Revolutionising Financial Reporting in the Digital Age
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022
Finance and Accounting team, if you ever happened to discuss what they have been suffering from their work so far, one of the most frequently mentioned issues will certainly include a painful report production process.
Repeatedly, month after month, to serve such standards and business and executive requirements, the FA people need to dedicate their time and motivation in preparing numerous spreadsheets and presentations with numbers, charts, and relevant footnotes and narratives. The process involves efforts of data gathering, manipulation, and spreadsheet gymnastics, which can consume days to weeks to produce the usable outcomes. Based on the survey of 600 global finance leaders conducted by Deloitte, it was found that companies surveyed spent 48% of their time creating and updating reports, whilst they spent only 18% of their time interacting and communicating with the business perspective (See Figure 1).
Figure 1: How finance teams spend their time
Source: “Developing insightful management reporting: Opportunities and challenges for CFOs” Deloitte UK.
More than ever, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses currently require greater support from holistic reporting in decision-making process to strengthen themselves or at least survive the upcoming crisis. Though many companies have strived to reduce time in generating reports and enhance ability to get insights more quickly by standardising reports into those ones which are necessarily required, there is still a huge room for improvement in response to the dynamically changing business requirements. We can see that the trend is shifting from periodic reporting-monthly, quarterly, and annually to a more real-time-insights manner for off-cycle reporting. Further transformation entails the interaction between working people and reported information which will replace static data merely displayed in the system or printed on paper. Underlying these mentioned characteristics, the key driver for changes lies on emerging intelligent technologies which will not only remove laborious work but also improve the user experience.
Embracing digital tools could have been one among alternatives for FA people to reshape their work life by speeding up report production process. Little by little, some companies have started implementing such tools as point or end-to-end solutions, while many are still hesitating to transform themselves. Yet, it is quite surprising to learn that many organisations are still relying on traditional ways to compile data from sources and produce into reports despite the prevalent handful technologies, such as automation, advanced analytics, machine learning, presence nowadays. Perhaps one of the factors that delay the decision to do so is just basically that the management do not know how to push the start button. Here are some tips we would like to share:
Organise your data. Because your report quality will certainly depend on the quality of your data, somehow you will need to redesign the way to manage your finance and enterprise data prior to the adoption of those digital reporting tools. This could involve implementing data platforms that can develop gradually to support structured and unstructured data or cleansing your data to avoid ‘Garbage-in, Garbage-out’.
Gain buy-in from the C-Suite. We know that the first mover role here should belong to CFO since the issue was raised from FA side. Nonetheless, it is also crucial for the CFO to bring these ideas to the entire C – suite. If other leaders support technological innovation in finance, it can also help the business to further adopt the innovation and apply to other functional processes to make the most of their capabilities.
Focus on the user experience. Early in your journey, explore “what-if” questions with key users. Ask them how they might use information differently if their reports were more intuitive, more visual, and more proactive. Build in formal and informal mechanisms for generating feedback. These actions make sure you put technologies in the right place and right way.
Take small steps. Just try applying solutions to specific segments or functions first. You do not want to make a huge investment at a time to find it hurts the most when things are not going well as you have dreamt of. Look for high-impact use cases to build a base of advocates. For many firms, sales reports can be a good choice to start with. Make sure you pilot with a range of potential users who will become your champions. Then you can span the full range of usage among those who will eventually adopt the technology.
Reassure your people. Workforce disruption is inevitable for companies trying to adopt automation or digital tools. Since some more routine and laborious tasks may be obsolete when new technologies take place, make sure you have plan to build new talents and skills for your people to cope with the changes. Work with employees to make the most of their human skills, empowering them in new roles that rely on high-level analysis, relationship-building, and creativity.
Reimagine your people. Start thinking about your people in future conditions. What types of skillsets you will need? Be aware that, with the handful digital tools armed in your company, the time allocation of the finance workforce will shift toward analysis, prediction, and decision support. Thus, in collaboration with your HR team, make sure they understand this so that you will get the right persons at hand.
Finally, let us imagine how life would be much easier if there is a personal assistant helping you gathering data and composing the first draft of all reports, or the chatbots that can retrieve insights you need to know without diving in all sources of data by yourself. Now you can focus on the value-added activities.
By Vichai Suknaibaiboon, Partner at Deloitte Thailand
One day to kick-off – but still no Thai TV World Cup schedule
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022
Just one day before the 2022 Fifa World Cup kicks off on Sunday, fans in Thailand are still confused over the TV schedule for free live broadcasts of the matches.
Hosts Qatar face Ecuador in the opening match of the tournament, which kicks off at 11pm Thai time on Sunday.
The opening ceremony from 10pm will feature performances by British pop star Robbie Williams and Jungkook from K-pop group BTS.
Williams has faced criticism for taking money to perform in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal and punished by up to three years in prison, with the possibility of the death sentence for gay Muslims. Williams has in the past won fame for supporting the LGBTQ+ movement.
Media have also reported that Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, and J Balvin could make surprise appearances at the opening ceremony.
The tournament features 32 teams, split into eight groups of four. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the last-16 knockout stage.
The round of 16 will be played from December 3 to 6.
The quarter-finals will kick-off on December 9 and 10.
The semi-finals are scheduled for December 13-14, before the losers face off in the third-place play-off on December 17.
The winners will fight for the trophy in the final on December 18.
The Thai government bought the broadcast rights for all 64 matches of the World Cup earlier this week, after three major conglomerates contributed 600 million baht to the purchase fund.
The Sports Authority of Thailand held a videoconference with digital television operators on Saturday. As a result, live World Cup matches will be broadcast on 17 digital television channels on a rotating basis.
Fans in Thailand can watch the tournament on True4U, T Sports 7, Channel 3, Channel 5, Channel 7, Channel 8, Channel 9 MCOT, NBT, TPBS, Thairath TV, Amarin TV, Mono 29, PPTV 36, GMM 25, Nation TV, ONE 31, and JKN18
The opening match will be broadcast on True4U channel while the schedule for other matches will be announced later.
Atthaya named golf’s Rookie of the Year after rising to world No 1
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022
Nineteen-year-old Atthaya Thitikul has won the 2022 Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year award after winning LPGA Tour titles and rising to world No 1 in her first year as a professional golfer.
The LPGA Tour handed out year-end silverware at its annual awards show on Thursday in Florida.
The 2022 Player of the Year and money leader will be decided this week at the CME Group Tour Championship.
Atthaya is one of four players in the running, led by favourite and former world No 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who has had a comeback year on tour.
The other two players who can still win Player of the Year are Australian Minjee Lee and Canada’s Brooke Henderson.
Ko leads Lee in the standings by just one point and will clinch the award with a victory at the Tour Championship.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Chun In-gee won the Founders Award for the player who best embodies “the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA”.
The Annika Major Award for the best performance across all five Majors this season went to Minjee Lee.
She won the US Women’s Open, earned a tie for second at the Women’s PGA Championship, came 12th at the Chevron Championship and tied for 43rd at the Amundi Evian Championship. She closed out her major season with a tie for fourth at the Women’s Open, her fifth top-10 result in nine appearances at the championship.
French leader Macron ‘knocked out’ by Muay Thai at legendary Bangkok stadium
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron took time out during the Apec summit to visit the famed Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.
The French leader visited the stadium, where legends of Muay Thai have fought since 1945, to speak with fighters on Thursday.
Macron arrived in Thailand to attend the annual Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday, but the French president is known to have a keen interest in sports.
Welcoming him at Rajadamnern Stadium were Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, media firm Plan B’s managing director Pinijsorn Luechaikajohnpan, and the stadium’s executive manager Jit Cheosakul.
Macron told them that he was a big sports fan and liked watching football and boxing, including Muay Thai.
He then watched ringside as two Muay Thai fighters gave a demonstration of their martial arts skills in a short sparring exhibition, showcasing traditional kicks and leg-swipes that have become a staple of modern mixed martial arts.
Macron was also gifted a pair of Muay Thai shorts with his own name written across them, said Thainchai Pisitwuttinan, CEO of Global Sport Ventures, organiser of the Rajadamnern World Series.
The French leader tweeted a video of himself speaking to students at the stadium and watching as they sang “The Marseilles” French national anthem. He also praised Muay Thai as not just Thailand’s national sport but also a treasure worthy of global respect.
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Source: “Developing insightful management reporting: Opportunities and challenges for CFOs” Deloitte UK.
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