Finance Innovation

Survey 2021
How Swiss Finance Executives
are Building Resilience Through
Innovation in Finance
Foreword
01
Over summer/autumn 2020, 41 Finance executives across all
industries helped us shed light on the enablers for Finance to build 02
resilience. We aimed to delve into the effectiveness of digital
Finance, the new skill sets required to make use of advancing
technologies and how organisations have adapted their talent
03
sourcing as well as overall organisational setup. Markus Zorn, Roderik Olde Kalter,
Partner Senior Manager 04
While our previous studies from 2017 and 2019 revealed that Finance
Finance & Performance Finance Strategy
recognised the need to further enhance its strategic role to drive
Lead Switzerland Switzerland
decision-making, this year’s results confirm that in unprecedented times 05
Finance is even more essential to help steer businesses.

We see shifts not only in Finance’s portfolio of activities towards 06

profitability and environmental analyses but also in a big appetite to
automate repetitive processes and deploy advanced technologies in order
07
to dedicate the focus where it is most needed: providing business insights.
Thus, organisations are in the process of acquiring technological skills,
both through providing training to the workforce and hiring data scientists.

We hope that this report will provide you with valuable reflections on
the evolution of Finance and we look forward to continuing the dialogue
with you.
2
Contents
01

02
01 Executive summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 05 Finance Organisation Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

03

02 Changing Role of Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 06 Survey demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

04

03 Digital Finance and Enabling Technology . . . . . . 10 07 Contacts and Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 05

06
04 Finance Talent Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

07

3
01

Executive summary
01
Finance is experiencing two key driving forces: firstly, the increasing
expectation that it should generate insights that help the business navigate 02
turbulent times. Secondly, cost pressure, which is creating a big appetite for
further standardisation and digitisation.
03
How have Finance organisations been provide trainings in digital capabilities. The
adapting to the external turmoil? comparison of required skills versus currently
Finance executives aim to digitalise processes available skills shows a clear gap though. Therefore 04
effectively, thereby freeing up time to produce it can be questioned whether self-study (which
accurate business insights to steer the business. 70% of respondents rely on), will suffice to build
Hence, particularly technologies, such as data new capabilities? We believe that holistic Finance
05
visualisation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), training programmes, covering both technical and
Cloud computing and AI have gained further behavioural skills, will gain further popularity in
traction. Advanced analytics turns out to be order to truly upskill people.
the most trending technology though, as 81% 06
of respondents indicate that they will be using While most Finance organisations benefit from
it in 2022. Automation remains a key priority some degree of centralisation, there still is
for Finance organisations, which reflects in the considerable room to improve both efficiency 07
ambition of executives to automate at least 50% of and operational resilience: more than 20% of
all repetitive activities in two years’ time. organisations do not yet have Shared Services
in place. Only 15% of organisations benefit from
Along with these changes, today’s talent needs centralisation of higher-skilled activities in a Center
to be tech-savvy, which is why nearly 50% of of Excellence: we believe this offers significant
executives have started recruiting data science opportunities specifically for Business Controlling
graduates. At the same time, Finance organisations and FP&A.

4
02. Changing Role of Finance
01
Finance executives Summary
face even more The survey results found that: 02

pressure to improve
efficiency, while in
•
90% of respondents see Finance
as the key provider of
information for managerial
• While cyclical Finance processes remain
focus activities in the Finance portfolio,
profitability and environmental analyses
03

parallel new specialist decision-making, another are gaining importance, which can
04
capabilities need to 76% even see Finance as the be explained by this year’s economic
main provider for operational turbulence that may have made
be developed to cope decision making organisations rethink their focus areas
05
with recent business
turbulence
•
47% to 32% Finance spent on Operational
Finance to decrease
significantly in just two
06

years time
07
•
34% to 47% This will allow Finance to
increase their Business
Finance capacity

5
Changing Role of Finance

The trend to drive efficiencies in operational Finance to better support strategy execution
is strengthened by recent market turbulence 01

Continuation of shifting from Operational to Business Finance

02
100%

47%
of Finance function capacity will be
spent on Business Finance while 80% Trend towards Business Finance continues 03
capacity in Operational Finance
is decreased. 60%
In line with last year’s results, in which 87% of
47% 47% Finance executives predicted a strategic focus shift 04
from Operational to Business Finance, respondents
40% 34% 32% indicate an intended capacity shift. The same
capacity that is spent on Operational Finance
20%
19% 21%
today will be spent on Business Finance in the
05
near future.
0%
Business Operational Specialised This trend has been visible over the last decade. 06
Finance Finance Finance What is striking today is the speed at which Finance
Today In two years executives are planning to shift: an anticipated
capacity increase from 34% to 47% in Business 07
Figure 1. W
 hat percentage of capacity is dedicated to the Finance in just two years’ time is something that
following activities? clearly stands out from previous years’ outlooks.
Single choice
It is clear that unprecedented circumstances
are forcing Finance executives to speed up their
transformational agendas.

6
Changing Role of Finance

The changing role of Finance from an operator to a business advisor is reflected

in a shifting activity focus 01

Finance activity portfolio has been experiencing shifts

02
27%
Pricing optimisation

68%
59%
12%
Environmental analysis 42%
of survey respondents highlight
03

Activities with greater focus in two years

44%
Customer profitability analysis
that they aim to have customer
68% Non-cyclical, calendar-based activities have
29%
Supply chain optimisation
profitability analysis in their
51% become increasingly important
46%
Channel profitability analysis 61%
Finance activity portfolio. 54%
Project management 66%
63%
Finance executives continue to assign the highest 04
Risk management 76% priority to cyclical activities, such as forecasting
59%
Operations optimisation 68% and demand planning and budgeting. However,
76%
Capital allocation/investment it is striking that compared to our study from
05
85%
63%
Product profitability analysis 71% 2019, increasing attention is being paid to M&A
27%
Real estate management 32% advisory, project management and supply chain
39%
Supplier/contract management 44% optimisation. Comparing the current with the
Workforce planning/compensation 29%
32% portfolio in two years’ time, the respondents 06
Working capital mmgt 73%
76% indicate that profit and environmental analyses
M&A advise 73%
73% are activities they expect to focus more on in the
same/less focus

07
Activities with

73%
years ahead.
in two years

SG&A cost optimisation 71%

Forecasting and demand planning 88%

78%

Budgeting and planning 83%

98%
This shift is in line with the economic stress
Standard performance reporting 73%
90%
that emerged from COVID-19: organisations are
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% required to strongly re-focus on profitability,
Today In two years requiring more advanced customer and pricing
strategies and/or cost efficiency measures.
Figure 2. Indicate which of the following services your Finance
organisation currently provides and how you expect it will
look in 2 years’ time?
Multiple choice
7
Changing Role of Finance

Finance recognises its role as key information provider for managerial decision-
making, and increasingly also for operational decision-making 01

Finance drives decision-making more than ever before Finance as key driver for operational decision-making
02

90% 75%
of Finance executives assert It is becoming common of Finance executives assert Supporting role for
that Finance is perceived that Finance is perceived 03
to see Finance as the operational decision-
as the primary source for enabler of decision- as the primary source making
management decision- making for operational decision-
making. making. Three quarters of Finance 04
While in our previous executives state that
100% 100%
study, 73% of respondents Finance drives operational
80%
confirmed that Finance is 80%
decision-making. This score is 05
68% perceived as the primary surprisingly high considering
60%
60% source for decision-making, 60% that not all functions

40%
the increased percentage
40%
generally have access 06
in this year’s study shows to Finance data besides
22%
that Finance executives are 15%
standard reports. It shows
20% 20% 15%
8% of the opinion that they 10% that Finance executives place
2%
have further strengthened the bar quite high in terms
07
0% 0%
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree Disagree Strongly Strongly agree Agree Neither agree Disagree Strongly
nor disagree disagree their position. nor disagree disagree of the value they intend to
provide to the organisation.
Figure 3. P
 lease indicate to what extent you agree with the Figure 4. P
 lease indicate to what extent you agree with the It also places demands on
following statement: “Business relies on Finance following statement: “Business relies on Finance
their capabilities in terms of
as its primary source of insight for management as its primary source of insight for operational
state-of-the-art reporting
decision-making”? decision-making”?
Single choice Single choice solutions, data quality and
people skills.
8
02
Case study: Vision for Future Finance
Setting the strategic direction for a future Finance organisation that delivers increased
value to the business, while operating at a structurally lower cost level
Challenges
• Cost of Finance was significantly
higher than peer group of
similar size/in similar industry
• Lack of a strategic direction for
Finance, causing misalignment
of improvement initiatives
and suboptimal outcomes of
projects
• Lack of standardisation in
processes and reporting caused
duplication of work, carried out
across various locations in high-
cost countries
Key features
Finance benchmark Finance vision
• Client’s Finance cost and • Defined a clear vision
FTE levels relative to statement for Finance
revenues were compared that framed the strategic
against peers of same direction for the next
size and in same industry 3 years
• Data from Deloitte’s • A high-level assessment
proprietary of current pain points,
benchmarking leveraging Deloitte’s
database was used, standard Finance
containing thousands of taxonomy
organisations globally
• A list of specific
improvement initiatives
to move towards the
vision for Finance
01
02
Outcomes
• Insight in cost performance
03
and demonstrated the urgency
to improve
04
Strategic roadmap • Agreement on a vision for
• 3-year strategic Finance, setting the strategic
direction for improvements
roadmap on which the 05
improvement initiatives
• A roadmap to steer the
have been prioritised
improvement programme, while
and sequenced
ensuring rapid realisation of 06
• Prioritised quick wins benefits
in year 1 to ensure
early demonstration of 07
success and self-fund the
improvement programme
9
03. Digital Finance and Enabling Technology
01

Innovating to Summary
The responses show that: 02

shape new • Enhanced insights and cost efficiencies

are the main triggers to implement
• Planning & forecasting is not yet
leveraging the full potential of currently 03
finance technology available technologies, which provides
companies with an opportunity to
• AI/machine learning, advanced
structurally improve planning & 04
analytics and data visualisation
are seen as the technologies with the forecasting accuracy and planning
& forecasting process efficiency
biggest potential 05
•
64% of executives surveyed
state that more than half
of their processes will be automated
06

by 2022, either through ERP or Robotic

Process Automation 07

10
Digital Finance and Enabling Technology

Better insights and cost reduction are the main drivers for implementing new technology;
a large majority succeeds in achieving these goals 01

Anticipated benefits achieved by investing in new technology A large majority of respondents indicate that their investments in technology
have delivered the anticipated benefits 02

82% 76%
of survey respondents rank
Better business insights
of respondents say that
Three quarters of executives
03
the enhancement of the implementation of
and cost reduction are the claim that their investments
insights as the main driver technologies has delivered
major reasons for investing in technology have delivered
for implementing technology.
in new technology. The first
the anticipated benefits.
the anticipated benefits. 04
enables Finance to provide While this is a convincing
4 .8
enhanced strategic support score, it is still striking that
5
to the Business, whereas Delivered even
3%
a quarter of respondents 05
further benefits
4 the latter links back to did not realise a favourable
3 .5
increasing automation efforts ROI. This goes to show that
(see subsequent pages investing in technology
3
2 .5 Delivered the
73% 06
2 .2
2 .0 for details). anticipated benefits alone will not always bring
2
the anticipated benefits. It
needs to be a thoughtfully
1
0 .2
Did not deliver the
24% planned exercise that is 07
anticipated benefits

0 supporting a clear set of

Better Cost Customer Regulatory Employee Because
insight reducation satisfaction requirements satisfaction others do
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% business objectives.

Figure 5. W
 hat are the reasons for implementing Figure 6. D
 id the technologies you invested in over the
technology in your Finance organisation? past years deliver the anticipated benefits to
Ranking from 5 (most important) to your Finance organisation?
0 (least important) Single choice

11
Digital Finance and Enabling Technology

AI/machine learning, advanced analytics and data visualisation are considered the most
promising technologies for Finance 01

Significant ambitions to make further and new use of technologies

02

3 4 out respondents aim to use 03

Digitisation within Finance is widely spread, with
of six key technologies by 2022.
differences between the particular technologies
04
100%
Currently the most frequently used technologies are Interactive
data visualisation, followed by Robotic Process Automation and
81%
cloud computing (44% each) as well as process mining and data
80% 76% 76% 76%
73% 73%
science (39% each). Looking towards 2022, these technologies will 05
63% 61%
56%
gain further popularity.
60%

44%
39%
44%
39% It is interesting to see that Finance executives’ ambitions are high. 06
40%
These scores indicate that approximately 75% of respondents will
27%
24%
20% 20% 22% 22% be launching improvement initiatives in the areas of advanced
17% 17%
07
20% 12% analytics, data visualisation, RPA, data science, cloud computing
5% 5% 7%
0% 2% and AI/machine Learning. Also process mining and cognitive
0% science are expected to have a significant take-up in the next
Advanced Interactive Robotic Data science Cloud AI and Process Cognitive Blockchain
analytics data Process computing machine mining science
two years.
visualisation Automation learning

As in last year’s survey, blockchain is not yet expected to be widely

Two years ago Today In two years
used. This is not to say that there is no potential in blockchain, it
Figure 7. W
 hich of the following technologies have you deployed in your Finance organisation 2 years is just that the number of blockchain use cases for the Finance
ago, today and in 2 years’ time? function is limited to date. There are promising pilots in regard to
Multiple choice intercompany eliminations. But these are still in the early stage. 12
Digital Finance and Enabling Technology

There is considerable potential for further automation of processes and enhancement of

planning, budgeting & forecasting 01

Planning & forecasting is to a large extent not yet leveraging available technologies
02

56%
of Finance organisations still use only historical financial data 03
for their planning and forecasting processes. Only half of the organisations use business
drivers for their planning & forecasting
04
We see that planning & forecasting capabilities
We typically look at historical financial figures and extrapolate for the next year
based on market expectations from business/controllers
27% largely do not yet utilise available technologies
to improve forecast accuracy (e.g. predictive
We look at historical financial data and relevant (historical) non-financial data
29% analytics based on both internal and external 05
sources in combination with market expectations from business/controllers
data). In addition, the link between budget/
We use straightforward driver-based models for some of our plans/forecasts,
forecast and strategic objectives is not always
mainly based on historical internal data and market expectations from
06
12%
business/controllers clearly established. Both leave considerable
scope for Finance to support the achievement of
We analyse business drivers and look at correlations between internal+external
17%
financial and non-financial data for some items of our financial statement business objectives.
Business drivers and correlations between internal+external financial & non- 07
financial data are structurally analysed and embedded in our planning processes 15%
for our entire financial statement
We have a fully linked and integrated Enterprise Data Model, which is linked to our
strategic and financial plans, allowing all business users to access real-time,
forward-looking data for all decision making

0% 20% 40% 60%

Figure 8. H
 ow do you use data to support your financial planning & forecasting?
Single choice
13
Digital Finance and Enabling Technology

Automation of Finance processes is expected to experience

a continued upward trend 01

Automation of Finance processes is expected to experience a continued upward trend

02
60%

89%
of Finance executives indicate that 03
their organisation has automated Big appetite for automation of
at least 26% of their Finance Finance processes
44%
processes today. 42% 04
40%
64% of respondents reveal their intention to have
37%
at least half of Finance processes automated
by 2022. This level of automation will generate
29% untapped efficiencies and support Finance’s focus 05
on insight generation.

20%
20%
06

10% 10%
7% 07
2%

0%
<10% 10-25% 26-50% 51-75% >75%
automated automated automated automated automated

Today In two years

Figure 9. W
 hat (approximate) percentage of your Finance processes
do you expect to have automated in 2 years? 14
Multiple choice
03
Case study: Predictive planning and forecasting
Analysis of business drivers for driver-based modelling and enhanced visualisation allowed
accelerated decision-making
Multinational beverage company
Challenges
• Lack of transparency due to
business complexity, unclear
accountability & unstructured
reporting
• Limited analytical capabilities
resulting in lack of business
insights and understanding of
variance drivers
• Varying degrees of forecast
accuracy and inconsistent
methodology for scenario
planning
01
02
Key features Outcomes
• Increased forecasting accuracy:
03
achieved 99.6% accuracy in full-
year unit sales forecasting (1st
year of 2-year horizon for full 04
Predictive Analytics Visualisation Socialisation and
company)
& Driver Analysis Transition Management
• Provided executives with
• Identified key drivers • Supplemented forecast • Drove consistency 05
and analysed their baseline and process & transparency by transparency into the drivers of
the Business and corresponding
relation to P&L changes with more producing consistent
financial impact
dynamic & flexible results from forecasts,
• Leveraged statistical reporting standard reports, and
06
regression and driver- • Enabled better and quicker
structured routines
based modelling • Enhanced visualisation decision-making in order to
approach to predict to help drive better • Provided Route to enhance future performance 07
business direction business decisions Market profit visibility
to support performance
• Defined and management and
implemented enhanced accountability
margin analytics
• Developed visibility
into revenue streams
and opportunities for
increased margins 15
04. Finance Talent Management
01
Summary
New Finance will The responses show that: 02
increasingly require
new skills: both
• Technological acumen, in particular
data science skills, are currently not
•
42% s tate that the hiring of
data science graduates 03
technological and yet widely present among Finance is increasing
personnel, even though they are
behavioural considered important
• Although a great emphasis is put on
04
technological capabilities, only 36% of
•
59% of Finance executives say
that they are increasingly
recruiting Finance/Accounting graduates
executives indicate that they updated
Finance job profiles within the last year 05

with an affinity for technology

06

07

16
Finance Talent Management

Technological Finance skills are being challenged by a shifted focus on strategic

decision-making and technological acumen 01

Gap exists between skills that are deemed important and those available in the talent pool
02

32%
With of respondents claiming that the capability to drive strategic
only decisions is very pronounced at their organisation, there is a Finance needs to address current gaps in skills 03
critical gap to be closed.
The capabilities related to analytical skills and

100% 2%
strategic decision-making are ranked highest in 04
7% importance, but it is striking that the current talent
22% pool does not seem to fully meet these capability
80% 32% requirements. Considering the evolution of the
role of Finance and the importance for Finance
05
44% 34%
60% 54% to take on a strategic advisory role, it will become
19% imperative for organisations to focus on building
98%
91%
44% people’s capabilities and/or (re-)hiring. 06
40%
74%
63%
20%
51%
46% 44%
20%
32% 07
19% 19%

0%
Analytical Driving strategic Project Technological Data
skills decisions management acumen/awareness science

Importance of skills Presence of skills

Highly/very important Moderately important Highly/very present Moderately present

Figure 10. P
 lease indicate how important the mentioned skills are and to what extent they are already present in your
Finance organisation. 17
Finance Talent Management

Behavioural skill requirements have been changing in terms of versatility

01

Change resilience appears to be a skill that has gained importance but is only moderately present in most organisations
02

61%
of Finance executives state that change resilience is present in
their Finance organisation to a limited extent only. While commercial acumen turns out to be 03
a relatively distinct skill, there is further
optimisation potential for the remaining

100% 2%
behavioural skills 04
7%
14%
20%
22%
17%
Across the board, behavioural skills are considered
80% 15%
32% 17% quite important. Commercial acumen is the skill
that is most prominent in Finance organisations,
05
44% 34%
60% 54% 59% 24% improvements can be made in change resilience,
61% 44%
19%
42% communication and influence, people and team
98%
84%
91%
44% development and advisory skills. Communication, 06
40% 78% 76%
74% 73%
63%
71% influence and advisory skills should receive
20%
46% 47% 51% particular attention, as these are considered
44%
20%
32%
29% 29% 29%
key skills for effectively challenging and steering 07
22% 19% 19% the business.
0%
Change
Analytical Communication
Driving strategic PeopleProject
and team Commercial
Technological Advisory
Data
resilience
skills anddecisions
influence development
management acumen
acumen/awareness skills
science

Importance
Importanceof
ofskills
skills Presence
Presenceof
ofskills
skills
Highly/veryimportant
Highly/very important Moderatelyimportant
Moderately important Highly/verypresent
Highly/very present Moderatelypresent
Moderately present

Figure 11. P
 lease indicate how important these behavioural skills are and to what extent they are already present in your
Finance organisation. 18
Finance Talent Management

Finance training offerings remain dispersed, with only a minority of respondents offering a holistic
Finance development programme 01

Holistic training programmes remain to be scarce

02

With of companies offering e-learning for their Finance employees,

70%
this cost-efficient training offering remains the most popular. Dispersed training offerings are efficient, but 03
do they suffice?

The vast majority of the executives in our survey 04

E-learning
Self-study material
Classroom tranings
Holistic Digital Finance Academy addressing
both technical and behavioural skills, incl .
standardised set of certification levels
None of the above as we expect
our employees to be proactive
in this regard
70% rely on e-learning and self-study materials as a
way to enable Finance professionals to improve
their skills. This clearly reflects the ease of use for
both the training provider and the student. Only
05
63%
a minority of Finance executives indicate that they
offer a holistic Finance training programme.
To what extent a dispersed training offering will 06
34%
address the requirements for today’s Finance
professional can be questioned. The previous
17%
survey sections have shown that both technical 07
and behavioural capabilities will need to improve,
which may justify a more comprehensive Finance
training curriculum.
17%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 12. In the context of Digital Finance, please indicate which talent initiatives your Finance organisation has already started
implementing or is planning to implement within the next year?
Multiple choice
19
Finance Talent Management

Although there is a clear gap in technological capabilities, only 36% of executives indicate that they
updated their job profiles within the last year 01

Organisations are in the process of adapting their hiring strategy Finance job profiles not updated regularly
of Finance talent 02

59% 36%
of Finance executives say that
Search for tech savvy
of respondents indicate that
Whether Finance job profiles
03
hiring of Finance graduates with their Finance job profiles
an affinity to technology is Finance and data science were updated recently. reflect the importance of
increasing, along with search for graduates increasing technological capabilities
data science talents. remains questionable, 04
Results show that Finance I don’t considering that only
know
Increasing hiring of Finance/Accounting
59% organisations are increasingly 10%
few have updated the job
graduates with an affinity to technology
hiring tech savvy Finance/ descriptions 05
Accounting and data science Less than
Increasing hiring of Data Science/ 1 year ago
Analytics graduates
42%
graduates. More than 36% Despite shifting focus in the
search for Finance talent, only
2 year ago
22% 06
Increasing hiring of project The importance of 36% of Finance executives say
39%
management/consulting skilled talents
technological and data that their job profiles were
science skills is recognised, updated within the last year.
Increasing hiring of IT graduates 15% yet currently these skills are 07
not predominantly present in This indicates that although
most Finance organisations. 1–2 years ago Finance executives do see
None of the above 15% 32%
the need to recruit for new
capabilities, job profiles being
0% 20% 40% 60%
posted in the market may
Figure 13. P
 lease indicate which hiring initiatives your Figure 14. W
 hen was the last time your Finance job not always reflect yet the
Finance organisation has already started descriptions were updated?
true requirements posed to
implementing or is planning to implement Single choice
Finance talent.
within the next year? 20
Multiple choice
04

Case study: Learning and development for Finance talent

01
Mapping the required Finance skills and behaviours to the vision of the future of Finance
02

Ambitions Features of a Lab session Outcomes

• Align the required skills with • Alignment of Finance strategic

03
re-defined vision and role of objectives with the Finance
Finance organisation talent management
04
• Develop further analytical Talent roles and Skills ambitions Finance • Effective initiatives elaborated
capabilities behaviours definitions and mapping roadmap

• Enable talent to make effective

• Based on strategic • Based on the roles and • Finance talent roadmap 05
objectives of the Finance expectations, required was developed
use of the available data
organisation, roles of skills, both technical and included the
respective talent groups and behavioural, prioritised and detailed
were defined were determined initiatives plans
06

• Expected behaviours • Existing skills were • Sponsors and owners

were captured and value- mapped to the ambitions of initiatives have 07
adds derived been assigned
• Gaps were identified
and respective
initiatives discussed

21
05. Finance Organisation Resilience
01
Summary
Most Finance The responses show that: 02
organisations benefit
from some degree
•
46% of executives say that
their operating model
• Only 7% of companies have a ‘flat’
hierarchy with cross-functional task 03
of centralisation, consists of a local Finance organisation forces in place
for country-specific topics combined with
although there centralised delivery of transactional
• Finance organisations demonstrate a
04
certain level of flexibility to deal with
remains considerable Finance activities
internal and external change but the
scope to improve
both efficiency and
•
78%  f respondents have
o
specific Finance activities
centralised
current structure is still somewhat rigid 05

operational resilience 06

07

22
Finance Organisation Resilience

Although the majority of organisations have centralised transactional activities, only a minority
benefit from more advanced delivery models 01

Most companies have centralised transactional activities Specialised Finance and Finance Transformations are areas that companies
tend to centralise to the largest extent 02

46% 78%
of executives say that their
A large share of Finance
of companies have centralised
Moderate centralisation
03
organisation has local Finance specialised Finance activities,
staff for country-specific topics organisations have majority of respondents also of Data analytics, RPA
combined with centralised centralised transactional leverage central delivery of and FP&A
delivery of transactional activities which could be Finance Transformation. 04
Finance activities. improved through more While it is not surprising
Specialised Finance
advanced delivery models 78%
that specialised Finance and
Each country has its own Finance organisation covering
all areas of Finance, with their own country specific
processes and dedicated country Finance staff
25%
Finance Transformations 68%
Finance Transformations 05
Half of the executives say tend to be centralised – most
Transactional/repetitive activities are centralised
(e .g . Shared Service Center/Global Business Services, that transactional/repetitive Digital Finance/Finance Innovation 44%
commonly at headquarter
BPO provider), each country has a Finance organisation 46%
activities are centralised level – it is striking that Digital
focusing on country-specific Finance topics only
06
Specialised activities (e .g . Business Intelligence, Data at their organisation. Robotics Process Automation 44% and Business Finance only
Management, etc .) and transactional/repetitive activities
are both centralised (Centres of Excellence + Shared 15% Over the years, executives show a moderate level of
Services), countries only have a lean Finance organisation
of business partners have understood that FP&A / Business Controlling 44%
centralisation. This indicates
Countries hardly have a dedicated Finance organisation:
centralisation helps their that Centres of Excellence 07
they leverage a global/regional pool of business
7% Data Analytics 37%
partners, supported by Global Business Services
and Centres of Excellence
organisations to operate are not yet widely utilised.
more efficiently. However, Other
Future improvements can be
10%
Other models: business units have their own Finance
organisation, central administration & centralised in HQ
7% this trend has not yet widely found in making effective use
evolved towards more 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% of CoEs as part of Finance’s
0% 20% 40% 60%
advanced service delivery operating model.
models, and so there is room Figure 16. P
 lease indicate which of the following services
Figure 15. W
 hich of the following operating models are centralised in your Finance organisation (for
for additional efficiencies and
describes your Finance organisation best? example in Centres of Excellence).
quality improvement.
Single choice Multiple choice 23
Finance Organisation Resilience

Being resilient has never been more important than now, in order to cope with both
externally- and internally-driven change 01

Finance organisations are fairly resilient to internal and external change

02
100%

39%
of respondents evaluate that their 03
Finance organisation is at least Ability to deal with change
quite flexible. 80%
39% of Finance executives are satisfied with their
04
organisation’s capability to cope with change.
However, 61% of Finance executives indicate that
60% their organisations are not very flexible in dealing
51% with change. Given executives’ change ambitions 05
and expectations, it can be expected that this
40%
perceived lack of flexibility will lead to organisational
34% tensions in coming years. Initiatives such as Finance 06
Transformation Centres, Finance Innovation Hubs
and the application of agile principles are therefore
20% expected to play an increasingly important role in 07
10% the years ahead.
5%

0%
Very Quite Flexible to Flexible to Not flexible
flexible flexible a certain a very limited at all
extent extent only

Figure 17. D
 o you feel your Finance organisation is flexible enough
to deal with change (internal/external)?
Single choice 24
Finance Organisation Resilience

Finance organisations are moving towards new organisational principles but the application of
agile in Finance is rather limited 01

Flexible task forces remain rare in Finance organisations High level finance project plans are becoming increasingly flexible
02

59% 49%
of executives in our survey state
Finance organisations
of Finance executives surveyed
Finance project
03
that they have solid functional indicate that their high-level
reporting lines along with dotted tend to be organised project plan allows a certain management is becoming
reporting lines to the Business traditionally level of flexibility in execution. more flexible, but agile is
in place. not yet a common notion 04
In order to become
more customer-centric One quarter of respondents
We create detailed project plans, with
We have (solid) reporting lines to functional
line managers and (dotted) reporting lines
and deal with rapid predetermined phases and deliverables. Project
execution is carefully managed in terms of timing, 27%
indicate that they deploy 05
to business managers/other functional
59%
organisational change, budget and quality agile concepts in their
leads/project managers
Finance organisations may project execution. However
benefit from more agile the vast majority of Finance
We have clear (solid) reporting lines to We plan our projects in terms of high-level phases 06
functional line managers, we don't have
organisational principles and deliverables. We monitor project execution executives indicate that
against plan, but if requirements change the plan 49%
(dotted) reporting lines to business 34% going forward. However, allows for certain flexibility
they use traditional project
managers/other functional
leads/project managers only a minority of Finance management methodologies.
executives state that Detailed project planning and 07
We put (internal) client requirements first, if client
they currently deploy requirements change that is more important than
strict progress monitoring,
We have a 'flat' hierarchy of cross-functional 24%
task forces, dedicated to specific topics that 7% client/product-oriented adhering to a plan . We work in short sprints run by however, seem on
self-empowered multi-disciplinary teams
are empowered to make business decisions
task forces as opposed the decline.
to more traditional 0% 20% 40% 60%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
organisational models.

Figure 18. P
 lease select the statement that describes your Figure 19. P
 lease select the statement that best describes
Finance organisation best. the way you run Finance projects.
Single choice Single choice 25
05

Case study: Centre of Excellence

01
Service delivery of controlling activities out of regional Centre of Excellence hubs,
accompanied by a holistic Digital Finance curriculum 02

Global, leading manufacturing firm Key features

03
Deloitte supported a Swiss-based global
manufacturing organisation to design,
implement and optimise their Controlling
Operating Model. Deploying a regional
04
Effective Business Process optimisation Digital Digital
hub model, the client benefitted from Partnering and Hub setup quick-wins Finance Lab Finance Academy
enhanced service delivery through
harmonising activities which used to
Teams in the Hubs were Motivating the new Global approach, including Easily accessible training 05
assigned to the respective employees to exchange their sprint methodology, was for all proficiency
differ significantly across countries.
Businesses to enhance knowledge across the hubs defined and a team set levels was introduced,
Besides optimisation endeavours, a
the delivery quality and has fostered a culture where up to bundle digitisation including webinars, virtual
global Digital Finance Lab was created,
to allow the employees quick fixes of processes could efforts across the classrooms, exams and
06
which not only revolutionised how digital
to become experts in the be implemented Finance organisation a recognition system
projects were carried out but bundled
respective market
digitisation efforts across Finance teams
07
as well. The introduction of a Digital
Finance Academy targeting all Finance
employees, along with the appointment
of digital champions, were essential for
this success.

26
06

Survey demographics
01
Industry coverage Workforce (Employees)
Our survey population 02
2% <5k reflects all Swiss industries.
15% 5k-10k
4
10k-50k
Consumer & Industrial, Life
50k-100k Sciences and the Financial 03
3 11 41%
>10k
Services sector have the
strongest representation.

41
32%
04
Finance
5 representatives 59% of respondents work for
in leading
functions across 10% companies with more than 05
seven industries 5,000 employees, and 17% in
companies with more than
7 Annual turnover (CHF) 50,000 employees. 06

11
<1 Billion 27% of those interviewed
17%
25%
1-5 Billion
represent companies with an 07
5-10 Billion
10-20 Billion annual turnover in excess of
10% >20 Billion
CHF 10 billion, while 75% of
Consumer Business Financial Services
respondents represent
Life Sciences Manufacturing and Energy
companies with at least
Services and Public Sector Other 24%
24% CHF 1 billion in revenues.

27
07

Contacts and Authors

01
Markus Zorn, Partner
If you would like to participate in Finance & Performance Lead Switzerland
our next survey and/or would like mzorn@deloitte.ch 02

to discuss the results, please do not

hesitate to contact us. 03

04
For additional insights on the Roderik Olde Kalter, Senior Manager

future of Finance, please refer Finance Strategy Switzerland

roldekalter@deloitte.ch 05
to our Crunch Time series,
www.deloitte.com/ch/crunch-time
06

Nicole Osiecki, Senior Consultant 07

Finance & Performance Switzerland
nosiecki@deloitte.ch

28
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