%
Other 3.9%
Planning and Performance Management Systems
In the pursuit of greater productivity and profits, many progressive organizations have management
systems that enable them to formulate strategy, implement processes that support operations, provide
performance evaluation and operational control, and enable them to learn and change. Such systems
consist of metrics, methodologies, processes, and systems used to manage performance targeted at
the corporate level. While a majority of companies have such systems (see Table 5), a large percentage
(40.2%) do not. The failure of these organizations to have such systems can greatly impede their ongoing
success.
Table 5. Which of the following components are contained in your corporate performance
management system?
Planning (strategic, operational, and financial
modeling; budgeting; forecasting)
45.2%
Management reporting (dashboards/scorecards/KPIs;
standardized reports, etc.) 42.9%
Financial consolidation 31.7%
Operational performance analytics 28.2%
Profitability optimization and analytics 24.7%
Business intelligence reporting (e.g., predictive
analytics) 18.5%
Tax provision modeling governance, risk, and
compliance 9.8%
We currently do not have a CPM system 40.2%
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For organizations with CPM systems, the most common components are responsible for planning and
management reporting functions. The use of predictive analytics is still in its early stages.
ERP Systems
The use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is also often important to the efficient operation
of many firms. Yet here again, there are opportunities for improvement, as many of these systems (see
Table 6) focus on finance and accounting while neglecting keys areas such as e-commerce, CRM, and
supply-chain management.
Table 6. Which of the following components are contained in your Enterprise Resource
Planning system?
Finance and accounting 68.3%
Supply chain management 34.2%
Manufacturing 30.9%
Human resources 29.7%
Project management 22.1%
CRM 19.3%
E-commerce 13.6%
We currently do not have an ERP system 27.3%
People Are Important Too…
When it comes to the human side of increasing productivity, having existing employees work longer
hours is not high on companies’ agendas. Rather, better training of existing staff is viewed as the key to
increasing productivity, followed by the strategic hiring of new staff with specific skills (see Figure 5). Yet
this latter means of increasing productivity may be difficult to achieve, as most companies report difficulty
in hiring new employees with the skills and education to become immediately productive (see
Figure 6).
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Figure 6. Please indicate your level of agreement with this statement: “It is difficult for us to find
new employees with the skills and education to become immediately productive.”
12
Figure 5. What investments in human capital do you believe offer the greatest scope for increasing
productivity at your company? (Select one)
Other
More part-time staff
Don’t know
More hours from existing employees
Strategic hiring of new staff with specific skills
Training of existing staff
3.1%
55.2% 30.7%
2.6%
3.6%
4.9%
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
15.2%
19.3% 41.3%
21.8%
2.3%
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Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a commonly used technique for organizations to increase their efficiency and to focus on
their core competencies. Seventy percent of survey respondents engage in some sort of outsourcing.
Most frequently this involved the outsourcing of technology services (see Table 7), but other functions
are outsourced by the surveyed organizations as well.
Table 7. What type of outsourcing does your company engage in, if any?
Technology services 44.2%
Human resources/benefits 23.5%
Financial or accounting services 21.4%
Business processes 17.7%
Call center services 12.6%
Other 6.2%
None 29.7%
Contrary to what one might expect, the ability of organizations to find new employees with the skills
and education to become immediately productive is not related to the type of outsourcing in which they
engage.
The use of outsourcing is indeed related to increased productivity: by a three-to-one margin, more companies
agreed that outsourcing has increased productivity rather than hurt it (see Figure 7).
Figure 7. How have the changes in the level of outsourcing affected productivity at your company?
13
They have increased productivity
They have had no effect on productivity
They have hurt productivity
Don’t know
40.3%
25.9%
19.9%
13.9%
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When compared to their competitors, most companies believe that their CFO organization is at least as
productive, if not more productive, than their competitors’ finance organizations (see Figure 8). This was
true for firms of all sizes.
Figure 8. Which of the following is true regarding the productivity of your accounting and finance
area relative to your competitors?
Process Improvement Efforts
A deeper analysis of the processes performed by companies indicates that some are generally performed
well while others are often in more need of improvement and/or streamlining (see Table 8).
Those that are performed well include many financial accounting, external reporting-related processes
such as managing taxes, processing accounts payables and receivables, and managing treasury operations.
Processes most in need of improvement are largely management accounting-oriented and more
strategic in nature, including the preparation of periodic budgets/plans, the preparation of periodic financial
forecasts, performing cost analyses, generating performance scorecards, and assessing customer
and product profitability.
14
We are more productive
We have about the same productivity
We are less productive
Don’t know
30.4%
32.9%
25.3%
11.4%
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Table 8. For each of the following processes, please rate the need to streamline the process and/or
improve productivity.
Process
Critically in
need of
improvement
Greatly in
need of
improvement
Moderately
in need of
improvement
Little need to
improve
No need to
improve
Prepare periodic budgets and
plans 15.5% 30.2% 33.8% 15.0% 5.4%
Prepare periodic financial
forecasts 12.8% 30.4% 34.0% 16.5% 6.3%
Perform cost management (e.g.,
determine & measure cost
drivers, manage asset deployment)
12.7% 29.0% 33.7% 18.7% 5.9%
Perform cost accounting and
control (e.g., variance analysis,
profitability reporting) 12.5% 28.6% 32.7% 20.3% 5.9%
Prepare performance measures
(e.g., scorecards) 11.6% 28.5% 35.5% 18.4% 6.0%
Assess customer and product
profitability 11.8% 29.4% 31.7% 20.6% 6.6%
Manage financial risks 11.0% 21.9% 34.6% 22.9% 9.7%
Manage internal controls 10.0% 20.8% 32.2% 25.7% 11.2%
Perform cash flow analysis 9.9% 20.8% 30.4% 26.5% 12.4%
Manage cost improvement efforts 9.7% 29.2% 36.0% 19.5% 5.6%
Evaluate new products 11.0% 25.4% 32.8% 22.6% 8.2%
Manage cost improvement efforts 9.0% 28.4% 36.4% 20.3% 6.0%
Perform sales productivity
analysis 8.3% 28.9% 34.6% 20.4% 7.8%
Optimize customer and product
mix 8.4% 31.8% 32.4% 19.6% 7.9%
Perform financial close (monthly/
quarterly/ annual) 6.9% 17.6% 29.3% 27.7% 18.5%
Perform revenue accounting
(“quote to cash”) 7.3% 18.9% 32.6% 27.3% 14.0%
Manage consolidations from
multiple subsidiaries/regions 8.2% 20.8% 30.3% 25.3% 15.5%
Manage other treasury
operations 6.0% 16.0% 31.1% 30.7% 16.1%
Manage accounts payables and
receivables 5.3% 15.0% 28.4% 33.5% 17.9%
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Process
Critically in
need of
improvement
Greatly in
need of
improvement
Moderately
in need of
improvement
Little need to
improve
No need to
improve
Manage taxes 6.1% 13.9% 30.0% 31.7% 18.3%
Process accounts payable and
expense reimbursements 4.4% 15.3% 26.6% 32.2% 21.5%
Process payroll 4.4% 9.9% 24.6% 31.8% 29.4%
Perform other general accounting 3.9% 11.6% 32.1% 34.1% 18.2%
Calculate and pay commissions 4.3% 14.4% 25.2% 32.3% 23.8%
In keeping with the need for most companies to increase productivity in these challenging economic
times, the number-one goal of respondents’ process improvement efforts was to improve productivity
and reduce costs by streamlining processes (see Table 9). Survey respondents view the effective use of
technology—including the automation of routine processes—as an important part of this effort.
Table 9. Which of the following are goals for your process improvement efforts?
Improving productivity/reducing costs by streamlining processes 73.2%
Utilizing technology effectively to streamline business processes 65.2%
Automating routine processes 58.8%
Reducing business costs 54.1%
Improving forecasting accuracy 48.8%
Improving financial reporting accuracy 42.3%
Saving time spent on period close, consolidation, and financial
processes 40.2%
Improving accuracy of costing system 35.9%
Upgrading business (accounting) systems 35.6%
Gaining more real-time accurate business visibility 33.5%
Compliance with government rules and regulations 23.3%
Reducing the cost of technology 22.0%
Consolidating IT systems and decreasing IT expenses 21.9%
Better managing the finance function with a multi-location workforce 19.9%
Organizing and grouping all open business issues so proper
accounting and risk mitigation can be achieved 15.2%
Other 0.9%
Companies are adopting a variety of tactics in using technology to improve the efficiency of their finance
and accounting functions. Many of these (see Table 10) deal with integrating the various information
systems within an organization. Consistent with the goal of better understanding and responding to
customers, many (37.4%) companies are also exploring the use of business intelligence software.
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Table 10. Which of the following tactics/initiatives are you using to meet your goals?
Integrating disconnected business systems 39.9%
Adding business intelligence software 37.4%
Replacing siloed business systems (finance, CRM, etc.) with a single
business suite/database 33.7%
Consolidating global financial systems 27.4%
Adding data warehouse 24.9%
Moving current financial systems to cloud computing 18.1%
Moving subsidiaries and non-HQ divisions in the cloud 6.4%
Other 9.0%
Other Challenges: Improving the Management Reporting Cycle
Aside from improving productivity, the next most frequently cited challenge for CFO organizations is
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the management reporting cycle. The major challenges in
this regard (see Table 11) include what can be viewed as a set of three related items: the need to integrate
information from multiple data sources, the length of time required to close the books, and the
timeliness of performance reports and analysis.
Table 11. Which of the following are challenges around “Improving the management reporting
cycle”?
Timeliness of performance reports and analysis 46.5%
Integrating multiple data sources 42.1%
Length of time required to close books 41.2%
Cash flow reporting 35.6%
Reporting at the customer and product/service level 33.2%
Reporting on sales orders and revenue 20.3%
Reporting on subsidiaries and geography results 14.9%
We have no challenges in this area 9.7%
Other 1.3%
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Increasing visibility across a company is critical to the success of many of these organizations. As Table 12
indicates, visibility is generally seen as strong regarding traditional accounting measures of performance
such as accounts payable and accounts receivable results. More challenging are organization efforts to
understand their performance on leading, often nonfinancial, measures including cash flow, lead and
marketing, customer service, expense, and new sales performance.
Table 12. What are your greatest challenges around “Achieving real-time visibility across your
organization”?
Understanding lead and marketing performance 36.8%
Understanding cash flow 34.7%
Understanding customer service performance 31.8%
Understanding expense results 31.0%
Understanding new sales performance 30.8%
Understanding customer renewals and up sell performance 22.4%
Understanding accounts receivables results 20.3%
Understanding account payables results 15.0%
Other 5.2%
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Conclusion
The past three years have been characterized by many economic challenges, and companies have focused
on increasing productivity in order to survive and stay competitive. The CFO organization, which
faces numerous challenges, is not immune to this need.
Of the many challenges faced by the CFO organization, the most urgent is streamlining processes and
improving productivity. Other important challenges include improving the management reporting cycle,
achieving real-time visibility across the organization, becoming a transformational CFO, and running a
global business efficiently.
With regard to the first challenge, substantial gains in productivity are being achieved in the finance and
accounting area, gains that are long-term and that will generate permanent benefits.
These gains in productivity are being achieved through the improvement of business processes, the use
of improved technology, and, to a lesser extent, better use of human resources. Processes are being
improved by streamlining them, by more effectively using technology, and through automation. While
some processes are generally viewed as being done efficiently, others—especially strategic activities
such as planning, budgeting, forecasting, cost and profitability analysis, and providing performance
scorecards and reporting—are still generally viewed as in need of greater improvements.
A substantial number of firms are increasing productivity by integrating the various information systems
within a firm. By doing so, firms may also be able to enhance their responsiveness to customers. Improvements
in the various information systems in an organization, including CPM and ERP systems, also
have the potential to increase organization performance.
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Appendix.
Respondent Demographics
The Financial Challenges survey was emailed out to 44,787 members of IMA in December
2011. A total of 1,726 (3.8%) completed surveys were received back. The following
summarizes the demographic characteristics of the respondents.
Table A1. Industry
Manufacturing 27.8%
Finance 8.8%
Business Services 8.1%
Wholesale/Retail Trades 7.3%
Construction, Mining, Agriculture 6.4%
Transportation, Communication, Utilities 5.3%
Technology/Software 4.8%
Healthcare 4.3%
Nonprofit 4.0%
Government 3.2%
Education 2.7%
Insurance 2.7%
Real Estate 2.3%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 2.0%
Media and Entertainment 1.2%
Other 9.3%
Table A2. Company Ownership
20
Publicly Traded
Privately Held
Nonprofit
Government agency
Other
32.9%
50.6%
5.5%
8.5%
2.5%
Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
Table A3. Location of Primary Business Unit
Table A4. Survey Respondents’ Job Titles
Accountant 21.6%
Controller 21.3%
Director/Manager 18.1%
Consultant/Analyst 13.8%
CFO 10.5%
Vice President 2.5%
Executive Officer 1.6%
Corporate Officer 1.4%
Other 9.2%
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The Americas
Middle East/Africa
Asia/Pacific
Europe
50.6%
18.7% 68.2%
7.8%
5.3%
Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
Table A5. Annual Revenue
Table A6. Number of Employees
22
4.2% 12.2%
6.8%
14.0%
14.1%
11.9%
11.2%
9.9%
7.3%
8.4%
Under $1 Million
$1-$10 Million
$10-$30 Million
$30-$75 Million
$75-$200 Million
$200 Million – $500 Million
$500 Million – $1 Billion
$1-$5 Billion
$5–$10 Billion
Under 50
51-100
101-200
201-500
501-1,000
1,001 – 10,000
over 10,000
50.6%
15.6%
11.8%
11.9%
8.4% 13.4%
22.0%
16.9%
Rising to the Challenge
Productivity
in Accounting
and Finance
Organizations
About IMA
With a worldwide network of more than 60,000 professionals, IMA is the world’s leading organization
dedicated to empowering accounting and finance professionals to drive business performance. IMA
provides a dynamic forum for professionals to advance their careers through Certified Management Accountant
(CMA®) certification, research, professional education, networking and advocacy of the highest
ethical and professional standards. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org.
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