Digital technology has helped to open up new and varied opportunities for the chief financial officer to better serve their organization and its many stakeholders.
"It's embracing a new generation of millennials and transforming the way that we are conducting ourselves in business," says Craig Smith, CPA, CA, chief financial officer of McAsphalt Industries Ltd., a Toronto-based manufacturer of asphalt and related products for industrial applications.
Better data means better decisions
The growing speed of data collection has made financial reporting to the public and to regulatory authorities easier. Companies can now close their books and provide financial information within days of a month end, compared to the weeks it once took, says Tahir Ayub, CPA, CA, managing partner, markets and industries, for PwC Canada.
Digital technology has put the CFO in a key, central position within the organization. He or she is responsible for collecting data from various systems and sharing that knowledge with the corporate team to drive profit and revenue, and to attract customers. Budgeting and forecasting are also easier because gathering the relevant information takes less time, Mr. Ayub says.
Another benefit of digital technology is that it helps the CFO provide more value-added services to their employer, as well as to clients and customers.
"You've got more real-time, quality data, so you can make decisions as opposed to just saying 'My gut feeling tells me this, and that was the situation six months ago,'" Mr. Ayub explains. "You don't need to do that with today's world because the data is generally more readily available."
Craig Smith, CFO of McAsphalt Industries Ltd., says his company has taken extra steps to protect itself from cyber risks.
Going digital comes with cyber risks
But digital technology also increases the chance that proprietary information could be hacked, requiring a new level of due diligence in risk management. The CFO needs to work closely with other executives, particularly those from the information technology department, on security and risk-related issues, to prevent a potentially disastrous loss of corporate reputation due to a breach.
"There isn't any organization – it doesn't matter who they are or how good they are – that is immune to cyberattacks, whether that be from nation-states or people who want to steal data and sell it in the marketplace," Mr. Ayub says. "Those can be extremely damaging to an organization."
Mr. Smith says McAsphalt has taken extra steps to measure its readiness for a cyberattack.
"We've had a consultant review our whole digital realm to see how up-to-date we are," he notes. "Outside consultants have a better idea of what's current, as well as what risks there are that we may not be addressing properly. They have also helped develop our data governance plan to ensure that it's up-to-date and adequate for protecting our data."
McAsphalt has also hired a third party to conduct a so-called ethical hack designed to test its system's effectiveness, Mr. Smith adds.
One of the most highly touted potential benefits of digital technology is cloud storage, which can provide access anywhere for decision making, allowing employees at all levels to make better-informed choices. It also helps finance executives to provide their business with more insightful observations than any fixed enterprise resource planning system on-site could, Mr. Ayub observes.
"Clouds typically have much better security than any organization," Mr. Smith says, citing two other potential benefits of cloud storage: constant backups and the likelihood of far superior availability, free from disruption due to hardware maintenance or local interference such as hydro or Internet outages.
One risk factor that the CFO and other executives must carefully consider when deciding whether to use cloud storage: its domicile may be unclear. If a breach occurs, it could prove difficult to seek restitution from a jurisdiction with different rules and laws than Canada, Mr. Smith warns.
Digital technology has helped to open up new and varied opportunities for the chief financial officer to better serve their organization and its many stakeholders.
"It's embracing a new generation of millennials and transforming the way that we are conducting ourselves in business," says Craig Smith, CPA, CA, chief financial officer of McAsphalt Industries Ltd., a Toronto-based manufacturer of asphalt and related products for industrial applications.
Better data means better decisions
The growing speed of data collection has made financial reporting to the public and to regulatory authorities easier. Companies can now close their books and provide financial information within days of a month end, compared to the weeks it once took, says Tahir Ayub, CPA, CA, managing partner, markets and industries, for PwC Canada.
Digital technology has put the CFO in a key, central position within the organization. He or she is responsible for collecting data from various systems and sharing that knowledge with the corporate team to drive profit and revenue, and to attract customers. Budgeting and forecasting are also easier because gathering the relevant information takes less time, Mr. Ayub says.
Another benefit of digital technology is that it helps the CFO provide more value-added services to their employer, as well as to clients and customers.
"You've got more real-time, quality data, so you can make decisions as opposed to just saying 'My gut feeling tells me this, and that was the situation six months ago,'" Mr. Ayub explains. "You don't need to do that with today's world because the data is generally more readily available."
For CFOs, the benefits of digital technology include easier budgeting and forecasting, notes Tahir Ayub, managing partner, markets and industries, at PwC Canada.
Going digital comes with cyber risks
But digital technology also increases the chance that proprietary information could be hacked, requiring a new level of due diligence in risk management. The CFO needs to work closely with other executives, particularly those from the information technology department, on security and risk-related issues, to prevent a potentially disastrous loss of corporate reputation due to a breach.
"There isn't any organization – it doesn't matter who they are or how good they are – that is immune to cyberattacks, whether that be from nation-states or people who want to steal data and sell it in the marketplace," Mr. Ayub says. "Those can be extremely damaging to an organization."
Mr. Smith says McAsphalt has taken extra steps to measure its readiness for a cyberattack.
"We've had a consultant review our whole digital realm to see how up-to-date we are," he notes. "Outside consultants have a better idea of what's current, as well as what risks there are that we may not be addressing properly. They have also helped develop our data governance plan to ensure that it's up-to-date and adequate for protecting our data."
McAsphalt has also hired a third party to conduct a so-called ethical hack designed to test its system's effectiveness, Mr. Smith adds.
One of the most highly touted potential benefits of digital technology is cloud storage, which can provide access anywhere for decision making, allowing employees at all levels to make better-informed choices. It also helps finance executives to provide their business with more insightful observations than any fixed enterprise resource planning system on-site could, Mr. Ayub observes.
"Clouds typically have much better security than any organization," Mr. Smith says, citing two other potential benefits of cloud storage: constant backups and the likelihood of far superior availability, free from disruption due to hardware maintenance or local interference such as hydro or Internet outages.
One risk factor that the CFO and other executives must carefully consider when deciding whether to use cloud storage: its domicile may be unclear. If a breach occurs, it could prove difficult to seek restitution from a jurisdiction with different rules and laws than Canada, Mr. Smith warns.
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department in consultation with Canada's CFO of the Year. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.