SAP White Paper Sample

In the wake of recent accounting scandals and in the increasingly competitive business environment, many CFOs and the finance organizations they lead have started to take on new strategic roles within the enterprise. They are aiming at enforcing stricter control processes to ensure legal and regulatory compliance, offering strategic insights into the internal and external business environment, and connecting the business strategy with daily operations through performance tracking.

The trend toward a more strategic role is echoed by the responses of participants in recent research conducted by APQC, an internationally recognized nonprofit organization that provides best-practice research, metrics, and measures. The participants indicated that, three years down the road, they anticipate spending 30% more time on decision support and management (see Figure 3). According to the same research, however, in spite of their aspirations, participants have not made much progress toward a greater strategic role. Finance organizations, no matter what their size, report to APQC that they still spend almost two-thirds of their time on transaction processing and controls and only one-third on decision support and management.