Finance has long been recognized as a driver of reducing costs within an organization.

There are cost saving opportunities and performance efficiencies for specific functions within finance, such as accounts payable (AP). A Hackett Group report¹ corroborates this: world-class financial organizations are able to deliver their services at 46 percent lower cost (as a percent of revenue) with 52 percent fewer staff.

But this same study also pointed to the ability of some organizations to provide more than just cost savings and faster turnarounds. In fact, many CFOs are now thinking about how they can better utilize the business information that flows through their department to provide strategic business insights and competitive advantages for the entire organization.

Changing technological capabilities in digitization, automation and big data analytics, as well as new service delivery models like cloud-based SaaS, allow CFOs to not only streamline operations, but help their organizations grow and become more innovative.

And finance is proving, once again, to be a leader in tech adoption. When it came to the use of information technology, a Forbes Insights survey2 of 312 top-level executive decision makers — fifty-three percent of them C-level — more CFOs identified themselves as “leading edge” than did CEOs and CTOs, and were far less “conservative” than CIOs and CTOs.

So how can finance play a greater role in your business to drive innovation and growth?

• Help you look across information silos and re-engineer the flow of information to become more comprehensive and integrated. This is a challenge for any one department, even under the best of circumstances — an experienced partner is extremely valuable here.
• Quickly incorporate new technologies to intelligently capture, index and extract data for incorporation into digital workflows. It is likely service providers have made major investments in these technologies, and have more working experience implementing them.
• Free up your resources to focus on analysis, finding the "story of the numbers" and driving more forward-looking initiatives.

A service provider also brings their experience working with different information processes within organizations — from digitizing mailrooms to integrated customer service communications — as well as a valuable perspective in implementing proven, working solutions across industries.

Innovative ideas can come from anywhere. And who knows? Tapping into this wealth of experiential knowledge might just spark something groundbreaking for you.

But in the meantime, when considering the impact that finance can have on your organization, think beyond just the cost saving measures, and start thinking about how this department, often an afterthought when it comes to adding value, can start growing your business through innovation.