Digital Transformation in Finance: Understanding its Impact During COVID-19 and After

In just a short period of time, COVID-19 has had a profound change on our social and professional lives, forcing us to quickly adopt new social norms and further embrace technology. In perhaps the most common example, a recent survey by Gordon Haskett indicated that one in three Americans bought food online during the pandemic; for 41% of this group it was their first online food purchase¹. With these changing behaviors, companies that invested in digital transformation have benefited from their ability to digitize end-to-end processes such as order processing, supply chain and accounting, thereby capitalizing in this uncertain time.

Embracing digital transformation has been crucial for organizations to survive and endure COVID-19, and a continued focus on embracing technology will allow them to thrive post-COVID-19. The finance organization has emerged as a driving force of this transformation, and CFOs are often leading digital transformation initiatives by serving as first movers of digital solutions and working with functional leads to quantify the benefits and demonstrate potential cost savings or efficiency gains.

Finance may also have the best understanding of what level of digitization will work best with the company’s current operating model, or if the current operating model needs to be changed to optimize the use of technology. What’s clear is that digital transformation is relevant both for companies that are struggling to maintain operations and for those that display healthy financials. This point is demonstrated via four finance-led case studies across a variety of industries.

Footnote:

1: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-17/the-nation-is-shutting-down-for-walmart-it-s-time-to-step-up