Over the past decade, the digitisation of finance has helped CFOs and finance leaders adapt to challenging market conditions more easily. By liberating finance decision-making from the confines of spreadsheets and manual processes, organisations have unlocked huge operational efficiencies while improving the accuracy of decision-making within finance functions.

The proliferation of AI within financial business processes promises an even greater wave of innovation for finance leaders. AI is a transformative technology, allowing organisations to unlock the power of their financial data and improve decision-making while also easing regulatory compliance and providing accurate predictive and analytical insights.

highlights AI applications in finance that range from the use of machine learning algorithms to improve forecasting and credit risk scoring, to natural language processing powering chatbots that support customer service and report generation processes. For CFOs, AI’s ability to improve anomaly detection provides an essential layer that can help financial institutions limit insider trading and enhance fraud detection.

the potential annual value of AI and analytics within the global banking sector could reach $1-trillion, with marketing and sales, risk, and HR as the highest-value business functions for AI support. A found widespread interest in AI among global finance leaders, who recognise its potential to dramatically increase the performance of a broad range of finance processes.

Embedded AI powers optimisation, efficiency

While consumer-friendly AI applications such as ChatGPT have achieved mainstream success and secured immense public interest over the past two years, the true value of AI for businesses lies in embedded AI.

Embedded AI involves purpose-built algorithms running within standard business processes such as invoicing and reporting. For finance teams, embedded AI delivers enhanced analytical and data processing capabilities as well as process automation to improve the functioning of key financial business processes.

One example is the use of optical character recognition (OCR) technology to streamline invoice-to-cash processes within 麻豆原创 S/4HANA. The OCR technology extracts key information from payments notes, with AI models matching that with open receivables. The information is then loaded into S/4HANA and routes matching exceptions to accounting teams for clearing. This frees finance professionals to focus on more high-value strategic tasks that can drive the business forward.

Another example is the use of AI in reconciliation. Consulting firm Accenture leveraged 麻豆原创 Cash Application to match invoices faster and with fewer errors. The efficiency gains allowed Accenture to and unlock time savings that allowed the business to redirect resources to higher-value activities.

Improved business risk and compliance management

With finance being one of the most heavily-regulated industries, CFOs have to keep statutory compliance top-of-mind. Embedded AI can play a vital strategic role by powering improved governance, risk and compliance processes that enable organisations to identify and respond to emerging risks.

One example is the application of AI and behavioural analytics to large volumes of transactional data. By analysing historic and real-time transactions, finance teams can discover errors or even fraudulent transactions that may expose the business to financial liability, and take corrective measures to protect the organisation.

Similarly, the use of AI-powered invoice payment forecasting can help finance teams predict when payments from at-risk customers can be expected, thereby allowing for more optimised payment strategies and improved cash flow management.

Reporting accuracy, paramount within finance business processes, can further be enhanced through AI-powered automation. By automating the posting of new journal entries in record-to-report processes, finance teams can avoid manual errors and improve reporting accuracy and compliance.

In the midst of an uncertain global economic environment and faced with an increasingly complex regulatory environment, CFOs and their finance teams will need to maintain the highest levels of efficiency and accuracy throughout all financial activities. With the support of embedded AI integrated to core business applications, CFOs can significantly reduce inaccuracies, improve decision-making, and effectively steer the organisation through challenging conditions.

听

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Financial decision-makers in various industries have long been grappling with the difficulties of obtaining accurate and timely insights from their data. In this era of cloud computing, organisations struggle to keep pace with fast evolving technologies and the ever-growing data sources.

It鈥檚 no secret that the majority of global organisations have implemented state-of-the-art ERP systems to collect and manage their data, ranging from a single system for the entire organisation to multiple systems that may integrate or operate independently. The 麻豆原创 ERP platform is one of the most widely used by some of the largest global corporations to run their businesses.

As any seasoned financial manager will attest, navigating this data landscape can be quite a challenge. Those working with 麻豆原创 are well aware of the complexity and difficulties that arise when attempting to gather insights from large, complex data sets.

With a decade of experience helping top clients tackle this issue, I am pleased to share a few tips that I have gathered to help unlock the financial insights your business needs.

When managing vast data sets from one or multiple systems, the task of gathering and verifying data accuracy can be a considerable undertaking. To fully leverage the potential of your 麻豆原创 data, it is imperative that proper data governance processes are established to ensure consistency and dependability throughout your organisation. With effective data governance, 麻豆原创 users will have a clear understanding of what data is contained in the system and where it is being utilised, as well as proper controls over access to the data, aiding compliance with regulatory standards. Through improved data tracking and optimisation of data quality, the 麻豆原创 data can be relied on with greater confidence when making crucial decisions, knowing that the process is secure and dependable. This can help to minimise risk and enhance overall performance.

Investing in the establishment of robust 麻豆原创 data governance processes now will yield significant long-term benefits.

To learn more about effective data governance, kindly refer to our resources:听.

If your data governance processes are in good order, it is likely that you are facing difficulties with the collection and manipulation of your data, which can be a substantial time drain. To more effectively leverage your 麻豆原创 data, consider automating processes that perform repetitive tasks such as validating inputs or aggregating information from multiple data sources. This will not only improve accuracy but also free up valuable time for more strategic initiatives, leading to long-term cost savings and greater insight into the financial performance details revealed by your 麻豆原创 data. Automation also opens the door to advanced analytics capabilities, such as the application of AI technology, to generate forecasts and recommend ways to optimise processes and maximise returns on investment.

An essential consideration is to make use of technology that has been specifically devised to tackle the issue of accessing 麻豆原创 data. Our Azure Analytics for 麻豆原创 solution is the perfect way to expedite the journey to insights. The cloud-based analytics solution offers access to the most current data insights and analytics available. The solution is also designed to work in harmony with businesses’ existing 麻豆原创 systems, allowing for a seamless integration. It can be utilised across multiple functions, not just finance, thus facilitating the integration of reporting even further. Additionally, businesses may draw on the extensive library of pre-built analytics models the solution provides. These models are beneficial in helping financial decision-makers to examine their data and arrive at better decisions. Furthermore, the solution delivers real-time updates, enabling businesses to make informed decisions in changing circumstances.

In summary, Azure Analytics for 麻豆原创 can assist financial decision-makers the world over in making the best choices in the face of a demanding business environment. The cloud-based solution grants access to the most recent insights and analytics as well as pre-built models for data examination. With real-time updates, it helps businesses stay abreast of developments in a fast-paced world, an absolute necessity.

Working with my clients over the years, I understand how frustrating it can be to not have access to the financial data you need to make accurate decisions for your business. I hope these tips have provided some useful guidance for unlocking your 麻豆原创 data. If you’re eager to start unlocking the insights hidden within your financial data, I encourage you to consider Azure Analytics for 麻豆原创.

To learn more and begin your 麻豆原创 data journey, simply听.

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, the definitive annual event on technology leadership in the financial services industry returns on the 22nd of September 2022 as a brand-new hybrid concept.

The 2nd annual听听is set to take place on the 22nd of September 2022, at The Maslow, Sandton, South Africa. The forum is hosted by听, under the theme;听Bridging the gap between the future and the present through digital solutions.

Following a successful 2021 event,听听will bring together over 200 local and international BFSI industry leaders, fintech founders, industry regulators and technology service providers, to learn about cutting-edge innovations and engage in dynamic discussions addressing how finance is being redefined by technology.

Now, more than ever, we must come together and share our stories and find answers to our questions.

Key topics at the forum will include:

• Why the future of financial services is digital.
• How blockchain is rocking the financial world.
• FinTech vs. Banks 鈥� who is winning, or is it not a competition?
• How analytics beats intuition in customer service excellence.
• The pitfalls of digital transformation in Finance.
• Central Bank Digital Currencies: Challenges & Opportunities for the Financial Services Industry.
• Is South Africa ready for a digital currency and the legal implications thereof?

Confirmed speakers for听听include:

• Tracy Bolton, Chief Operating Officer at 麻豆原创.
• Tamara Mkula, Business Information Security Officer at Nedbank
• Abe Wakama, CEO at IT News Africa.
• Shem Kakembo, Managing Director at EFCUG, Uganda.
• Peter Neubauer, Chief Executive Officer at VIPASO, Austria.
• Magda Milas, President at Alice in Blockchains, Croatia.
• Moloti Nkune, Chief Information Officer at MICT SETA.
• Michelle Beetar, Vice President and Managing Director: MEA at FICO.
• Sandy Rheeder, CIO at Mukuru.
• Desiree Reddy, Director at Norton Rose Fulbright.
• Charles Mutigwe, Associate Professor, Business Information Systems at Western New England University, USA.
• Ahmed Ali Saleemi, Chief Operating Officer at AFT (Electronic Money Institute), Pakistan.

How to Participate:

听Join local and international CxOs, line-of-business (LoB) executives as well as heads of innovation, technology and strategy to discuss the future of digital finance.

听Showcase your technology innovations, projects, and solutions. Put your organisation at the centre of this one-of-a-kind gathering. Find new partners, investors, leads, and opportunities.

听Showcase your brand and present your technology solutions to a select audience. Position your organisation at the forefront of digital finance.

For more information about this conference, visit:听

[t]: +27 12 012 5801 [e]: events@itnewsafrica.com

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2022 DFA Africa

Aspects of #DFA2022 include world-class content delivered by some of the biggest names in financial institutions, government, technology, local and international fintech founders, banking executives, IT veterans, technology leaders and investors, regulators, policymakers, politicians, academics, and media from around the world.

Uniting leaders from banks, financial institutions, fintech, and government, Digital Finance Africa 2022 is the premier platform to meet with, and learn from those who are successfully realizing the potential of financial technologies.

Now, more than ever, we must come together and share our stories and find answers to our questions.

Key Topics that will be discussed:

• Why the future of financial services is digital.
• How blockchain is rocking the financial world.
• FinTech vs. Banks 鈥� who is winning, or is it not a competition?
• How analytics beat intuition in customer service excellence.
• The pitfalls of digital transformation in Finance.
• Central Bank Digital Currencies: Challenges & Opportunities for the Financial Services Industry.
• Is South Africa ready for a digital currency and the legal implications thereof?

Confirmed speakers include:

• Tracy Bolton, Chief Operating Office at 麻豆原创.
• Shem Kaembo, Managing Director at EFCUG, Uganda.
• Peter Neubauer, Chief Executive Officer at VIPASO, Austria.
• Magda Milas, President, Alice in Blockchains, Croatia.
• Read also听
• Dr Seetharam Yudhvir, Head of Analytics, Insights & Research at FNB Business.
• Desiree Reddy, Director, Norton Rose Fulbright
• Michelle Beetar, Vice President and Managing Director: MEA at FICO.
• Dr Charles Mutigwe, Vice President and Managing Director: MEA at FICO.
• Archana Arakkal, Cofounder of SisonkeBiotik.
• Ahmed Ali Saleemi, Chief Operating Officer, AFT (Electronic Money Institute) Pakistan.
• Tamara Mkula, Business Information Security Officer at Nedbank.
• Moloti Nkune, Chief听听Officer at MICT SETA.
• Sandy Rheeder, Chief Information Officer at Mukuru.

The post Global Digital Finance Gurus Prepare for 2022DFA Africa in Johannesburg appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

It鈥檚 common for employees to inquire about HR information such as their personal time off (PTO) balance, their sick-day balance, benefits, pay stubs, and tax withholding. (Heck, I do that all the time.) It鈥檚 also necessary for a company to perform background checks on prospective employees before extending an offer.

When HR staff manages employee information requests and candidate background checks manually, it distracts HR staff from more valuable tasks such as training and upskilling employees and spending the most time possible matching candidates with open positions. Manually replying to employee information requests and performing candidate background checks places a high administrative burden on HR staff, and takes much more time than employees, candidates, and HR staff would like.

It鈥檚 also important to have visibility of employee inquiries and candidate background checks to avoid duplication of efforts, improve processes and efficiency, and distribute work fairly. Without such visibility, it鈥檚 difficult to make informed HR management decisions.

Challenges faced

., a South African global financial services and insurance provider with 12,000 employees, was facing all the above issues. The HR staff fielded employee inquiries by email and phone, didn鈥檛 have an employee inquiry tracking process, and performed candidate background checks by email and phone. That whole universe 鈥� HR staff, employees, and candidates 鈥� felt the processes took too long. This frustrated all parties and left them hoping for a better experience. HR managers felt they could improve overall operations and productivity if they had sufficient visibility of HR staff鈥檚 tasks and status.

Solutions discovered

Fortunately, Discovery improved the HR interface and experience for employees, candidates, and HR staff through digitalization and automation. Working with听麻豆原创 SuccessFactors听solutions, the company created a portal for immediate access to standard HR inquiries, and automated candidate background checks with robotics. Discovery also automated company-wide reporting of HR staff鈥檚 tasks and status, to shed light on operations and help improve employee satisfaction by reducing administrative tasks and duplication, balancing workloads, and repurposing roles.

Elegant portal design

To bring the portal to life, Discovery reimagined 12 processes, automated 37 processes, and created 110 links to 53 employee policies for self-service platforms. In addition to direct access to self-services, Discovery included chat-assisted services and a tool to rate quality of resolution.

Stellar results

The employee portal satisfies employees with immediate responses, and the automated candidate background checks ensure candidates move as quickly as possible through the evaluation process. Both solutions free HR staff to focus on employee development, candidate recruiting, and onboarding.

The results included a 25% reduction in the time to hire candidates, and 45% of HR staff freed from manual tasks to develop the workforce and recruit. With no HR interaction required in many cases, an employee accesses the portal and retrieves the desired information in one session. Service levels for employee request resolution increased from 80% to 93%. Eighty percent of Discovery employees use the portal and rated it with a satisfaction score of 2.5 out of 3.

The results also included saving 10% of budget through centralization, process automation, and redeployment of highly skilled capacity back into the business; and reduction of HR generalist headcount by 32% and HR admin effort by 41% through repurposing roles and reskilling employees.

All these stellar results were accomplished because of Discovery鈥檚 creative solutions 鈥� which earned them a finalist鈥檚 spot in the听2022 麻豆原创 Innovation Awards.

鈥淲orking with 麻豆原创 solutions has enabled HR to create a differentiated shared-services function enabled through digitalization and automation, enhancing the people experience and improving productivity,鈥� said Kammy Sing, Group Head of People Operations, Discovery Ltd.

To learn more about Discovery鈥檚 award-winning solution, check out their 麻豆原创 Innovation Awards听.

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Emirates NBD鈥檚 EDP, which leverages Hadoop Big Data and the 麻豆原创 Financial Services Data Platform powered by 麻豆原创 HANA, was launched in November 2018, as the group鈥檚 biggest flagship initiative in its ongoing Digital Transformation, aiming to help continuously enhance customer experience by increasingly leveraging data-driven intelligence.

The award recognises the implementation of the large-scale data management initiative, driven through a collaborative effort with 麻豆原创, the implementation partner for the strategic transformation programme. The deployment has helped Emirates NBD lay a strong data and analytics foundation, while enabling real-time capabilities to address future data needs and shape its overall data and analytics strategy.

Suvo Sarkar, Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD, said: 鈥淎s a digital-first banking group, data intelligence is critical not only to our business operations but also in ensuring seamless customer interactions. Emirates NBD has been an early adopter in investing in data management capabilities and we are pleased to be recognised for our efforts by The Asian Banker. Our partnership with 麻豆原创 has been a key enabler in our journey and has brought significantly increased capability to our Enterprise Data Platform.鈥�

Shailendra Sahay, Head, Industry and Value Advisory, South Europe, Middle East and Africa, 麻豆原创, commented: 鈥淎chieving better customer experience and business outcomes through advanced data analytics such as customer lifetime value is one of the foundations of the 麻豆原创 Intelligent Enterprise strategy. We are pleased to have partnered with Emirates NBD for the bank鈥檚 data strategy and transformation journey.鈥�

Sahay explained that: 鈥淭he Emirates NBD Enterprise Data Platform success, leveraging the 麻豆原创 Financial Services Data Platform that provide strong analytical capabilities like advanced customer analytics, financial accounting and regulatory reporting deployed on a modern 麻豆原创 HANA in-memory database, sets a milestone in banking innovation.鈥�

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Has your company grown so quickly that your departments and business processes are hardly integrated? Are these听growing pains听preventing your employees from collaborating effectively with external stakeholders? Perhaps you also have inadequate insights into data that can help you make decisions and identify potential problems before they crop up. Not to mention the tedious manual processes slowing your employees down!

You can now听resolve these challenges, as your business grows, with 麻豆原创鈥檚 Cloud Solution for growing businesses.听麻豆原创 Business ByDesign听is an innovative solution developed specifically with rapid growing SMEs in mind 鈥� the solution promotes quick, efficient implementation and operation for SME users.

READY, when you are! Let鈥檚 see how:

麻豆原创 Business ByDesign is an on-demand, integrated business software for small businesses and mid-sized enterprises looking for a comprehensive CLOUD solution providing the functions you want 鈥� at an affordable price. It provides end-to-end integration of all your key business areas 鈥� such as Finance, Customer Relationship Management, Project Management, Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Human Resources 鈥� in a single comprehensive solution, thereby allowing you to manage your company鈥檚 key processes with a high degree of precision. It also provides you flexibility you need to adapt, grow, and extend your business processes across the entire value chain and ecosystem.

Since 麻豆原创 Business ByDesign updates automatically and performs tests and maintenance routes on its own, your company can fully focus on its core business function. Respond to new business requirements by configuring your solution online 鈥� it鈥檚 fast, efficient, and accessible anytime!

Support your employees in key business areas today!

• Optimize financial processes, including financial accounting and cash flow management.
• Focus on your customers in marketing, sales and distribution and service.
• Promote and use employee potential through organizational management, HR activities and employee self-services.
• Integrate production and logistics in supply chain structuring, planning, and management and manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics.
• Fulfill compliance with applicable laws and standards.
• Achieve your company鈥檚 goals through corporate performance management.

Get Business Software that has you covered,听NOW and in the Future.

麻豆原创 Business ByDesign can help you turn challenges into opportunities. See how you can take advantage of the change, build networks, and develop the confidence to take on larger competitors, even as you reduce your expenses.

Gain extensive insights into your growing company with built-in analytics functions providing you a 360-degree view of your business. 麻豆原创 Business ByDesign provides you with the tools to quickly make adjustments that can provide an edge over your competition.

麻豆原创 Business ByDesign is a business solution ready-made for your company with standardized automation and integration based on your industries best practices.

Why 麻豆原创听Business ByDesign?

• Unbeatable Value
• Unprecedented Speed
• Unmatched Flexibility
• Superior Customer Experience
• Unrivaled Transparency and Control
• Simple, Rapid Configuration and Adaptation
• Predictable Cost and Low Risk

Sit back and learn how perfect this solution is for your business.

What are you waiting for?

To find out more about 麻豆原创 Business ByDesign 鈥� and how it can help your organization operate beyond business boundaries, visit听

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The programme will go live in South Africa next.

The programme, named Owari (signifying interconnectivity), is an initiative to ultimately standardise and transform Absa鈥檚 financial reporting and procurement processes across the 14 countries in which the group operates.

鈥淔inancial reporting and vendor processes are typically complex and onerous processes for multinational companies with legacy systems,鈥� says John Annandale, Absa鈥檚 group financial controller.

鈥淲e are migrating all Absa entities onto a back-office finance and procurement template solution on fully integrated platforms, enabling us, longer term, to standardise and automate these processes,鈥� he says.

Absa Group鈥檚 primary ledger as well as group reporting and consolidation will ultimately move to the new solution, improving controls and reducing risk by consolidating all financial data across finance, risk, and treasury functions.

The Owari programme delivered an integrated general ledger solution by integrating a 麻豆原创 S/4 HANA enterprise resource planning system on AWS with Coupa, a Software as a Service (SaaS) spend management solution, in Kenya. The end-to-end solution is fully cloud-based, rather than residing in on-premises data centres. This means that the solution can be accessed online at any time from any location.

Absa is increasingly adopting cloud-based computing in lieu of on-premises data centres, based on scalability, cost and efficiency benefits.

鈥淓stablishing the new integrated solution, and as a fully cloud-based service, was a great challenge,鈥� says Ebrahim Samodien, CIO in the Absa Group technology office. 鈥淢any companies have struggled to transfer finance processes to the cloud as it is challenging from a data, technical and regulatory point of view. Owari was successful in Kenya as a result of the approach we took and the software and technology choices we made.鈥�

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Jen McDonald听was appointed as the CFO of听Deloitte Africa听in 2017 and has been in the role for just over three years. When she picked up the leadership role in 2017, Deloitte had recently defined its global and Africa 2020 strategy, as well as its Africa Finance strategy. 鈥淭he vision statement for Finance was 鈥榯o be a world-class finance function鈥� and the goal I set was to deliver a world-class, relevant service that makes an impact that matters to the organisation鈥檚 strategic goals,鈥� Jen says.

At the same time, Deloitte had just finalised its Africa integration, which was the merger or combination of 14 practices across Africa that have historically operated independently, into one firm called Deloitte Africa. The integration set the landscape for a finance transformation, as well as a digital transformation journey that would change the way Deloitte delivered finance to the organisation and the way it operates as a firm across Africa.

In 2017, Deloitte had a completely decentralised finance function. The finance teams were operating completely independently within each country and region. In South Africa alone, the company鈥檚 different service lines had their own independent finance teams. 鈥淲e had to bring everything together in a better way, and that鈥檚 where the transformation journey started,鈥� says Jen.

However, starting on this journey wasn鈥檛 going to be easy. At the time, not only did Deloitte have independent finance teams across the country, but it also had completely different and disparate IT systems across the continent, from its ERP and CRM software to expense management and payroll systems. 鈥淎ll the different point solutions had been built around supporting a country or regional model.鈥�

For Jen, this meant that the finance and operational transformation for the Africa member firm needed to be underpinned by an ERP and digital transformation. She put her hand up to lead the firm鈥檚 ERP and digital transformation project, knowing that the finance transformation would be limited and constrained while Deloitte Africa was operating on so many different platforms and solutions.

Project Moja

The Deloitte Africa digital transformation project was called Moja, which means 鈥渙ne鈥� in Swahili. It was a business-led transformation programme that not only included the implementation of a common IT platform, but also focused on end-to-end business processes and placing the right technology within those business processes. 鈥淲e wanted to implement a common platform that would set the playing field for the future and help us standardise, integrate, digitalise and automate those end-to-end business processes and move Deloitte Africa forward in operating successfully as an integrated firm across Africa,鈥� Jen says.

The programme was led by a steering committee and sponsored by Deloitte Africa鈥檚 COO,听Mike Jarvis. Because it was business led, COOs from each of the different business lines and regions were members of the steering committee and an integral part of all decision making throughout the programme and continue to steer the current optimisation programme

The organisation started by upgrading its existing CRM system in South Africa and deploying it to all the countries across Africa that it operated in. Then, Deloitte Africa implemented a suite of 麻豆原创 cloud solutions which included S/4HANA as its core ERP system, SuccessFactors for HR management, Concur for expense management, B4hana for data management, Analysis for Office for reporting and 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud for budgeting and forecasting. It also implemented BlackLine to support its balance sheet reconciliation process for Africa. In addition, the implementation of 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud as a BI visualisation and dashboarding tool, is in progress.

Part of this programme was Project Tetris, which was the finance transformation project, as well as a master data strategy project, which helped the company determine how it could manage its master data as a firm from a strategic and operational point of view.

鈥淲e had a cloud-first strategy and chose public cloud solutions for most of what we laid down in terms of solutions architecture,鈥� Jen explains. 鈥淭his meant we had to move to a software-as-a-service model within what 麻豆原创 calls their 鈥業ntelligent Enterprise鈥�.鈥�

Jen points out that, what was interesting about Deloitte Africa鈥檚 journey, was that they were the first organisation to implement the suite of cloud solutions from 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e made a conscious, strategic decision to walk this two-year journey with 麻豆原创, knowing that we would be the first and that some of the solutions we were laying down were immature at the beginning of the journey,鈥� Jen says. Deloitte鈥檚 consulting practice was the lead implementation partner that also supported a co-innovation of the solution with 麻豆原创 through the implementation. 鈥淭his has strategically placed our Deloitte Africa 麻豆原创 consulting practice as market leaders in the 麻豆原创 public cloud space.鈥�

She notes that, 鈥淎s a CFO, I am privileged to have that level of skill and expertise in my own organisation, because they were really at the coal face with business through the journey.鈥�

At the start of 2020, Deloitte Africa won the 麻豆原创 Global Innovation Award, which recognised the groundbreaking journey it had taken in co-innovating this public cloud solution in the software-as-a-service space.

Now, Deloitte runs an integrated finance function across Africa with six core functions that form part of the restructuring:

• An Africa shared service centre for operational finance, focusing on high-volume transactional activities.
• An Africa business partner structure directly supports the business leadership
• An Africa reporting team, addressing consolidation requirements, as well as all management and global reporting requirements.
• An Africa tax team which focuses on tax compliance and risk across all the different jurisdictions.
• An Africa centre of excellence which houses all Deloitte Africa鈥檚 strategic projects in the office of the CFO and COO, and other specialist centres.
• An Africa regional leadership arm with all the regional CFOs that focuses on regional relevant finance matters.

Reaping the benefits

鈥淒igital transformation, finance transformation and automation is something I鈥檓 passionate about because, ultimately, it鈥檚 going to make business better, more efficient and bring about other benefits like cost optimisation,鈥� Jen says. 鈥淥ur own transformation journey has come with some enormous benefits.鈥�

This year was the first time Deloitte Africa reported its year-end results on the new single integrated platform. Jen explains that the visibility she had into the numbers and what was happening across the business and continent was incomparable to previous years. 鈥淭he level of insights was unparalleled to before in terms of business performance, cash management, liquidity and working capital.鈥�

There are a number of financial processes that have been centralised, automated and harmonised including cost allocation runs, provision for bad debts, and foreign currency valuations. 鈥淎ll our inter-company and month-end closure processes are now managed through a central team which has reduced our period close and reporting by two days across the continent to just six working days. 鈥�

Employee experience has improved with an optimised, paperless, digital expense claim process, freeing employees from paper-based manual tasks, as well as digitized and mobile interfaces for leave and employee management.

Leading through the challenges

As a leader, Jen believes it鈥檚 important to celebrate successes, but to also recognise where things could have gone better. 鈥淭he platform that we鈥檝e implemented is a game-changer for the future, there鈥檚 no doubt about that, but an implementation project of this size, scope and geographical spread was definitely not completed without challenges.鈥�

One of the biggest challenges Deloitte Africa faced was change management, particularly in one of the models they implemented of the S/4HANA Cloud. 鈥淚t required quite a significant amount of time investment for our practitioners to learn and adapt to the new systems.鈥� To mitigate this challenge, the company is currently running an optimisation programme to close the remaining user experience gaps and to complete the analytics and dashboarding portions of the programme.

Digitally gearing up for Covid-19

With the onset of Covid-19, the return on investment on the systems Deloitte Africa had implemented became apparent almost immediately. As a finance function, Jen and her team seamlessly moved into a virtual delivery model.

She explains that, even though Deloitte鈥檚 global CFOs have been doing scenario modelling for economic downturns for quite some time before Covid-19 in order to be prepared for situations like this, no one really anticipated the depth and breadth of Covid-19.

鈥淲hen we went into lockdown, our most critical focus areas were cash management, liquidity and business performance,鈥� Jen says. 鈥淲e immediately set up a business performance PMO.鈥�

From a professional services point of view, the whole business had to adapt and change to delivering solutions virtually, including its audit division. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing to see some of the virtual tools that our client-facing organisation has developed and laid down to support this change of business,鈥� Jen says.

She points out that there are certain things they鈥檝e done in the last couple of months that they didn鈥檛 think were possible and this has included a 100 percent virtual delivery of services for many of our clients, including a full ERP cloud implementation for a client in Botswana.

What it means to be a leader

Speaking on behalf of all CFOs and business leaders, Jen explains that the weight of leadership鈥檚 responsibility and the role that it plays in an organisation was really put in the spotlight during this time. 鈥淲hat we do and the way we manage our business and finance has an impact on people and on society. As leaders, we have to make the right decisions and keep doing the right things.鈥�

She says that she often wrestles with herself about what it means to be a leader. 鈥淔or me, a great leader is bold. They don鈥檛 necessarily do things the same way they鈥檝e been done before and they鈥檙e not afraid of challenges, or to challenge the status quo.鈥�

Jen also believes that good leaders not only have a vision, but that they are able to take that vision, convert it into strategic goals and inspire those around them to execute on the vision.

What鈥檚 next?

In an interview with CFO South Africa in 2017 one of the questions asked was 鈥淲hat鈥檚 next?鈥�. In response, Jen said that she didn鈥檛 know and that she wanted to make a big impact in the role of CFO first. When the time was right, new opportunities would present themselves and doors would open 鈥� which they have.

As of September, Jen has been transitioning into a new role as a director within the Deloitte Consulting practice to drive the market and delivery strategy for large-scale business transformation projects, similar to the one she鈥檚 done in her role as CFO. She plans to use the skill and experience she鈥檚 gained through the process to lead Deloitte鈥檚 clients through their digital, finance and operational transformations.

鈥淲hile the Moja project has been challenging, what it did do was grow a passion inside of me to help our clients and other CFOs to take the same journey and to transform their own businesses,鈥� Jen says. 鈥淢any CFOs are embarking on similar journeys, but what became very clear to me on the journey was that you need a partner you can trust and rely on. Deloitte Consulting does that.鈥�

She explains that she wants to be part of that impact that matters to clients and to help lead organisations into the digital future.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 great about Deloitte,鈥� she says now. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an organisation where you can really reinvent yourself and diversify your skill set.鈥�

Integrating home and work life

As a wife and mother of two girls, Emma (seven) and Charlotte (five), Jen says that she doesn鈥檛 believe there鈥檚 a perfect recipe for balancing work and life. However, if there鈥檚 one thing Covid-19 has shown her, it鈥檚 that work and life should be integrated. 鈥淭he girls have really adapted to us working from home and they understand a little better what we do,鈥� she says.

Jen tries to include the girls in her work. When they run into the study after school, she takes two minutes to say hello. If she鈥檚 on a call, she鈥檒l ask if they want to listen in and give them one of her earphones. If she is busy writing something, she鈥檒l read some of it to them, even if they don鈥檛 understand.

She said that, initially, having everyone at home was quite challenging. Emma has just started Grade 1 and between her Zoom classes and Jen鈥檚 Zoom meetings, it was difficult to juggle their schedules. However, she says that her husband, Bryan 鈥� who is a structural engineer 鈥� has been a 鈥済reat support (pun intended)鈥�.

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