The new Communications and Media CFO
October 8, 2018
October 8, 2018
CEOs increasingly are turning to their CFOs to sponsor critical digital-transformation investments while they navigate accelerating change. As a result, the role of Communications and Media CFOs has changed dramatically from an accounting-based position, to one of transformation. CFOs are sponsoring critical new digital investments in everything from customer experience to joint ventures and acquisitions.
Changes to the industry are driving the shift, from increasing customer demands for more bandwidth at a competitive price, to opportunities to monetize content.
With a digital lens, CFOs are looking at their operations with a critical eye, rethinking their model. Many are currently focused on transforming how they manage risk, using digital tools.
To succeed beyond the short term, CFOs are reinventing their own finance function via automation and hiring digital talent.
''Technology is just one part of the story. To make full use of analytics, CFOs must solve the talent problem, equipping their functions with the capabilities required to drive change.''
– ERIC NOREN, Communications, Media and Technology Industry Group CFO and Enterprise Value Practice Global Lead
Finance leaders are embracing new leading practices and emerging technologies with more focus on business analytics, integrated business reporting and planning, and shared services.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are now mainstream. Routine accounting work, such as transaction processing, document matching, account reconciliation, statutory reporting and exception analysis, can be handed off to virtual accountants who never take time off. As the repetitive low-value work is offloaded to 24/7 bots, the core finance team can better focus on driving value.
As machines take over traditional number-crunching, CFOs are searching for talent in analytic thinking and decision support. Communications and Media CFOs are more likely than their peers in any other industry sector to be prioritizing the recruitment and development of Finance staff. Thirty-eight percent consider the ability to find, develop and place Finance talent as one of their three most important skills.
“Progress has been made,” says Eric Noren, managing director of Accenture’s CFO and Enterprise Value consulting for the Communications and Media industry. “CFOs are focused on sponsoring strategic decisions and real-time monitoring that provides the means to identify emerging risks and opportunities much more quickly than in the past. However, technology is just one part of the story. To make full use of analytics, CFOs must solve the talent problem, equipping their functions with the capabilities required to drive change.”
In this environment, we believe Communications and Media CFOs need to embrace three priorities:
38%
of Communications and Media CFOs consider the ability to find, develop and place Finance talent as one of their three most important skills. That’s more than any other industry.
3OUT OF4
High-Tech CFOs have adopted Robotic Process Automation