The document discusses a survey of 435 chief financial officers about data challenges. The CFOs ranked accurate and timely data as most important. Because data comes from multiple sources and becomes outdated quickly, attaining a single source of truth is difficult. While many CFOs see the benefits of a single source, establishing one presents barriers like legacy systems, data silos, and high costs. Most companies expect a 50% increase in managed data over five years as data volumes continue growing rapidly.

1. Adaptive Insights asked 435 chief financial officers across the globe
to share their thoughts on data—the critical component to delivering
actionable reports and insights to drive the business. In order to be
effective, CFOs ranked accuracy and integrity of the data (65%) and the
timeliness/shelf life of data (42%) at the top of their list. Because
finance teams plan and report using data that quickly becomes outdated
and often flows from multiple sources, the quest for truth can be a
long and winding road. What are the key steps—and setbacks—on the
journey to attaining the data dream of a single source of truth?
Finance’s Data Journey:
All Roads Lead to a Single Source
AND MORE TO COME!
expect up to a 50% increase
in the amount of data managed
over the next five years
say keeping information
siloed is the biggest or most
common financial mistake
companies make
rate their teams “average” at best
when it comes to effectively integrating
operational data (outside ERP/GL)
into analytics and dashboards
AVERAGE
TEAMS ARE GETTING THEIR HANDS DIRTY
69%
59%
say they have
5+ data sources
30%say they have
3–5 data sources
68%
still manually
aggregate data
47%
rely on ERP as primary
source (plus disparate,
unconnected systems)
32%
consolidated data
warehouse or
BI/CPM tool
27%
custom
integration work
24%
do not aggregate
3%
say they don’t
have a single
source of truth
17%
SINGLE
SOURCE OF
TRUTH
The Adaptive Insights CFO Indicator reports what is top of mind for CFOs, as well as unveils key attributes that define the modern CFO.
The Q3 2015 CFO Indicator report surveyed more than 435 CFOs across the globe online over a period of two weeks
ending October 1, 2015. The margin of error is +/- 4.71 percentage points.
Visit adaptiveinsights.com/newsroom for more details.
*
Source: IBM (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/what-is-big-data.html)
A single source of truth can not only help finance save time in planning and reporting,
but also help set CFOs up for success in gaining organizational alignment. Though
the road ahead may be paved with challenges, strategic CFOs are taking the necessary
steps to drive their organizations forward. Read the Q3 2015 CFO Indicator Summary
Report for more results and insights on the finance transformation journey.
37%say
legacy
technology
27%say
too
expensive
27%say
too many
data sources
27%say
lack of
collaboration
BIGGEST BARRIERS
We live in a world where we’ve created 90%* of our data in the last two years alone. While data
is gathered, consolidated, and shared across teams, time zones, and business units in order to
get a view of corporate business performance, the amount of data created continues to grow.
And that can lead to data debates.
FINANCE
HAS MORE DATA
TO MANAGE
41%
of CFOs say a single
source of truth is
in progress
45%
have achieved a
single source of truth38%