While some countries are still going through the critical stages of fighting the Coronavirus pandemic, in many parts of the world preparedness for the second wave and formulation of strategy to cope with the new reality are evident.
Companies are now in a race to automate and digitise processes, and to deploy various tools that facilitate virtual management and collaboration on critical corporate data.
According to PwC’s report, 33% of surveyed CFOs have attested that one of their main concerns with respect to the COVID-19 implications is the effects on the workforce or reduction in productivity.
On one hand, teams are still scattered and work remotely; on the other hand, the clock is ticking and it seems that another outbreak is just around the corner.
The role of the CFO in stabilizing the corporate “ship” in troubled water and navigating it to a safe harbour is substantial. The entire organisation now has to change gears and spearhead cohesively so it can flourish through the crisis.
These are some key strategies and guidelines that may assist the financial leadership during these turbulent times:
- Immediate term: get a consolidated company-wide Perspective
While workplaces are gradually reopening, Additionally, it seems that remote work is here to stay. According to the PwC report 46% of surveyed companies plan to accelerate automation and other new ways of working. Current remote work structure requires a centralised web platform to allow controllers, treasurers and CFOs to manage the entire corporate financial database in real-time, with secure access from any location.
- Intermediate term: cash flow-focused approach
The CFO has to lead a company-wide shift towards a cash-centered strategy:
- Track liquidity in real-time
- Identify cash equivalent assets
- Employ tight control over corporate spending
- Reallocate internal resources to optimise operational structure
- Focus on improvements of supply chain operations
- Long term: exit strategy for striving in the new economy
Now there’s a real, imminent need of deploying an assisting tool to increase transparency and let management make fastest strategic decisions; a critical need of improved ability and speed to forecast and model the corporate horizon:
- Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- Real-time forecasting
- Alerts on changing cash flow needs
To summarise, the new reality imposed by the Coronavirus has accelerated automation and digitisation of core processes within the organisation.
Web based products, such as Certomo’s financial suite, allow organisations a secured method of managing critical financial data, as scattered groups work remotely; at the same time, the platform gives executive management the ability to make faster decisions based on data streamed in real-time .