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Secrets of high-performing finance teams revealed in the State of Finance

We all know the business world is rapidly evolving. But how much has that evolution affected the world of finance?

Today we’re pleased to announce the publication of our annual research survey, The State of Finance. In partnership with third-party market research firm Lab42, the Certinia research team surveyed 1,000 CFOs, finance directors, and other senior executives in North America and the UK to get at the heart of how high-performing finance teams have adapted to doing business in 2018.

Thanks to wave after wave of technological and business innovation—the twin revolutions of cloud and mobile, the consumerization of IT, the rise of the new services economy—every aspect of operating a business has been transformed, from sales and marketing to customer service and finance. Our survey results persistently point back to one key theme for CFOs and finance leaders: your job is no longer just about simply “accounting” or providing “adult supervision,” but rather has evolved into a critically strategic role for driving customer satisfaction and business growth for the overall organization.

Ray Wang (Principal Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Constellation Research) doesn’t mince words when it comes to this transformation:

“The evolving role of CFOs and finance leaders will place them in more strategic positions. As regulatory compliance and operational efficiency tasks move to BPO, automation, and machine learning, CFOs and finance leaders will free up resources to focus on growth and strategic differentiation. This shift will improve the CFO’s profile as a strategic resource and take advantage of the shift to a customer-centric approach. Seeing customers in full color will emerge as the norm, not the exception.”

Covering a complete breadth of themes from finance in the new services economy and the customer-centric IT stack to artificial intelligence (AI) and revenue recognition, this new report covers everything CFOs and other finance leaders need to know about the state of finance today—and where it’s headed in the near future. We hope you’ll use the report as a benchmark to understand the ways in which your team has already made progress, and to see the next areas where you can optimize and improve for customer success and business growth.

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