BENEFITS OF CLOUD INNOVATION FOR THE FINANCE TEAM...Robust cloud-based ERP solutions for finance and HR, provide the operational efficiency, agility, and collaborative requirements

BENEFITS OF CLOUD INNOVATION

FOR THE FINANCE TEAM

IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND FORECAST WITH CONFIDENCE

2 I BENEFITS OF CLOUD INNOVATION FOR THE FINANCE TEAM

FINANCE HAS LONG RELIED ON SPREADSHEETS AND LEGACY SYSTEMS for

their operations, but siloed business processes don’t meet the needs of modern

organizations that require collaborative decision-making and efficient data analysis.

Disparate systems also limit visibility, so it’s much harder to obtain the necessary

insights to drive productivity and growth.

Today’s finance leaders are faced with challenges and opportunities as they work to

confidently deliver strategic direction across their organizations.

Robust cloud-based ERP solutions for finance and HR, provide the operational

efficiency, agility, and collaborative requirements of a growing business. That reality

has sparked many organizations to migrate critical business functions to the cloud.

This eBook will examine the benefits of a cloud-based solution

that serves multiple organizational functions:

➢ The value of cloud for budgeting and forecasting,

including reducing manual rekeying of data in multiple

systems and the ability to gain a complete picture of the

business without juggling multiple data sets and wasting

time on reconciliation and reporting

➢ How a unified, cloud-based ERP system helps the finance

and HR functions collaborate more closely, providing one

platform to support planning, execution, and analysis

of business strategies and their impact on staffing,

resources, and the bottom line

➢ Why a single version of the truth can ensure data is

accurate, timely and readily accessible to all relevant

stakeholders

➢ Strategies for migrating to a cloud-based solution to

gain greater insight into the financial and organizational

health of the company, swiftly react to change, and more

confidently forecast the future


WHAT MAKES THE CLOUD ATTRACTIVE?

Many companies operate separate and

disconnected finance and HR systems, which

makes data sharing difficult. Manual data

entry into multiple systems can tie up valuable

resources, introduce errors, and slow down

the decision-making process. The cloud can

ease those challenges.

“Cloud-based systems enable more frequent

scenario analysis to better assess a company’s

position within a market based on its goals

and objectives,” said Kenneth Fick, Senior

Manager, MorganFranklin Consulting.

Fick noted that cloud solutions simplify

the administration of multi-layered security

measures. “For example, with a cloud-

based system you can set up user groups

for decision-makers that are ‘view only,’ and

other groups that have the ability to change

only certain models, while other groups

will have full access for consolidation.

This allows for better tracking of potential

formula errors and drill-down capabilities to

pinpoint anomalies.”

Collaboration is another appealing feature of

the cloud. Budgeting and forecasting is not a

finance-only function. If everyone is hunkered

down with their own spreadsheets, there is

little opportunity for collaboration and visibility

that results in accurate and meaningful

forecasts. Finance professionals rely on data

that is spread throughout the organization,

including sales, procurement, and operations.

“CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS ENABLE MORE FREQUENT SCENARIO ANALYSIS TO BETTER ASSESS A COMPANY’S POSITION WITHIN A MARKET BASED ON ITS GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.”

—Kenneth Fick, Senior Manager, MorganFranklin Consulting


A lack of synergy between finance and

HR in particular can be crippling for any

organization. There needs to be complete

visibility into the company’s current and

future staffing needs and payroll demands

to enable effective workforce and financial

planning.

This disconnect is often the result of

organizational obstacles, disparate systems

and data sources, and regulatory uncertainty,

among other challenges. While traditional

ERP systems are adept at tracking fixed

assets and inventory, understanding the

economics of talent and labor requires

next-generation solutions.

Insights into the company’s current and

future talent needs are difficult to come

by in a siloed world. As the function most

responsible for resource allocation, finance

needs a clear view of a company’s human

resource needs, including attrition, growth,

and changes in work preferences, Fick

noted. “With millennials becoming a bigger

percentage of the work force, the need to

modify how and where work is done will

be critical in attracting and retaining the

best talent.”

While there has been a trend toward

implementing ERP solutions for various

functions such as HR and finance, most

companies run multiple systems — or

different versions of the same system. This

impedes the flow of data and hampers

decision-making. “With separate systems, it

is hard to look at the financial implications of

decisions about operations, personnel, and

other business functions in a larger context,”

said Nilly Essaides, Senior Research Director

with The Hackett Group, a consultancy.


DATA VERACITY AND VISIBILITY ARE KEY

Moving to a single, cloud-based ERP

system for finance and HR enables greater

collaboration between the two functions

because both need the ability to shift quickly

to meet their objectives and keep pace

with new business models and emerging

technologies, according to Fick.

One of the critical ways that cloud-based

systems can help businesses elevate their

game is now finance has the ability to have

its pulse on human capital management. “With

human capital being the costliest resource for

many companies, the need for finance to drill

down to the lowest level is extremely important

— so they can explain variances and suggest

corrective measures,” Fick said.

Fick also noted that cloud-based ERP

solutions enable organizations to dig deeper

into more meaningful analytics. Some

examples: Do the profit centers that perform

best also have a larger number of higher

performers? At what level of attrition in a

cost center does it impact performance?

According to Workday’s latest Global

Finance Leader Study, only 35 percent of

finance leaders are making extensive use of

advanced analytics in key finance areas such

as planning, budgeting, and forecasting,

and do not see this increasing significantly

in three years’ time. One of the challenges,

many finance teams are still working with

disparate systems and spending significant

time aggregating and reconciling data

versus analysis.

Cloud-based solutions create a single source

of truth for companies to transact and

analyze data, finance teams are able to

provide business units accurate, real-time

insights. “The data is cleaner and there is no

rekeying,” The Hackett Group’s Essaides said.

“This saves a lot of time in creating budgets,

and produces a broader view of the

company’s objectives and resource

expectations.”

“THE DATA IS CLEANER AND THERE IS NO REKEYING. THIS SAVES A LOT OF TIME IN CREATING BUDGETS, AND PRODUCES A BROADER VIEW OF THE COMPANY’S OBJECTIVES AND RESOURCE EXPECTATIONS.”

—Nilly Essaides, Senior Research Director, The Hackett Group


BEST PRACTICES FOR CLOUD MIGRATION

Modern organizations are turning to the

cloud to gain greater insight into the financial

and organizational health of the company,

swiftly react to change, and more confidently

forecast the future.

It can be daunting to consider a cloud

migration, especially for core business

applications such as finance and HR. Best

practices include involving experts from each

functional area and empowering them to

speak with one voice on best practices for a

cloud migration.

Collaborating with other stakeholders —

gathering feedback, working to understand

concerns, and inviting people across the

organization to participate in the process as

much as possible — is essential.

While it is necessary, the move to the cloud

can be a bit overwhelming if not carefully

managed. “The initial shift can be somewhat

painful, as data from various source systems

is often structured differently, so scrubbing

and standardizing of data up front is critical

to getting the most out of your cloud

investment,” Essaides said.

Unlike the typical on-premise installations using

a “waterfall” approach, “Agile implementation

proceeds in ‘sprints” and provides an

opportunity for testing and feedback along

the way, which is different from the traditional

linear development methodology of testing

at the end when there is little opportunity to

make adjustments,” Essaides noted.

“AGILE IMPLEMENTATION PROCEEDS IN ‘SPRINTS” AND PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR TESTING AND FEEDBACK ALONG THE WAY.”

—Nilly Essaides, Senior Research Director, The Hackett Group


CONCLUSION: CLOUD INNOVATION FOSTERS GREATER HR-FINANCE ALIGNMENT

The modern finance team cannot operate in a vacuum. The business decisions of all

departments — and HR in particular — directly correlate to the company’s financial

performance.

Nearly every business decision will have an impact on the investment in talent and how people

will be utilized throughout the organization. If the company plans to open a new store or

launch a new product, it must ensure that the move is not only fiscally sound, but that the

right people are in place to make it a success.

With legacy systems , finance gathers data from several disparate databases, cleanses the

data, and then combines it into an informative analysis. While this cobbled-together process

does work to some degree, integrated cloud-based solutions require less manual intervention

and support more frequent analysis to drive better decision-making.

As the business environment has become more complex, traditional ERP systems can’t keep

up. Cloud-based solutions offer flexibility, scalability, and ease-of-use, among other benefits.

The value and freedom to innovate far outweighs the risk of sticking with current processes.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EBOOK:

➢ Current budgeting and forecasting efforts rely heavily on siloed and manual processes that don’t provide the scope and accuracy of data necessary to assess the impact of business decisions on the company’s financial performance and human resources needs.

➢ A unified platform for planning, execution, and analysis of business strategies makes it easier for finance and all stakeholders to trust that the data is timely and accurate.

➢ An agile development approach and a sharp focus on establishing rules for data standardization can ease the transition to the cloud and provide the maximum benefits to finance and HR alignment.


ABOUT THE SPONSORWorkday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud

applications for fi nance and human resources. Founded

in 2005, Workday delivers fi nancial management,

human capital management, and analytics applications

designed for the world’s largest companies, educational

institutions, and government agencies. Organizations

ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 50

enterprises, have selected Workday.

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BENEFITS OF CLOUD INNOVATION FOR THE FINANCE TEAM...Robust cloud-based ERP solutions for finance and HR, provide the operational efficiency, agility, and collaborative requirements