CFO Survey: Positive Cash Visibility Tempered by Demand for Deeper Integration
A new survey by Bottomline Technologies, conducted with Industry Dive, reveals that while 90% of CFOs rate their cash visibility as excellent or good, they seek better integration, real-time data access, and cloud adoption to close transparency gaps.
READING, United Kingdom — Bottomline Technologies, a provider of financial technology for business payments, has released findings from a survey of more than 200 chief financial officers (CFOs), conducted in partnership with Industry Dive. The results are detailed in the report Data, Vision and Technology: CFOs Find A Recipe For Success. The study indicates that CFOs are largely satisfied with their current visibility into cash and liquidity, yet they express a clear appetite for enhancements, particularly in connecting with new technologies and partners to address specific operational pain points.
Key Themes from the CFO Survey
The survey responses cluster around four notable themes:
1. Cash Visibility Is Considered Critical
Nine out of ten CFOs (90%) rate their companies' current view across cash as either excellent or good. Furthermore, four out of five CFOs report that dynamic cash functions are highly integrated within their businesses.
2. The Wish List: Integration and Real-Time Data
Despite the high satisfaction levels, CFOs identify two primary functional needs driving their requirements in 2022 and beyond. The first is continuous improvement in the integration they have already achieved. The second, cited by 80% of respondents, is better access to real-time payment data, analytics, and insights.
3. Mind the Gap: Plans to Increase Visibility
CFOs are aware of the gaps that must be closed to become fully transparent, connected business ecosystems. More than half of CFOs report plans to increase visibility in accounts payable (74%), accounts receivable (68%), and treasury (51%). Additionally, CFOs agree that a unified financial office offers advantages over siloed departments, including fostering collaboration among teams (49%) and streamlining operations and support (46%).
4. Cloud Priorities: SaaS and Cloud-Based Solutions
There is near-universal agreement among finance leaders that technology such as SaaS and cloud-based options plays an important role in strengthening the clarity of the overall cash picture at their companies. Specifically, 51% strongly agree and 45% agree with this statement.
Executive Commentary
Commenting on the report, Colin Swain, Global Head of Platform and Transformation at Bottomline, said: “It’s really about that depth of integration and how they’re using that technology and why they think there’s strength in it as far as integration goes. Anecdotally, one client has suggested that CFOs are patchworking technology—taking different pieces of multiple tools—to get their best pictures. So, what emerges from the survey report is the question of just how well they are using technology and SaaS-based services to create the broadest, deepest view of cash flow and visibility.”
Report Availability
The full report is available for download here. Members of the media can request a copy of the full report from the communications team at [email protected].
About the Research
The findings are used with permission. The research findings are from an online survey conducted by Industry Dive in June 2022. A total of 259 CFOs participated in the study. The sample was drawn from Industry Dive databases. Participants are financial professionals who hold senior positions and work for organizations generating more than $100 million in annual revenues.
About Bottomline Technologies, Inc
Bottomline makes complex business payments simple, smart, and secure. Corporations and banks rely on Bottomline for domestic and international payments, efficient cash management, automated workflows for payment processing and bill review, and state of the art fraud detection, behavioral analytics and regulatory compliance solutions. Thousands of corporations around the world benefit from Bottomline solutions. Headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, Bottomline delights customers through offices across the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For more information, visit www.bottomline.com.
Bottomline is a registered trademark of Bottomline Technologies, Inc.
