Darn, we forgot the CFO!

The path of digitization is not a path, but a well-built road - the Rue de SAP S/4 Hana. And the whole world is currently telling the following story, which has a lot of truth to it: If you use this road, you will reach your desired destination. The CFO also ends up on this road - but unfortunately often empty-handed. 

Opportunities remain unused

It's true: The rue de SAP S/4 Hana is the path to faster and better processes, to new analysis possibilities in real time, towards a world in which robotics and AI can be used for one's own business and new business models. Much of what is possible today with S/4 was unthinkable ten years ago - especially in the area of finance. But have we really arrived fully in the digital age with SAP S/4? With the changeover, have we really managed to lift our IT and our ERP systems in the company into the digital world? Are we benefiting not only technically, but also strategically? 

For some, this is certainly true. These are the companies that have only one ERP system. In this case, the CFO can consider himself lucky, even feel like a CFO world champion. Every morning, he now has all the financial data and KPIs on his computer, clearly laid out in graphs and charts - all at the touch of a button. But what about those who have not just one ERP system, but 20, 40 or even more? These many systems in the company - even after the introduction of S/4 - often resemble more of a maze of roads, a veritable labyrinth. 

The problem is: Although all the individual paths have now been wonderfully expanded and repaved, there is no connection to Rue de SAP S/4 Hana, i.e. to the central system. Far away, you can see the new possibilities, but you can't use them. Robotics, artificial intelligence, financial data in real time - for the financial sector, all this remains just a promise, a pipe dream. And all of a sudden, those in charge rub their eyes and have to realize: Crap, we forgot the CFO!

After all, those who travel the paths and roads far from the rue de SAP S/4 Hana and have to collect the data needed for the financial close cannot take full advantage of S/4. No one has bothered to connect the branching network of streets and roads to the new, central boulevard. So the financial data still has to be laboriously aggregated first and then transported over various walls and ditches to the rue de SAP S/4 Hana. This still takes a long time, the process is laborious and error-prone. All figures for the CFO at the push of a button, new technologies, harmonized data? Far from it!

What to do?

In my opinion, the only solution to make the CFO the world champion of his figures after all is SAP Central Finance. This solution is much more than just a tool. SAP Central Finance is an operational platform for finance, reporting, controlling and consolidation that can be used to harmonize and centralize even widely ramified ERP landscapes. And this even applies regardless of whether the systems come from SAP or a third-party vendor or are already on S/4 or not.  

SAP Central Finance basically functions like a navigation system in a heterogeneous ERP landscape. Because no matter what the maze of streets looks like or how many walls and ditches there are between them, with this solution, even the CFO is now safely on the Rue de SAP S/4 Hana and has all the figures and data together in real time - for better decisions and results.