In a digital economy, the requirements of a Chief Finance Officer (CFO) are changing. Not only do CFOs need to be well versed with money, they also need to know how technology will impact every part of the business function. In the finance sector, robotic process automation (RPA) is slowly replacing a lot of the repetitive accounting functions such as balancing the books.

It is important for CFOs to have good strategy and identify opportunities instead of focusing on the restrictions. Alvin Gan, executive director, KPMG Management and Risk Consulting suggested four steps for CFOs to follow in kickstarting any projects relating to RPA. They are:

·  Plan – Look at the financial processes of the organization. Any repetitive workloads that are heavily reliant on manual labor are ripe for automation

·  Build – Create a proof of concept (PoC). The management still has to buy in and the best way to showcase the capabilities of a new technology is to create a PoC. It’s essentially a visualization of how the system will improve work processes.

·  ROI – Investment is important. Finding a good business partner that can help you realize the potential is important.

·  Run – How should you continue this process? Gan suggest having a center of excellence in technology is key to continue this journey.

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