KPMG Mid-Market
Specialized professionals for mid-sized companies, KPMG LLP
Insight
A new global business services trend demands mid-market companies welcome automation into their financial function to succeed.
Your mid-market business demands a lot from your financial function, and this year, finance must complete three goals for your company to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
#1
Reduce costs and optimize the finance service delivery model
#2
Invest in intelligent automation to reduce labor and drive efficiences
#3
Contribute to and enable reducing costs across the enterprise as a whole1
Delivering this ambitious agenda requires finance’s continued evolution. From shared services to multi-sourcing and now to global business services (GBS), the next generation of financial services will take things to the extreme with automation, cross-functional teams and dynamic ecosystems.
The smaller, the better
Intelligent automation (IA) will change the function and make-up of finance. Since finance and accounting has moved beyond record keeping to analysis, value-add and reporting, a new service delivery model must complete these responsibilities, and the team to do it will need:
Robotic process automation (RPA). These “bots” take care of execution, workflow, and archiving tasks, leaving the professionals to handle monitoring, analyzing, and making decisions on exceptions. KPMG also noticed 70% of finance organizations use RPA to reduce costs and improve process efficiency, though half use it to reduce headcount.2
A financial team of data scientists, intelligent automation and financial experts. The new cross-functional analysis model provides key insights into the overall business rather than owning all financial data and activities. This team analyzes key internal and external data to help the business grow—how to deploy capital, where to expand or which product lines to grow. They own end-to-end processes, breaking down the traditional functional barriers to span the entire organization in a multi-functional process.
Who’s the boss?
The shift toward GBS expedites the dismantling of the functional chain of command in favor of:
- Improved flexibility
- Simplified management and governance
- Increased risk management
- Integrated innovation, such as RPA
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Working closely with human resources and other areas of the business, finance will forgo the rigid organizational hierarchy in favor of securing the right talent to deploy, maintain and govern new technologies, from advanced analytics to blockchain. With GBS, labor decisions will be more about having the right competencies and less about location.
47%
of CEOs would like to see their CFOs embed more finance skills in the business through partnering.3
Through a multifunctional organization, companies become “connected” from the front through the back office and enrich the customer experience. Finance contributes by anticipating the possible changes in the industry, considering possible impact to internal and external customers, and developing resilient processes through a flexible delivery model.
This also may mean a loss of some control for financial teams. In the new structure, the global process leader will monitor operational efficiencies and cost structures while a global executive sponsor will set the policies and requirements.
Shifting from focusing on transactional services to transforming the full stack
1990s
- Internal delivery of core services; predominantly regional models
- Outsourcing/multiregional outsourcing with select global providers
- Focus on transactional activities
2000s
- Emergence of right shoring; nearshore becomes key element of delivey mode
- Vendors deliver niche services
- Introduction of multivendor deals
- Emergence of Center of Excellence (COE) solutions
Since 2010
- Integrated/multifunctional service delivery models
- Lower-value activities typically outsourced; increasing focus on anaylytical, judgement, and expert services
2020 & beyond
- High availability of data
- Digital technologies shift the service delivery model landscape
- Ability to deliver services virtually
- "As a service" for front, back, and middle office
- Computer, value-add services that leverage technology
Fill out your flexible financial function
KPMG knows it’s difficult to transform, but we have the mid-market experience to get your finance function where you need it. We have helped biotechnology companies implement new models to consolidate organizations, integrate and standardize systems and streamline processes. We have helped a large consumer goods company expand globally through acquisitions. We integrated financial operations to improve efficiency, optimize internal controls, and create a valued partner in the business.
Let our Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory team help you transform into a financial function ready to take on the future.