Finance teams no longer have to be buried under paperwork. Today, innovation-driven technology has empowered finance teams to automate and quite literally forget about mundane finance tasks. This further allowed them to explore other avenues, such as decision making roles. 

As finance executives who help make strategic decisions for the company, it is essential to stay aware of the numbers and trends. You are always required to identify opportunities, analyze the risks, predict market behavior, forecast purchase trends, and conduct other such essential tasks. These tasks play a crucial role in cutting costs for a business. Additionally, keeping track of these patterns will enable you to become a strategic decision-maker for your business.

There is a rise in the adoption of technology, particularly so, in this decade. One can attribute this to the inception of AI and Machine Learning, which has automated a wide range of repetitive tasks hitherto done manually. Although technology seems to be the way forward, finance folks also need to look for ways to minimize technology-related risks. To top that, finance teams have now become the face of the company when it comes to reporting and updating financial reports to the investors.

With a plethora of changes happening in the business world today, it's crucial for business leaders and CFOs to stay updated at all times. In this article, we talk about a few changes that are the way businesses function today. Additionally, we touch upon the technological changes businesses should look into as their business grows.

What to expect in the years to come?

Evolving Workforce

The millennial workforce has changed the way businesses run. Work is no longer limited to a desk or a particular system. They work from anywhere, at any time they like, and on any device that grabs a signal.

In fact, a majority of employees choose flexibility to overpay. They like to strike a balance between their work life and personal life. They actively pursue exploring the world, bettering themselves while also acing work.

Technology is an enabler in the revolution of work. Cloud computing ensures that your employees can connect at any time. For example, accounting software like QuickBooks Online and NetSuite helps accountants access financial data from any device at any time. Thanks to API docs, you can integrate them with countless finance apps, thereby ensuring all finance data is in one place.

Cloud computing has also helped organizations to look into the global workforce. That said, the current system of handling confidential data still brings up a few questions regarding data privacy and security.

Additionally, the current workforce is already well learned, coupled with a greater willingness to learn further and better themselves. They are most likely to have a college degree but do not stop with it. To get the most out of them, business leaders need to come up with better, newer, and more innovative ways to increase and maintain and improve financial productivity.

Changing customer demands

These days, customers are technologically empowered. They have clarity on what they want. As a result, companies are forced to adapt to fluctuating customer demand. The same applies to the finance industry, where Fin-Tech solutions are ensuring they have the right tools in place to impress their growing customer base.

We live in a world where there are more cell phones than people. Today life without cell phones is unimaginable. There's even a name for fear of losing mobile phones! We'll save you the research; it's called nomophobia. When people consider mobile phones akin to life, it only makes sense that you provide services through an easily accessible medium. This is where mobile apps come into play. No matter your business model, be it B2B or B2C, a well functioning mobile app translates into better product exposure.  

Customers these days prefer doing everything on their cell phones, right from their office work, banking services, to even making online payments. Today, more than three-quarters of the banking activities are done on cell phones. Paperwork and in-person meetings have almost become obsolete. It's clear that digital experience is the way to exceptional customer service. 

Customers seek simple yet quality-driven assistance with swift hands-on personal service when they encounter challenges with the product or service you offer. Keeping your customers on cloud nine is essential, both literally and figuratively. In a literal sense, your customers should be able to access their data from any device of their choice. 

For example, the customer is using expense reporting software that helps with receipt scanning, Here, as soon as the user takes a photo of the receipt, he should be able to view and edit it in the website application itself. Similarly, the customer should be able to view one dashboard which consists of all the business expense reports irrespective of whether they were fyled from the website or mobile app.

Figuratively, it is important that you give the best-in-class customer service. The kind of service you give to your customers can mar or make your chances at impressing them. Use tools that can help you provide excellent customer service. Communicate realistic expectations to your customers and take their feedback seriously when working on improving your product or business processes. This promotes brand loyalty.

Pro-tip: Ensure you don’t have multiple points of contact for your customers. Customers always prefer talking to one person who has complete context to their queries.

Importance of data analytics

Technology has played the most prominent role in our evolution. Starting from the steam engine, electricity, mass production, to cloud computing, it has redefined the way the world works. Given that everything is digital these days, we have so much data that we can use to our advantage.  

Big data combined with the new technology has made the processing of larger data easier than ever before. But it’s not just the numbers. It’s what these numbers indicate. Data analytics is the science that can set us on the path to entrepreneurial success or failure.

From using predictive analytics to data collection; today we have a means for everything. And, now with these numbers businesses can gain crucial insight into customer data, forecast the trends of purchase, identify economic indicators to predict market trends, and more. Additionally, it plays a vital role in helping businesses streamline their processes to reduce costs.

Summary

The way we do business is constantly changing with new challenges and responsibilities. Technology plays a vital role, opening the door for financial folks to look beyond their core functions. It is helping businesses work with a global workforce that is well versed in the nitty-gritty of technology.

It's always important to keep in mind that for any business to be successful, it needs to familiarize itself with the new technology and trends.

“We have always done it that way!” - Now becomes the most dangerous thing to say when it comes to managing a business. Have the keenness to learn, openness to adapt, and willingness to grow. 

If you’re looking for a modern solution to solve your expense management woes, check out Fyle. Not only does it automate routine manual work, streamline the entire expense reporting process, but it also provides rich data analytics. Schedule a demo with us today and learn more!