Finance Leaders are Stressed Out: Here’s How to Fix It

The intense stress of today’s ever-changing environment is wreaking havoc on senior financial leaders. They’re staying on top of their company’s finances and managing their now-remote finance teams—on top of juggling many high-level priorities. CFOs are constantly experiencing unpredictable circumstances with added bottlenecks and workflow changes that are constantly bombarding their organization. Safe to say, they’re stressed. 

The cure for mitigating this stress? Prioritizing operational health by implementing long-term technology solutions to drive business success.

The Pressure on Today’s Finance Leaders

Finance leaders need to understand the source of their company’s stress to eliminate unnecessary issues.

The top five challenges today are:

  • Compliance deadlines and requirements
  • Completing projects with fewer resources
  • Pressure to accomplish business goals
  • Having the correct resources to complete projects 
  • Bottlenecks and internal barriers

Why Your Finance Team is Stressed Out

In a recent survey by CFO.com, 29% of CFOs worry about reaching deadlines. Without the right resources, finance leaders are more likely to miss critical deadlines because of their lack of workflow visibility. To add another layer of stress, the data they present needs to be accurate. For example, finance leaders need to pass audits periodically and document any ongoing compliance requirements with security regulations and processes. Without the right technology, a finance leader’s ability to drive accountability is narrow. 

In addition, poor practices in project management are keeping today’s CFOs up at night. An example of this is when the finance team needs the present accurate, real-time data. When these numbers are inaccurate or delayed, the finance team must spend valuable time correcting the inconsistencies. 

And then there’s the financial balancing act. How do you optimize your workflow with the same or fewer resources? Team members have immense pressure to achieve business objectives with fewer resources due to budget constraints. But they need to have the capacity to get the work completed. In this sense, a financial leader has a responsibility to implement a solution for improving business processes.

Proper data insights ensure that the finance team is prepared and relieves last-minute demands—eliminating a rapid increase in heart rates. 

How Technology Enhances Operational Health

With the right software, you’re accessing a fountain of information in one centralized hub. Clear expectations and well-documented workflows are present, and an efficient solution leads to job satisfaction, reduced turmoil, and less stress.

A financial leader benefits from an automated solution that helps drive business initiatives. Financial technology ensures business objectives are executed. Even with the most complicated processes, the right automated solution offers increased visibility and process capabilities. Technology ensures that your business and finance team are on the right track. 

By implementing automation that scales with your company, you’ll improve not only your business’s operational health—but also your mental health. Overall efficiency improves as CFOs put the right people on the right tasks and projects, fitting individuals’ skills with the specific requirements of each task. When your finance team receives clear roles and responsibilities tailored to their professional strengths, the company sees increased productivity, engagement, and accuracy.

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