Challenges, gaps and opportunities #CFOReimagined A struggle to automate Not all CFOs are enacting (or are empowered to enact) necessary changes. Consider automation. Today, only 34 percent of finance tasks “Low value-added activities are automated. It is a low percentage, which can be done by technology since the goal of technology enabling have to be done by technology,” a “lights-out” back office is achievable. says Larry Reinhold, President and In fact, Accenture estimates that CEO of Systemax. “There is relentless 60 to 80 percent of backward-looking pressure to reduce cost and do things accounting activity can be automated in the most productive manner.” with limited to no human intervention. But, even by 2021, CFOs anticipate that CFOs have the added task of less than 50 percent of all finance tasks making the internal case for will be performed by machines. automation, as 38 percent worry about employee resistance to working with non-human colleagues. 22 The CFO Reimagined: from driving value to building the digital enterprise