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      CFO.com

      Plotting a Path to Financial Excellence

      Plotting a Path to Financial Excellence

      A simple diagnostic tool may help CFOs evaluate the finance function through fresh eyes.

      By Laura Miles and Henrik Poppe

      • min read

      Article

      Plotting a Path to Financial Excellence
      en

      This article originally appeared on CFO.com.

      A simple diagnostic tool may help CFOs evaluate the finance function through fresh eyes.

      Digital disruption, investor activism, and a host of other forces are causing companies to look to their CFOs for more strategic support. And finance chiefs are more than happy when they’re playing a bigger role than corporate number cruncher. In fact, when Bain & Co. interviewed about 100 CFOs in 2015, we discovered that 41% would like to spend more time on strategic planning.

      Many CFOs act as their companies’ internal challengers and proactively identify new opportunities. Automation of manual processes gives finance leaders more time and money to invest in strategic priorities, while advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and other developments enable them to make speedier, better-informed decisions.

      Still, even today too many CFOs are devoting too much of their energy on activities that, while important for the business, don’t add strategic value. By overinvesting their time in reconciling reports or closing the books, for example, they don’t spend enough time on more important activities based on the company’s strategic priorities, such as supporting performance management, business planning, and M&A.

      Bain developed its “Financial Excellence Diagnostic” to help CFOs take a critical step forward. This quick exercise identifies the specific capabilities that will enable a company to achieve financial excellence, based on its own unique position.

      Read more at CFO.com.

      Laura Miles is a Bain & Company partner based in Atlanta who leads firm’s global Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Finance practices. Henrik Poppe is a partner in Bain’s Oslo office and global Corporate Finance leader.

      Authors
      • Headshot of Laura Miles
        Laura Miles
        Partner, Atlanta
      Contact us
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      When the Finance Department Becomes a Company's Secret Weapon

      Overcoming three challenges that keep finance from being more strategic.

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      Agitators and Reformers: How to Respond to Activist Investors

      Someday soon, an activist investor is likely to show up on your corporate doorstep.

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      CNBC’s 2025 CFO Council Summit: Rebuilding Finance in the Age of AI

      Leaders are using AI to transform finance into an insight engine.

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      Autonomous Finance and the CFO's Next Frontier

      At the CNBC CFO Council Summit, Bain Partners Michael Heric and Steve Beam discussed how innovative CFOs are using AI to transform finance.

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      Corporate Finance
      Is Agentic AI the Inflection Point for Scaling ERP Transformations?

      The technology promises to transform ERP platforms, but many organizations are stuck in pilot mode. Four questions help CIOs scale.

      More
      First published in Ιούλιος 2017
      Tags
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      How We've Helped Clients

      Jump-starting innovation for a telecom solutions provider

      Read case study

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      Finance transformation: For one company, second time’s the charm

      Read case study

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