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The key to bridging the gap between IT and Finance lies in human competences. The same holds true of the key to a successful ERP project balancing Finance, the business, and IT. And the key to obtaining the maximum benefit from the technological foundation of Finance.
Therefore, it is decisive how you integrate the human IT competences when planning the next strategic project or day-to-day work in your Finance function during the next three months.
Can I help you?
An ever increasing need for IT competences in Finance
Finance IT Services is a team with a solid understanding of accounting processes and financial management as well as of digital skills. That's why we can help your company get the right Finance IT skills on board.
From us you can get ...
- Assistance from interim consultants who can immediately lift assignments requiring specific IT skills or system understanding – for either operation or project participation in Finance.
- Upgrading of your employees' IT skills or an understanding of specific ERP systems or applications.
- Help finding resources externally such as employees or suppliers.
In other words, if you need …
- Someone with specialist knowledge within ERP implementation and a solid financial background
- An experienced IT project manager
- An FP&A expert to help you move your financial planning process out of Excel
- An automation expert capable of digitalising your manual core processes
Then, we can help you so that you have the people on board who can make the technological foundation of your Finance function play just as well as Miles Davis. On a good day.
Set your team before launching your digitalisation project
When we help identify the need for resources and competences prior to a digitalisation or automation project, we will typically divide the employees into three types.
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Key figures within each involved business area
- Employees with specialist knowledge
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IT employees for operation and support.
Because all three types are immensely important to a successful project, and below we'll have a closer look at the reason for this.
Key figures for within each involved business area
We all know them - key figures with deep insight into the business and knowledge about internal conditions. They understand current processes and know the business systems, challenges, and potential for improvement better than most others. Those whom you should get on board your project. Since they can ensure that the right knowledge is brought to the table and see the potential for development.
But the key figures may be crucial to daily operation and cannot necessarily be done without in connection with month-end and year-end closing or other critical tasks about which they have unique insight. It may be possible to move some tasks internally or to solve them by means of external assistance for the duration of the project to release time from the involved employees. It is, however, no easy exercise to release key figures, and the actual possibility is highly dependent on the size and complexity of your business.
Employees with specialist knowledge
You could advantageously involve specialists as much as possible. Especially if your digitalisation project affects your entire business - and therefore all employees. For example, when implementing a new ERP system used by the employees in the storeroom who receive goods, as well as the controller who uses the system for analyses, just as the system is the source of data for the top management's decision-making. The involvement of specialists will ensure that detailed knowledge is brought into the light and incorporated in your project from the beginning. And during the test phase, they ensure that the solution supports their daily work.
IT employees for operation and support
Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance that you have the right competences to operate and develop your solution once the project has been completed. That is, employees capable of delivering operation, configuration, and support if, for example, you have implemented a new system or a new application. Thus, you will do yourself a favour by incorporating the IT employees in the project right from the start.
And a project manager
Last but not least, it may sometime be a good idea to allocate a project manager with an understanding of the business processes, culture, and colleagues combined with solid experience with processes, data, systems, and reporting. If the project manager can be found internally in your business, efforts should be made to ensure dedication to the role. However, you may also consider engaging a project manager from an independent third party. The advantage would be that an external project manager has been engaged as the one responsible for the project and is accountable only to you and your business.
We help identify your needs
There is no definitive truth about how to best cover your need for resources and competences before launching a digitalisation or automation project in your Finance function.
But, we have experience from many different Finance IT projects that we would like to share with you so that you can benefit from them - both before, during and after the project period.
So please contact us if you would like to know more about how we can help you.
Are you looking for a new colleague rather than a consultant?
Full-circle competences
Finance IT Services' digitalisation circle illustrates which areas of competence we can bring into play when implementing the financial processes of your business with a holistic point of view.
When helping to digitalise and automate your Finance function, we take pride in combining applications and tools that meet your specific need. In a way ensuring that the solution supports the data, processes, and people working hard behind the lines.
You can click on the various areas in the figure below if you want to read more about the many competences presented in Finance IT Services’ digitalisation circle.
