The role of the CFO is undergoing a profound transformation, shifting from a financial steward to a strategic architect of long-term value. A recent in-depth analysis by EY, "CFOs as Value Architects: Driving Long-Term Value," reveals that 76% of investors now expect CFOs to go beyond financial oversight and play a critical role in shaping business strategy. Furthermore, 74% of CFOs recognize the need to improve their ability to generate forward-looking insights.
At SS&C EVOLV, we recognize these evolving demands—we have been addressing them for years. Our recent Best as-a-Service Solution – Integration & Automation win at the 2024 Banking Tech Awards USA highlights our leadership in financial transformation.
Key Insights from EY’s Research
EY’s analysis highlights three key actions CFOs must take to fully embrace their role as Value Architects:
- Strengthen the digital finance infrastructure – CFOs must leverage technology to optimize financial data, integrate automation and ensure real-time reporting.
- Elevate the role of the finance team – By shifting from transactional work to value-driven insights, finance teams can provide strategic guidance and enhance business agility.
- Champion ESG as a financial imperative – Investors are increasingly scrutinizing ESG commitments, making it essential for CFOs to integrate sustainability into financial decision-making.
At SS&C EVOLV, these principles align with the core of our solutions. Our technology automates financial processes, empowers finance teams with actionable insights and simplifies ESG reporting, helping CFOs realize their full potential as Value Architects.
Ahead of the Curve
While ESG concerns are now a top priority for CFOs, SS&C EVOLV has long recognized their importance. In our 2022 "A Q&A Round-Up on Modern Loan Subledgers" whitepaper, we outlined how our best-in-class business intelligence tools help clients address ESG challenges by providing clear, actionable insights. These capabilities are further highlighted in our "EVOLV – Loan Accounting Solution" brochure on modern sub-ledgers, where we showcase how our integrated reporting solutions proactively help financial institutions stay ahead of regulatory and investor expectations.
Sub-Ledgers: The Backbone of Financial Intelligence
A major focus of EY’s findings is the role of sub-ledgers in enabling CFOs to act as strategic leaders. Traditional finance systems often create data silos, leading to inefficiencies and inaccuracies. By implementing a modern sub-ledger approach, organizations can ensure a single source of truth for financial data, improving operational agility and compliance.
At SS&C EVOLV, we have been at the forefront of sub-ledger innovation for years. Our Loan Accounting Solution offers organizations a scalable, automated and controlled approach to managing financial data. By integrating these capabilities, we help CFOs achieve faster closes, enhance compliance and unlock powerful insights from their financial data.
ESG: A Critical Pillar of Financial Strategy
EY’s research highlights the growing importance of ESG integration, with investors demanding greater transparency and accountability. Even as 80% of institutional investors now consider ESG factors essential in financial decision-making, many organizations struggle with fragmented ESG data and inconsistent reporting standards.
In our "Data-driven Subledger Tools are Key to Modern Finance & Risk Management" article, we explored how business intelligence tools play a key role in addressing these ESG challenges. We emphasized that financial institutions must integrate ESG data into their financial reporting structure, ensuring compliance with evolving regulatory requirements and investor expectations. Our research outlined best practices for streamlining data collection, standardization and disclosure, enabling finance teams to make ESG-driven decisions confidently.
SS&C EVOLV’s solutions are designed to facilitate this integration by offering automated ESG reporting capabilities, ensuring that financial leaders can efficiently track and disclose sustainability metrics. Our modern sub-ledger technology provides a structured approach to capturing ESG-related financial transactions, aligning sustainability efforts with overall financial performance. By embedding ESG considerations into core financial processes, CFOs can drive long-term value while meeting the increasing demand for corporate responsibility.
Award-Winning Innovation in Finance
Our Best as-a-Service Solution – Integration & Automation award win at the 2024 Banking Tech Awards USA reinforces our alignment with CFO initiatives. We provide CFOs with the tools they need to strengthen digital finance infrastructure, elevate financial teams and seamlessly integrate ESG metrics.
Empowering CFOs for the Future
The expectations placed on CFOs are greater than ever, but with the right technology, they can meet these demands head-on. SS&C EVOLV is committed to equipping financial leaders with innovative, automated and intelligence-driven solutions that drive sustainable growth.
To learn more about how SS&C EVOLV is shaping the future of finance, explore our latest insights and solutions.
