Why is confidence coming at the cost of overworked CFOs?
Our recent survey of CFOs suggests high confidence in board governance comes at a price.
By AnsaradaTue Mar 01 2022Industry news and trends, CEO-CFO
CFOs aren’t short on confidence when it comes to their board governance processes - but this confidence is coming at the expense of being overworked.
There is a huge amount of pressure on CFOs to present the right facts to the board, pressure which trickles down to finance teams to execute efficiently. But being confident that they have all the relevant information at their fingertips means that CFOs and finance teams are working far longer hours than they should - on top of their already full schedules - in order to gather, organize and disseminate this information manually.
In a recent survey conducted by Ansarada, 71.8% of CFOs told us they are confident that they have visibility over all their company’s critical information in order to make the best decisions. And 64.1% of them told us they are confident they are meeting all their GRC obligations.
However, in the same survey, 71.8% of CFOs told us they are not currently using any system or software to manage board governance or to run board meetings. That means these processes are done manually - often using tools like email or spreadsheets - leaving them unsecured and prone to risk and human error.
CFOs also weren’t shy about highlighting the challenges that they face.
66.7% of CFOs rate ‘taking time out of BAU to prepare for and organize board meetings’ as the top challenge, with ‘surfacing the right information (e.g. risks)’ and ‘managing growing volumes of information’ the next highest rated challenges (48.7% and 46.2% respectively).
Whether it’s the risk of accidental disclosure via an unsecure email, or inefficiencies arising from manual processes that result in missed information, the bottom line is that risk should never be an accepted part of board management.
Now you can use Ansarada Board to run and manage your board meetings for free. Get crucial oversight of people and information, all from a single, secure board portal.
With nothing to pay, it’s the easiest board decision you’ll ever have to make.
There is a huge amount of pressure on CFOs to present the right facts to the board, pressure which trickles down to finance teams to execute efficiently. But being confident that they have all the relevant information at their fingertips means that CFOs and finance teams are working far longer hours than they should - on top of their already full schedules - in order to gather, organize and disseminate this information manually.
In a recent survey conducted by Ansarada, 71.8% of CFOs told us they are confident that they have visibility over all their company’s critical information in order to make the best decisions. And 64.1% of them told us they are confident they are meeting all their GRC obligations.
However, in the same survey, 71.8% of CFOs told us they are not currently using any system or software to manage board governance or to run board meetings. That means these processes are done manually - often using tools like email or spreadsheets - leaving them unsecured and prone to risk and human error.
CFOs also weren’t shy about highlighting the challenges that they face.
66.7% of CFOs rate ‘taking time out of BAU to prepare for and organize board meetings’ as the top challenge, with ‘surfacing the right information (e.g. risks)’ and ‘managing growing volumes of information’ the next highest rated challenges (48.7% and 46.2% respectively).
Inefficiency could be your greatest cost
CFOs, CEOs and Boards are confident they are getting by, without realizing there’s a better way to run all their processes without the manual work or the risk. While risk oversight is a critical concern for all CFOs and Boards, this is one area where the majority are taking on far too much of it.Whether it’s the risk of accidental disclosure via an unsecure email, or inefficiencies arising from manual processes that result in missed information, the bottom line is that risk should never be an accepted part of board management.
There’s a better way
We’ve launched exclusive free board management software to help the C-suite and the Board, so you can see what efficient and risk-free board governance looks like.Now you can use Ansarada Board to run and manage your board meetings for free. Get crucial oversight of people and information, all from a single, secure board portal.
With nothing to pay, it’s the easiest board decision you’ll ever have to make.
