Responsibilities for finance leaders continue to widen as the role of the CFO evolves. To keep up with customer and stakeholder demands, CFOs are developing a more hands-on approach to cybersecurity and integrating technology into their operational processes.
New cybersecurity disclosure requirements, rising threats of cyber warfare and extortion, and the soaring value of data assets have propelled security and data privacy to the top of CFOs’ priority lists, with 61% of finance leaders and professionals rating this area as a high priority in the coming year, according to Protiviti’s 2024 Global Finance Trends Survey Report.
Protiviti surveyed 961 finance leaders across the globe in the second and third quarters of 2024.
Growing compliance regulations, cyberthreats, and increased pressure on companies from customer and vendor data security expectations mean that CFOs are now positioned to take a central role in mitigating these risks, the report said.
Stakeholders’ data privacy concerns are evolving, reflecting the reality that cyber accountability is relevant to the entire business ecosystem, the report said, rather than merely a reflection of required regulatory reporting.
“While most of these cybersecurity rules and enforcement developments apply primarily to publicly held organisations … finance leaders in private companies and government organisations also rate data security and privacy as their top overall priority,” the report said.
To ensure compliance, more collaboration is needed, the report said. Elevating the partnership between the CFO, chief information officer, and chief information security officer will encourage further education on their respective domains to align regulation and risk.
Data demands extend to ‘sophisticated’ FP&A
Shareholder desire for more sophisticated and meaningful analytics around business results is putting further pressure on finance leaders’ data responsibilities, the report said, making effective financial planning and analysis (FP&A) practices an essential fabric of CFOs’ remit for the year ahead.
FP&A reporting joins data privacy as leading concerns for finance leaders, according to the report. Sixty-nine per cent of finance chiefs in publicly held organisations rate financial planning and profitability analysis reporting as a high priority.
“FP&A teams can be instrumental in guiding their organisations to long-term financial success through robust financial planning … by embracing innovation and technology, cultivating strategic business partnerships, and fostering transparent communication,” the report said.
Data-driven analytics are intrinsic to optimising revenue and spend strategies, the report acknowledged, but organisations must “first ensure that long-term financial plans are aligned with business strategy” to allow them to identify new opportunities and potential risks.
Evaluating their organisation’s technology landscape has been imperative to business growth, the report said. To remain profitable, finance leaders reported that the use of generative AI (58%), technology rationalisation (57%), and utilisation of cloud-based systems (57%) have been the most effective strategies for remaining cost-effective.
The business landscape is marked by volatility, uncertainty, and aggressive competition, the report said. To stay ahead of the curve, finance chiefs should ensure that data is accurate, risk analytics and technology are integrated into existing forecasts, internal collaboration continues, and organisations further invest to improve processes and automation abilities.
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