Digital Transformation is the Top Priority For Corporate Finance in 2022, But Obstacles, Including Inflation, Growing Productivity and Efficiency Gaps, May

The Hackett Group’s Finance Crucial Challenges Investigate Identifies Priorities and Challenges for 2022

MIAMI & LONDON, Could 05, 2022–(Enterprise WIRE)–Electronic transformation is now the best precedence for finance in 2022, according to new Finance Crucial Troubles research from The Hackett Team, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT). But finance executives’ self-confidence in their potential to meet business expectations is reduced, in component owing to technological innovation and method complexity and capabilities deficits. Rising finance workload merged with declining budgets and headcount will also develop productiveness and efficiency gaps that are likely to limit the skill of finance to satisfy its 2022 aims.

The entire study, “The Finance Agenda: 2022 Vital Issues,” is obtainable on a complimentary foundation, with registration, from The Hackett Team® at this connection: http://go.poweredbyhackett.com/22finkey2201sm. Key results from the study incorporate:

Inflation a Key Concern – With inflation accelerating to 7.9% in February 2022 and projected to persist into the foreseeable foreseeable future, a lot of firms have been caught by surprise and are now scrambling to fully grasp the impression on their business, and produce responses to regulate the possibility. In The Hackett Group’s Finance Crucial Concerns Analyze, executed in Q4 of 2021, 31% of respondents cited inflation as a significant problem and yet another 53% cited it as a reasonable problem. The current inflationary setting was induced by a confluence of components that can be traced again to the pandemic: pent up demand, source chain disruption, labor market place disruption, loose monetary policy and fiscal stimulus. The unfolding conflict in Ukraine has included additional uncertainty to company situations and could speed up inflation by means of bigger vitality and commodity prices. Businesses that are agile and nicely-equipped to answer to the disruption can switch their edge into true financial gain. That will involve good analysis and coordination.

Digital Transformation Now the Prime Precedence – Electronic transformation has now turn out to be finance’s leading precedence, with quite a few of the function’s prime priorities dependent on the ability to accelerate it. But executives’ self-confidence in the potential to satisfy business enterprise anticipations is lower, with unique cited difficulties that involve engineering and approach complexity, capabilities deficiencies, and organizational resistance to adjust. Finance executives are placing emphasis on strengthening analytical, modeling and reporting abilities with 86% of companies citing this as a crucial or high precedence. On top of that, finance must be ready to make investments in technologies, this sort of as cloud, robotic system automation, analytics and some others to lower price tag and build new abilities. About two-thirds of all finance businesses are also increasing method automation, whilst about one-half have an initiative to expand the use of self-service resources.

Budgets and Staffing Proceed to Tighten – Finance corporations confront ongoing emphasis on better price tag efficiency in 2022, with workload predicted to increase by virtually 5% whilst budgets and head counts are declining by .7% and .6%, respectively, the examine discovered. Finance is counting on technologies and provider shipping and delivery model advancements, such as centers of excellence and international small business products and services, to bridge the productiveness and effectiveness gaps. All round, charge reduction moved down the priority checklist by 4 places to sixth put in 2022, as providers have navigated the pandemic and extracted financial savings. But it continues to be a major priority, and may possibly rebound in great importance if inflation carries on to accelerate in 2022.

A few Important Locations for Enhancement – In 3 of the top rated 10 precedence places, there are sizeable gaps concerning their value and finance’s capacity to meet up with anticipations. The a few priorities with the most significant gaps are: accelerating finance electronic transformation up skilling and retaining finance talent in the facial area of the “Good Resignation” and enabling finance agility by fostering a nimble frame of mind.

Talent/Upskilling on the Rise – In the deal with of the “Wonderful Resignation,” finance companies are imagining critically about creating the following-generation workforce. If finance is to reach its intention of getting to be a additional helpful strategic advisor to the business enterprise, it should purchase or build new expertise in locations, these types of as teamwork and collaboration, and evolve small business and sector acumen. The intention of aligning competencies and talent with evolving business requirements moved up various spots in the 2022 Finance Key Challenges Study. Practically 50 percent of all corporations have designs to get new skills and talent – appreciably additional than other planned workforce initiatives. Specified the worries that firms are going through in acquiring candidates with the correct techniques and at the right value, there will also be a premium on retaining existing workforce. Pandemic-brought on disruption and accelerated electronic transformation are also sparking a reevaluation of the finance running model, with 30% of the finance workforce anticipated to function from house by the conclude of 2022, and a further 52% relying on a hybrid arrangement.

Strengthening Business Partnering – Performing as a strategic advisor to the enterprise is now the amount two priority for finance, requiring an emphasis on business enterprise partnering, the study uncovered. Virtually 60% of finance organizations have a 2022 initiative developed to boost the interaction design involving finance and organization stakeholders, building it a person of the most widespread finance initiatives of any variety. Among a person-3rd and a person-50 % of finance organizations also have initiatives aimed at bolstering specific business enterprise partnering capabilities, and practically one particular-third prepare to devote complete-time staff members to enterprise partnering. The target on organization partnering will be essential to achieving other finance priorities, like optimizing functioning funds, and improving manage and compliance abilities. It is also crucial for controlling inflation chance.

ESG Accounting a Expanding Problem – The environmental, s
ocial and governance (ESG) agenda is speedily getting a strategic precedence for several organizations, and this has far-reaching implications for finance organizations. The research discovered that whilst more than 60% rank the need to create and assist ESG strategy as vital, only 32% rate their ability to meet business enterprise wants in this region as “large.” As reporting and disclosure criteria proceed to arise, finance need to appraise how organized it is to assistance foreseeable future necessities from a men and women, method and technological know-how standpoint. Finance also has an significant position to perform in supporting their businesses fully grasp the monetary implications affiliated with ESG-similar packages and initiatives. Finance organizations should make their know-how in monetary arranging and assessment (FP&A), forecasting, compliance, and statutory and management reporting available to the firm in buy to support the ESG system and execution of operational designs.

The Hackett Group’s 2022 Crucial Issues analysis is centered on benefits collected from a lot more than 250 executives in IT, finance, HR, procurement, offer chain, and global company providers at a world wide set of midsized and huge enterprises.

About The Hackett Team

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an intellectual residence-primarily based strategic consultancy and top company benchmarking company to world-wide businesses, giving electronic transformation, like implementation of leading enterprise cloud applications, workflow automation and analytics that empower Electronic World Class general performance.

Drawing from our unparalleled IP from just about 20,000 benchmark scientific tests with the world’s leading organizations – including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 94% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 30 and 51% of the FTSE 100 – captured by means of our top benchmarking platform, Quantum Leap® and our Electronic Transformation Platform (DTP), we speed up greatest-practice implementations.

Extra facts on The Hackett Group is out there at: www.thehackettgroup.com, [email protected], or by calling (770) 225-3600.

The Hackett Team, quadrant brand, Planet Course Described and Enabled, and Quantum Leap are the registered marks of The Hackett Team.

Cautionary Assertion Relating to “Forward-Searching” Statements

This release is made up of “ahead-on the lookout” statements in the this means of Part 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Trade Act of 1934, as amended. Statements like devoid of limitation, words this sort of as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” seeks,” “estimates,” or other comparable phrases or variants of these types of phrases or similar expressions indicating, existing or long run anticipated or predicted occurrences or results are supposed to identify these types of ahead-on the lookout statements. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical reality and entail recognised and mysterious pitfalls, uncertainties and other components that may well bring about the Company’s genuine effects, overall performance or achievements to be materially diverse from the benefits, general performance or achievements expressed or implied by the ahead-on the lookout statements. Things that could impact this kind of forward-searching statements contain with no limitation, the skill of The Hackett Group to successfully current market its electronic transformation and other consulting solutions, opposition from other consulting and technologies providers that could have or acquire in the long term, identical offerings, the professional viability of The Hackett Group and its solutions as nicely as other threat specific in The Hackett Group’s experiences submitted with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Hackett Team does not undertake any duty to update this release or any ahead-hunting statements contained herein.

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Contacts

Gary Baker, World-wide Communications Director – (917) 796-2391 or [email protected]