Future of finance 5x5: Insights and actions

Technology, media, and telecommunications

The future of work, workforce, and workplace has evolved at varying speeds across industries. For the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industry, the surge in cloud-driven, as-a-service (XaaS) offerings has even altered the way companies view their existing operating model. In the Deloitte and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA^®) survey, while 32.1% of TMT respondents believe automation already has significantly affected the way their company’s work is performed, 82.1% said their company’s accounting process are largely manual or still a considerable manual effort.¹ This quick summary provides some business insights and actions you can take on finance of the future for the TMT industry.

5 insights and 5 actions

¹ IMA and Deloitte report: From mirage to reality: Bringing finance into focus in a digital world. TMT respondents for the survey were 10.7% or nearly 100 respondents.

The constant workplace evolution

From fax machines to email, desktop computers to laptops, and on-premises systems to cloud-based solutions, technology has played an integral part in workplace evolution, challenging the necessity of when and where individuals work. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, survey results1 indicated that technology, synergized with unique company cultures, fosters a workplace of the future that encompasses more flexible work arrangements, which includes flexible career paths and rotational programs; flexible or remote working environments; and flexible working hours. Flexible work arrangement strategies can help to access, curate, engage, and develop top talent. This quick summary provides some business insights and actions you can take today on the workplace of the future.

A future-ready finance workforce

The future of finance encourages organizations to embrace change not just by implementing advanced technologies, but also through elevating its professionals to stay relevant. A future-ready digital finance function needs a team well-versed in business acumen, as well as analytical and technological capabilities. As analytics and insights become a necessity to accompany traditional accounting competencies, finance will need to reduce the skill gap by investing in education and aligning with tomorrow’s technologies. This can drive efficiency in finance responsibilities and empower professionals’ resilience to broaden their role as storytellers, interpreters, and more strategic business partners. This quick summary provides some business insights and actions you can take to achieve a future-ready finance workforce.

Data analytics and visualizations

Data analytics and visualization tools are a critical step toward enabling more informed business decisions. Once an organization has achieved a clean data infrastructure and foundation, implementing advanced technologies may be pivotal to finance transformation. However, reports and visualizations from advanced technologies do not drive effective business decisions on their own—finance professionals need to analyze the reports and visualizations to provide insights and considerations that can drive informed business decisions.

This quick summary provides some business insights and actions you can take today on data analytics and visualizations. For more information and to read the full report, visit From mirage to reality: Bringing finance into focus in a digital world.

Automation cannot exist without a solid foundation

While automation is a known concept within the future of finance, many accounting and finance organizations face challenging implementation journeys on their road to finance transformation. These organizations' existing systems—driven by inconsistent data, disparate structures, and multiple sources of truth—are often out-of-date and no longer sufficient to meet current business needs, which adds hurdles to the already challenging implementation journey.

This quick summary provides some business insights and actions you can take today on automation. For more information and to read the full report, visit From mirage to reality: Bringing finance into focus in a digital world.