Today, the finance function is often still seen as a purely back-office function - a serious mistake. This is because it can anticipate changes in the business environment and provide decision-makers with information that is critical to success. It can therefore make an essential contribution to achieving the company's strategic goals.
Requirements for a future-oriented finance function
Successful innovation requires identifying and responding to signals of disruptive change in the market. New stimuli such as the EU's Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) action plan or the switch to SAP S4/HANA are forcing companies to rethink their finance function and prepare it for the future using modern technology so that it can take on new tasks such as ESG reporting.
In doing so, it is subject to numerous requirements: The modern finance function is resilient and agile. It is evolving from an administrative role to an advisory function for the entire organisation and is increasingly assuming the role of a forward-looking business partner. Its objectives are closely integrated into the overall corporate strategy and the specific competitive strategies. As a result, a new dimension of process efficiency is achieved.
For a successful business future, it is therefore fundamental to understand the finance function as a corporate strategic imperative. At KPMG, we view our clients' finance function from their overall strategic perspective from the outset.
How can change succeed?
In order to fulfil the requirements described, a number of conditions must be met:
- suitable organisational structures
- harmonised and targeted use of digital solutions
- the realignment of competences in the teams
- Consideration of new forms of collaboration
Repetitive activities can be almost completely automated in the future. Innovative technologies will enable financial data and information to be analysed and interpreted in ever shorter periods of time in order to support important decisions. For greater resilience and long-term success, it is crucial to understand digitalisation as a holistic and open-ended transformation of the entire finance function.
Our approach
KPMG has developed the "House of Finance" as a holistic approach to the digital transformation of the finance function. This involves identifying, evaluating and shaping the relationships between the various functional areas. In doing so, we take into account the specific requirements of the industry.
The strategy, which is broken down more deeply in the steering model and the target operating model and is increasingly orientated towards end-to-end processes instead of traditional functional departments, forms the umbrella of our company.
Fully harmonised and standardised financial processes are the main pillars of the "House of Finance". Interfaces to other areas such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Research & Development (R&D), Supply Chain Management (SCM) or Human Resources are clearly defined and technically realisable.
Technologies thus form the basis for the automation and restructuring of existing processes. All levels are relevant here: from subsystems to ERP and data management systems through to analytical systems such as Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Business Intelligence (BI). The aim here is to define an optimised IT architecture for the new finance function in coordination with the company's IT.
We are happy to support your company holistically on the path to digital finance transformation. Get in touch with us.
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Christian Willmes
Partner, Consulting, Head of Technology Transformation
KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
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Digital finance as a management tool for financial services
Finance organisations within banks, insurance companies and asset managers operate in a particularly challenging environment. Regulatory requirements, high volumes of data and the need for faster management information clash with legacy system landscapes. For companies in the financial sector, digital finance means integrating financial data, processes, controls and technologies in such a way that management decisions become more robust, faster and more transparent.
For companies in the financial services sector, it is not enough to simply digitise individual processes. It is crucial to have a finance function that takes a holistic view of the business model, risk management, reporting and technology architecture. We support you in developing target visions, structure your data architecture and embed digital solutions in such a way that they have a tangible impact within your organisation.
In doing so, we take into account the specific characteristics of the financial sector: governance, data quality, control requirements and traceability must be taken into account from the outset. This results in a digital finance function that not only operates more efficiently but also provides reliable information for the board, executive board and management. Digitalisation thus becomes a key lever for corporate governance for companies that offer financial services or operate in the regulated financial market.
Frequently asked questions
Digital finance describes the digital evolution of financial processes, data models, controls and management information in companies within the financial sector, particularly banks, insurance companies and asset managers.
Financial services are under significant pressure to adapt to regulatory, technological and economic changes. Digitalisation helps organisations to specifically improve data quality, transparency and manageability within the financial sector.
Companies in the financial sector must integrate digital financial processes particularly closely with governance, risk management, control systems and traceability.
KPMG supports companies from assessing their current situation, through defining their vision and operating model, to implementing digital solutions and integrated management processes.