Member Article

Research exposes cuts to over half of finance teams across Europe

Research has revealed that following a difficult 2020 over half of finance teams have been reduced (53%) and more than a third (36%) have changed the type of people and roles within the department.

The study commissioned by Rydoo, is a vital snapshot into the world of expenses in a time of extraordinary change. The expenses management platform also found that whilst finance teams were suffering losses or becoming increasingly stretched, priorities have been placed on:

1. Ensuring all data is connected and accurate (18%)
2. Cost control (16%)
3. Payments (14%)
4. Correct and timely invoicing (12%)
5. Forecasting (11%)

The study of over 200 CFOs and Finance Directors across the UK, France, and the DACH region also found that only a third (38%) had digitised all major finance functions.

Software as a service has accelerated across industries during Covid-19, and digitising processes is now a must-have tool as employees continue to work from home offices around the globe.

The research goes on to show more than a third (39%) believe the biggest hurdle for digitising finance processes is having too much choice when deciding on new tools to use. Another third (37%) responded that their company was untrusting of tech and 31% said IT security issues were the biggest hurdles for digitisation.

When asked which areas of the finance departments respondents would want to be digitised first, the top five included:

1. Budgeting (20%)
2. Management reporting (19%)
3. Invoicing (15%)
4. Planning (15%)
5. Expenses (12%)

As expected for many CFOs and Finance Directors across Europe, accurate forecasting was at the top of the list (13%) when asked what the main reasons for using an expenses management tool were, followed by employee satisfaction (12%), increasing compliance (12%) and embracing new technologies (11%).

Whilst ensuring all data is connected and accurate come out top as the biggest priority for finance teams, the study also found that when looking at the challenges for the future of expenses management nearly half (42%) agreed that connecting data points across the business can be conflicting, followed by long term forecasting being an issue (40%) and control of costs (40%). These issues will continue to be important in a world where more people are working remotely and face to face meetings are minimised.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rachel Robins .