This “Back @ IT” episode is part of the “Future Office of the CFO” program and is brought to you by Tipalti, an official underwriter. Tipalti provides a comprehensive, multi-entity accounts payable solution which helps customers wipe out 80% of their payables workload.
CFOs that are consistently backward-looking will cause a company to collapse on itself. Yes, many CFOs are excellent at looking to the future and creating forecast models. But, breakdowns can occur when other areas of the business are not aware of the vision and goals across technology, compliance, security, and consumer expectations.
In this “Back @ IT” episode, John Thomas, CEO of Zact, joins me to chat about the evolution of the CFO’s role, the strength needed in collaboration, and being a model for compliance.
Highlights
01:50: From a background in engineering to Amadeus to CEO of Zact, John highlights his journey and curiosity that led him to FinTech.
04:56: There is tremendous pressure to move quickly. And, CFOs need to move quickly not by just closing the month, but real-time information to make decisions faster.
08:18: When someone hears, “Finance needs this”, unfortunately, most people put it on the backburner. Procrastination leads to collaboration breakdown.
If the CFO can only tell what has happened already, you lose a certain amount of control of how the organization behaves strategically.
John Thomas – CEO of Zact
11:07: If operations or sales use the excuse of “look at the statement” for their corporate card spending, this does nothing for collaboration. The CFO is unable to project spend and investments in needed technology or people. REAL dialogue needs to happen across all areas of the organization.
15:03: Manufacturing, for example, can leverage IoT to be more proactive in machinery maintenance or replacement. This creates a more predictable pattern of cost for the CFO.
But, what’s the equivalent of IoT in finance? Real-time data is needed for finance to not only balance the books but strategically predict outcomes and future needs.
18:32: As crazy as it sounds, many hotels are still using faxes when people use booking sites. This is then manually entered into the system. Wouldn’t it make sense to use integrated systems to accelerate the process?
21:36: CFOs can enable set the tone of compliance. Documented policies are important. However, technology needs to be leveraged to enforce and streamline the policies.
26:00: Unfortunately, many FinTechs don’t take compliance seriously. Compliant systems need to be routinely audited. The urgency of responsibility needs to be a driver of conversations and collaboration.
By automating the whole payables process, we’re modernizing the most archaic practice within the business world. But Tipalti is more than just technology. Behind the platform are people who know that payables is all about, well, people. Employees, suppliers, partners, company leaders—those who have long accepted the status quo, believing they had to perform the job manually.
To learn more about Tipalti, to book a demo, or schedule a discovery call, check out their briefing center here: https://cloudwars.com/listing/vertex-inc/
