Finance Departments Must Set the Digital Agenda

Every business department stands to benefit from digitisation – and finance is in a particularly strong position to make impactful changes, given its reach across the business as a whole. Despite this unifying opportunity, our latest research shows that finance is perceived to be a roadblock for digital projects in the rest of the organisation.

Seventy-one percent of senior business decision makers said that they had digital projects held back by another department within the organisation, and identified finance as most likely to be the guilty party. Needless to say, delayed projects can breed frustration, damage interdepartmental relationships and have an adverse effect on business growth. With this in mind, the finance department must focus on shifting this negative perception, optimising its digital processes and spearheading company-wide progression.

The digital discount

In order for finance to become a true ambassador for digital within the organisation, it must resolve its internal problems first – the most significant one being a lack of preparedness for digitisation. Only 18 percent of finance departments currently believe they are ‘very well prepared’ to operate digitally, which represents a clear barrier to finance teams operating with optimal levels of efficiency and productivity.

This deficiency is compounded by the customer demands and expectations placed on finance – almost half (43 percent) of clients expect financial departments to offer electronic methods of completing agreements. As the next generation of customers – who have grown up interacting digitally – enter the market, this figure is only likely to increase. Consequently, finance teams must act to meet customer expectations sooner rather than later. Otherwise they risk exacerbating these issues and adversely affecting customer sentiment.

Fortunately, the impetus for streamlining digital processes falls within financiers’ particular expertise – saving money. In fact, our research shows that increased speed and reduced costs are the main drivers for taking a business process digital. Most finance departments will already have legacy systems in place, and operating these systems represents a double-edged sword in terms of financial expenditure. The upkeep and continued maintenance of this infrastructure is expensive, but due to its complexity, revamping the system can be equally costly.

However, there is a solution. Collaborative tools can reduce legacy system costs and make it easier to share information, whilst also automating manual tasks. As a result, using them can free up huge amounts of employee time. Finance departments that move away from paper-based expenses processing can cut what is traditionally a hugely-time consuming process to a matter of minutes, thanks to the latest in automation technologies.

Set the tone

Whilst cost savings will always appeal to the finance department, taking a digital approach can also shift customer perceptions in a positive direction. The consensus from customers is that 59% believe having to complete paper forms makes a company appear outdated. This puts the finance team at risk of disenfranchising customers. But paper forms don’t just damage customer confidence in a company’s ability to operate, they also put it at risk  of losing out to competitors who have deployed more relevant and digital-friendly processes. Clearly then, this is a priority issue that must be addressed.

On a more functional level, filling in forms manually wastes employees’ time, and directly costs the company money as a result. This can easily be avoided with the adoption of eSignature solutions, which can help financial services companies drastically reduce transaction time from two weeks, to two hours. Not only does this save organisations an average of £25 per document, it also brings in revenue quicker, and frees up staff to win more business.

The scope of digital transformation is by no means limited to the above – actually the possibilities are almost endless. If the finance department seizes the initiative and takes the lead on digital, it can initiate a domino effect of digital progression across the business, allowing employees to sign deals faster and produce better results. Changing entrenched attitudes and perceptions can be a daunting task, but in most organisations finance has the power to call the shots. It can set the example for digital, and bring the rest of the organisation along for the journey.

Written by Helen Sutton, VP Enterprise Northern Europe at DocuSign