Top 3 New Year’s Resolutions of a CFO

As 2011 draws to a close and millions of bottles of champagne across the globe are chilled for celebrations to ring in 2012, many of us take a look at our resolutions for the New Year. They often include weight-loss after the delicious holiday feasts many of us have over-indulged in, smoking cessation, drinking less wine, drinking more wine, spending more quality time with our family, and more.

You may already know CFO’s are a different breed, and as such, their resolutions tend to be a bit more quantitative!

OptionEase, a compliance-software company which works with more than 700 companies and partners, specifically their CFO’s, has found that a CFO’s top three resolutions for 2012 are:

1. Ditch the spreadsheet: Many CFO’s are moving away from spreadsheet accounting, since it’s not auditable and anyone can enter information, steal or alter the data, and manipulate the report. Spreadsheets went out of style with shoulder pads.
2. Learn the Software: Many of the CFO’s and financial executives we work with regret that they haven’t fully harnessed the potential of the existing accounting software they have, only understanding 20% of it, or so. Many of our clients are resolute that 2012, they will take those webinars and learn to navigate the features of their account software.
3. Find the Right Software Partner: Nearly as important as finding your soul mate is the decision by a CFO to select the correct compliance software provider. It is our experience that the best software solutions are innovative, cutting-edge, increase accuracy and save the CFO time, which of course, translates into increased productivity. OptionEase also believes software on its own, has limited potential. CFO’s need to select a software partner that offers a high-touch team of skilled consultants to troubleshoot unique challenges and offer customized solutions. One of the greatest complaints we hear from our CFO’s is that they feel like an island, in that their role is so complex, there are limited colleagues who can collaborate or assist them. This is why it’s of paramount importance that accounting software partners come with a team of skilled financial executives, like those at OptionEase.