February 1 is the start of a new fiscal year for many of our finance customers in the SaaS world. (David Sacks explains why here). So with long-range planning and year-end close behind us, what are finance leaders looking forward to in FY23? Here’s what several of our favorite finance leaders told us.
Predictability
Amy Kux, CFO of Cleo, a comprehensive family benefits platform for supporting working parents
"The last two years have been full of questions. How to grow, where to grow, how to sustain employee happiness, team happiness, company happiness. People are coming and going. Kids are in school, then not in school. I think—and I believe—we'll see a return to a smoother path this year. Even so, let's not forget what the rocky path of the last few years has taught us: that we can't ignore the needs of working parents. The smartest companies are investing in making sure that working parents have the help they need to thrive at work and at home. As a CFO and a parent, I know the ROI of doing so! So while I'm really looking forward to a more predictable year as a CFO, I'm particularly looking forward to it as a working mom."
Empowering our business partners
Tim Compton, SVP of Finance, ActiveCampaign, the #1 customer experience automation platform
"A big initiative we have for this coming year is better connecting the Finance plan with actions by the business operators. Instead of finance setting plans and business partners coming back to us for every spend, headcount, or information request, we're implementing a single dashboard that provides the visibility that operators need to always be acting within the overall plan. Even more than the time savings this will give to my team, I think it's the beginning of a mindset shift that's more profound: that finance is an enabler, not a gatekeeper. And that every employee is accountable for their company's financial health."
Smarter supply chains
Jason Kalira, CFO at Parsable, Modern digital tools for frontline manufacturing and industrial workers
“The pandemic may have made supply chains famous, but we still have a long way to go to make them smart. Just like Parsable is helping get paper out of the loop and improving efficiency when it comes to frontline workers across supply chains, I want the finance team to also think about efficiencies in their jobs. Where can steps be removed? Is the paper (or pdf, or spreadsheet) a result of a process that no longer makes sense or is needed? As much as we’re in a high growth mode, we should always think about how to run fast and lean.”
Modern tech for finance
Mike Gonzalez, CEO and Co-Founder of Trace, the service desk for finance
“In the past decade, businesses that adopted tech won. Until now, finance has been left behind—stuck with old dusty solutions that are very specialized and anti-collaborative. But there are so many exciting companies that are now on the scene to modernize the finance tech stack. Why? Because business partners are demanding better experiences and information at their fingertips to make financial decisions. Analysts won't work in teams that don't embrace the latest tools to make their lives easier. And, goals are moving ever-faster and new tech will be required to hit planning accuracy and productivity targets. There are no more excuses. Legacy finance works in silos and is happy with legacy software. Modern finance works in collaboration with the whole company and wants systems that democratize financial decision-making. It’s better for finance, it’s better for teams, and it’s way better for the financial health of the company.”
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