With over 46 reports regarding corporate failures, frauds, and misconduct in accounting practices for businesses in Singapore. It is essential for businesses to take affirmative measures to acquire solid accounting systems and well-structured internal controls, which are critical to their stakeholders.
As the new year approaches, many Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are looking for ways to improve their performance and drive success for their organisations. But predictions point to another challenging year, and given what will likely be an unstable financial year ahead, it is key for CFOs to set early goals for both themselves and those they work with.
Here are four new year’s resolutions for CFOs that can help drive a solid financial outcome to an already turbulent 2022.
Sound accounting policies
Given the upheaval in the tech sector in 2022, the Finance function will play an increasingly prominent role. Growing sustainably and smart cash management are key themes for 2023, and it all starts with sound accounting practices.
More than ever, high-growth tech firms need to realise the importance of investing in financial leadership and finance teams at an early stage. It is significant to devote even greater efforts to staff development, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of processes and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) implementation.
This is part of the Finance Transformation journey that Max Tay, Head of Finance, embarked on when he joined Geniebook. It is also critical for his team to develop the mindset that they need to be a strategic business partner to the other functions.
Also Read: Report: Singapore businesses remain open to implement embedded finance, Web3 in 2023
It is important for businesses to have financial tools for sound company-level decision-making this year that could determine whether a technology firm’s services through the current ‘winter’. Some of them include cash burn analysis on a granular level, ROI analysis on existing and potential projects, accurate budgeting and forecasting, regular real-time reporting, and cost controls.
Embrace changes
We live in a technological age where businesses are constantly evolving, making it imperative for us to be adaptable and ever-ready to move away from traditional mindsets. We should not be contented or get too comfortable – automation is now key to success, and Chin Wai Hong, Head of Finance at Spenmo, is pleased that they are driving his finance team to achieve that. Through automating financial processes, she hopes that the finance team will be able to invest even more time in business partnering.
But despite the need to grow, adapt and scale quickly, there has been constant pressure for businesses to manage costs better. In 2023, specifically for the finance function, Aylwin Chia, Global Controller Of Velocity Global, hopes that we can strike a good balance between investing in people (both current and new hires) and technology (both enhancements/developments and new fintech solutions).
Under current market conditions, he believes businesses should keep teams lean and versatile. More broadly, the team is to continuously challenge themselves to diverge from traditional finance activities by embracing technology such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) or Machines Learning (ML) tools to streamline, automate and digitalise our processes. That way, they keep costs relatively low, eliminate human errors and set a strong foundation to scale in years to come with efficient financial processes while maintaining high-quality financial data.
In a nutshell, Shivani, the Financial Controller Of Blackpanda, puts it nicely. It is about making use of the best technology available to evolve our finance processes in 2023 and drive strong Data-based business insights.
Strategically mitigate rising costs
“Plan for the worst, hope for the best”, said Josephine Tan, Head of Finance of Azendian. In this case, it is important for finance teams to be averse to change or innovation instead of holding traditional values – financial prudence is the new trend.
With a gloomy global economic outlook in 2023, elevated core inflation and the implementation of the first of a two-step increase in GST in Singapore, one thing is certain – it will only get costlier to run a business.
This year, Emelia Long, Financial Controller of Circular and Vincent Yeo, Head of Finance at Hydra-X, resolved to manage and mitigate rising costs strategically. It is essential for businesses to stretch the runway and reduce cash burn, especially in an increasingly cautious funding environment. Be it a bullish or bearish market, finance teams can help future-proof businesses by keeping a close eye on their financials.
Also Read: Embedded finance can help legacy banks grow loan book, go to market quickly: FinBox CEO
The team will have to continually ensure financial data integrity and orderliness of data across databases, increasing the finance team’s agility to react and make efficient decisions. It is essential for decision-makers to set their resolutions in 2023 to seek opportunities to increase their agility.
Desire to be stronger business partners
Danny Lim, Financial Controller of ThoughtfullWorld, hopes for finance functions to constantly be close to the business. He posts that it is important to talk to business people frequently so that finance teams have a clear view and direction of the business. Businesses need to understand that finance teams aren’t just a cost centre but also serve as revenue drivers that drive decision-making by combining both financial and non-financial information, forming the core North Star metrics that organisations look for.
Karl Mead (Finance Lead, StaffAny) and David Cheng (CFO, FastCo) shared similar views. Their resolutions are to be more customer focus and foster a growth mindset within the company. The key is to add value throughout the organisation rather than just compiling reports.
Looking ahead into 2023
With that said, 2022 taught us that while things may look rosy and great at the current moment, the overall environment can change rapidly, and finance teams need to ensure that their businesses are constantly on their front foot to adapt quickly to market conditions.
Cost efficiency and revenue growth are at the front of businesses’ minds for the upcoming year, and while we acknowledge that the VC space is currently looking bleak, we believe businesses are still aiming to raise the bar to put themselves in good stead for the following years, allowing the finance teams to focus on business expansion and growth strategies.
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