This document discusses the evolving role of the CFO and how software can help address challenges. It describes how the CFO's responsibilities have expanded beyond financial management to include strategic planning and international operations. The top priorities for CFOs are to have the right financial information available in a timely manner to support decision-making. However, distributed IT systems and outdated processes often make the CFO's daily work more complex and time-consuming. The best software solutions can reduce this complexity by automating workflows, integrating financial data, and providing real-time reporting and analysis tools. This allows CFOs to focus more on strategic tasks rather than manual data collection and reporting activities.

1. The Forecast for the CFO:
Improving the Outlook
for the Finance Function
This guide will explore the ever-changing
role of the CFO and establish how
software can help CFOs and finance
departments to address challenges.

2. 2
Contents
3 Introduction
4 The Evolving Function of the CFO
5 The range of tasks undertaken by CFO
6 Top Priorities for the Future
6 Information: The “currency” of the finance department
7 Reducing Complexity
8 Comprehensive financial accounting information
9 Addressing Challenges Using Software
9 Supporting international growth
10 The importance of flexibility
11 Procurement and operating costs
12 Summary
12 The overall potential of software
13 Checklist: Choosing the right software for your needs
14 Introducing Sage ERP X3
14 The ERP solution that sets the foundations for international expansion and growth

3. 3
Introduction
The Role of CFO
As Chief Financial Officer or CFO, Commercial
Manager, Head of Accounting or Head of Finance,
of a mid-sized to large business, you will be
responsible for the finance department, as well as a
key member of the senior management team. Your
daily operations will cover a broad range of tasks,
including both internal and external accounting.
Your workday is also characterised by many
challenges such as altered refinancing and
investment conditions, internationalisation,
technological developments and changing markets,
in addition to the substantial demands of your daily
operations. Your tasks are complex, your workload
and level of stress are correspondingly high.
You decisions and findings are based on in-depth
analysis into; market or competition, specific
business data such as sales, revenue and costs,
figures such as sales targets or key performance
indicators such as customer satisfaction. It is on this
basis that the company management make
decisions about the company's future, for example
decisions about investments, acquisitions, relocation
abroad or restructuring. You have to report in detail
on the strengths and weaknesses of your company,
critically review strategic projects with regards to
their (financial) feasibility, safeguard the profitability
and assets of your company, negotiate with
investors and creditors, build confidence and much
more.
To do this, excellent financial reporting is a
requirement, as well as a high level of specialist
expertise, an analytical way of thinking with
strategic open-mindedness and good communication
skills. The efficiency of your department as well as
the depth and quality of the information, all highly
depend upon the IT solution you use. And this is
often an area in which huge improvements are
necessary. Some IT solutions are highly functional,
but not designed for international use. Others are too
extensive for a mid-sized business or do not meet
current technological standards. Furthermore, some
cannot be adapted adequately to the requirements of
your company.
It can also be that the provider does not possess
sufficient expertise, its distribution channels are
complicated, or its processes are not flexible enough.
Due to the large range of software providers and
solutions on the market, it has become difficult and
time-consuming to find the right solution for your
needs. How are you, as a finance, but not an
IT expert, expected to negotiate your way around this
market? Initially, it is advisable to work with your IT
department to create an integrated technical concept
that describes as precisely as possible the
requirements of your company and your department
with regard to IT, and then to research the market on
this basis.
The following guidelines are intended to help you to
understand: how software can help you overcome
challenges you face, the considerations when
choosing the software that's right for your needs and
the questions you should ask suppliers and your IT
department.

4. 4
The Evolving Function of the CFO
The workload and range of tasks of the CFO have
also, and increasingly in mid-sized businesses,
greatly changed in the last few years. You are now
more than ever required to be a strategist as much
as an executive and controller for your company.
You have to drive forward and advance the company
– but do so without any risks or side effects! In
economically turbulent times in particular, cost
management and risk evaluation move more sharply
into your focus.
You also have to look at specific market requirements,
for example partial invoices, imputed depreciation,
different evaluation methods, as well as implement legal
changes in Germany for external accounting, such as
the transmission of your balance sheet (electronic
balance sheet), or changes in taxation and bank
guidelines such as SEPA at a European level.
In mid-sized businesses especially, conflicts of
interest frequently arise between entrepreneurs that
are sometimes too visionary, or between those that
are too cautious, and the corporate interests that they
represent. In these cases, your role is often that of a
mediator.
Internationalisation is beneficial
– Particularly in mid-sized businesses
A large number of successful mid-sized businesses
are niche players with high value added density
and, at the same time, global market leaders in their
field. This means that you also have to facilitate
technological progress from a financial perspective,
secure long-term success and expand into new
markets.
Research has shown that international mid-sized
businesses are more successful than those that are
restricted to only one or few markets. Most CFOs see
expansion and internationalisation as the major
challenges of the future. Internationalisation and
sector know-how are therefore part of the core
expertise of CFOs in mid-sized businesses.

5. 55
The Evolving Function of the CFO
The range of tasks undertaken
by the CFO
Strategic Operative Communicative
Annual financial statements
including auditor's certificate
Strategy implementation
Cash flow
Negotiations with investors
and creditors
Development of financial strategy
Risk evaluation
Involvement in overall strategy
Analysis
Supplying findings and analyses for
Reporting, quarterly, half-yearly
and annual reports
Media Contact
management decisions
Financial planning including
feasibility and plausibility checks
Reporting
Controlling
Cost management
Development and
evaluation of scenarios
Building the financial
organisation
Budgeting and planning
Compliance with legal provisions,
taxes
Internationalisation Reporting
Creation of forecasts

6. 6
Top Priorities for the Future
Information: The "currency" of the
finance department
To produce excellent financial reporting that satisfies the demands of both internal and external accounting, and
therefore of the company management and divisions as well as investors and creditors, you need the right
information at the right time and, above all, on a daily basis. You are responsible for managing the complexity of
the accounting system, for example cost accounting that extends to all variants (cost categories, cost units, cost
centres) and internal and flexible controlling and, on the other hand, book-keeping that takes account of legal or
taxation requirements as well as national and international accounting standards, for example. Your daily work is
often more difficult or more time-consuming than you would like.
There are many reasons for this:
• Distributed and heterogeneous IT systems that
do not communicate with each other properly
lead to complicated accounting procedures,
increased effort and higher costs.
• Process structures that have evolved over the
years, but are somewhat outdated and above all
not automated hinder the flow of information and
communication within the financial organisation.
• Inconsistent data and information management,
sometimes still in complex Excel tables, is a
source of potential error and lack of
transparency.
• Inconsistent figures and key performance
indicators make analysis difficult and prevent
clear statements.
• Limited contact with operational teams.
• The dependence of IT analysts on the
procurement of information, for example
obtaining specific data evaluations, delays
processes.
• An organisational structure that has expanded
nationally and internationally, but has never been
properly consolidated, hinders the consolidation
of corporate key figures with the consequence, for
example, that clear statements regarding the
profitability and cost-efficiency of individual areas
cannot be made.
• Markets that are growing in complexity and speed
as well as new legal provisions and guidelines
require adjustments and changes, i.e. change
management.
• Changes in refinancing and investment
conditions need yet more decision-making effort,
and therefore even better financial
communication.

7. 7
Top Priorities for the Future
Reducing complexity
When CFOs are asked about their core tasks,
controlling, financial management, as well as
strategy and planning are often top of the list.
Looking at the actual work distribution, there is
frequently a different picture: based on this
information, day-to-day activities take up so much
time that other important core tasks often fall by the
wayside. This is mainly because you have to work
within the constraints of the difficult conditions
described previously.
The main priority for a business software solution
must therefore be to remedy this situation with the
aim of minimising the discrepancy between the
defined tasks and actual activities in favour of
strategic work. That is, to take the strain off your
day-to-day activities and reduce complexity. If you
or another specialist department has to collate
information manually in an arduous way – which in
an international practice can even take several days
– you find that the information is already outdated
and unusable, and generally 20% presented in an
inconsistent manner. The task of the software
should be to provide you with the necessary
information clearly and at the level of detail you
require – and at the press of a button, in real time,
and from all necessary departments, locations or
subsidiaries. The software should also eliminate or
alleviate certain tasks. The best way to achieve this
is with integrated and international software. The
following section describes how this can be done.
Proportional time budget per task area
Day-to-day activities
Responsibility for results (broad term)
Controlling
Controlling instruments
Agreement with board of directors/company management
Project management
Internal and/or external communication
Strategy and planning
Mergers & Acquisitions
Management tasks (broad term)
Financing
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Average time budget
Software should bring relief and reduce complexity
36%
28%
24%
24%
23%
22%
21%
20%
20%
19%
19%

8. 8
Top Priorities for the Future
Comprehensive financial accounting
information
Comprehensive financial accounting
It goes without saying that good financial accounting
that covers all internal and external financial tasks
forms part of a good business software solution. This
may include accounts payable and receivable,
payment management, cost and budget accounting
with investment accounting, as well as controlling
functions for key figure analysis, key performance
indicators, plausibility checks or risk evaluations, for
example. Most of the solutions available on the
market cover these areas but differ in terms of the
depth of their functionalities and whether they can
integrate the individual requirements that are specific
to your company. It is therefore important that you
check carefully how flexible the solutions are in this
respect.
Comprehensive information leads to
the right decisions
Inter-site collaboration
Very few companies have an organisational
structure with only one company and only one
accounting system. The structures of most
mid-sized companies are more complex, for
example a holding or a group with several
independent subsidiaries. You are responsible for
providing a realistic picture of your entire company
as well as of the individual subsidiaries both
internally and externally, for example as a
representation of the results of operations, financial
position and net assets. Ideally, your software will be
set up in such a way that all companies and
subsidiaries are displayed within one solution and
evaluations can be carried out across all companies.
This facilitates comprehensive cost management
and the preparation of financial statements, for
example, and therefore satisfies both your Managing
Director and external investors because they both
expect you to produce clean, clear, consistent and
comprehensive information – each with a different
focus. Software intended for this type of use is
based on standardised master data across clients
and company codes. Thanks to multi-company or
multi-site functionality, it is able to reflect complex
relationships between corporate entities and also
make it easier for you to carry out comprehensive
controlling and global management.

9. 9
Addressing Challenges Using Software
Supporting international growth
Legislation
If your company is already successful on an
international scale or you are planning to expand
internationally, it is important that local legal
conditions, tax provisions and the respective local
legislation are observed. Business software
solutions that integrate different legislations (multi-
legislation) are specifically designed for this
scenario. You can use these solutions to manage
the full accounting process for many countries,
including the reporting required at a local level such
as tax returns, a profit and loss account, the balance
sheet, as well as the electronic payment run and
specific accounting processes in the financial
statements, for example. They comply with national
as well as international accounting and auditing
standards. The latter – as you are in the best
position to know – are gaining in importance in the
context of economic globalisation, because they
make an important contribution to the harmonisation
and regulation of markets and the removal of entry
barriers. International software solutions support
legislation, for example according to DRS, IFRS, FRS,
FAS, etc., enabling you to use one solution to comply
with all disclosure requirements.
It is important that you consider the certification of
the software and the corresponding test seal, which
confirm if the software is subject to relevant (local)
standards and legislation, for example if you comply
with the principles of data access and verifiability of
digital documents (GDPdU) in Germany. You also
need to consider whether the software solution
includes predefined charts of accounts and bank
files that are adapted to respective national formats,
as well as input tax and tax on sales and purchases
in the corresponding documents and forms for the
target markets. This guarantees you the highest
level of timeliness and accuracy and thus relieves
some of your administrative burden.
International also means supporting
different legislations
Multilingualism and currency systems
In order to execute business transactions at an
international level, an IT system must also support
different currencies and exchange rates, so that you
can carry out a conversion between currencies, or
post or transfer transactions such as invoices and
payments directly in the relevant currency. It goes
without saying that the same applies to your
reporting: with a multilingual software solution you
can prepare and issue your reports in the relevant
language and currency; the software should also take
into account exchange rate fluctuations.
User interfaces and master data in the relevant
country language also speed up data entry and
therefore increase efficiency.
Multiple languages and support of
different currencies creates more
simplicity and collaboration

10. 10
Addressing Challenges Using Software
The importance of flexibility
Covering current and future
requirements
As a result of the financial crisis, it has become
even more important for you, as CFO, to generate
reliable information basis for decision-making in
order to restore any potential loss of confidence in
your company. You now have to analyse, check,
control and manage more than ever. In this context,
new long-term key figures or key performance
indicators are increasingly gaining importance as
measurements of performance and the "overall
health" of your company, for example the speed and
accuracy of processes as well as customer
satisfaction.
Consider whether your software enables you to
flexibly adapt processes and then immediately
implement them, for example for signature
regulations or approval processes.
Strategy and planning
These two core tasks of a CFO require the
software to have an analytical aspect as well as
planning and budgeting functions. It is important
that the solution enables the selection of different
perspectives, such as an analysis of sales by
distribution channel by product line. Consider
whether your chosen software delivers integrated
evaluation functions that can be used immediately
and to their full extent, and that it allows results to
be presented in different formats, dependencies
and views. If these business intelligence functions
still have to be installed and it is complex to do so,
further costs will arise.
Ease of operation and implementation
The ease of operation of the software clearly
determines whether it will be accepted by users and
is a decisive factor in the efficiency potential that will
be actually realised. The ease of operation is best
established by direct use of the software. To do this,
contact manufacturers directly, for example at trade
fairs, congresses and customer, interested party and
partner events.
Flexible technology
Technology is also important in the context of
flexibility. Does your software support modern
standards? Is it flexible in terms of the use of different
database systems? Does it have integrated
development platforms, in order to adapt and create
objects, screens and tables individually? How flexible
is it in terms of its integration with other solutions? Do
not underestimate how open the software is in
comparison with existing systems. Can it also be
easily used online, on mobile and on desktop?
Discuss these topics with your Head of IT
Consider flexibility in terms of
technology and function

11. 11
Addressing Challenges Using Software
Procurement and operating costs
Costs are your area of expertise and therefore
require particular consideration. However, do not
simply calculate the procurement costs, but
compare the total cost of ownership (TCO) of
different solutions.
Consider:
• How often are new (payable)
releases issued?
• How much effort will be
required for the
implementation?
• How flexible is the software to
use?
• How easy is it for your own IT department to
implement changes without having to consult the
manufacturer or partner?
• How compatible is the solution with
existing systems such as database
systems?
• What are the costs of consulting,
training and optimisation?
The savings potential that you may be able to realise
if you replace several local financial solutions with
integrated international software is harder to
calculate but still very important. If, for example, you
operate separate accounting software systems in
each country, the costs will be several times higher
compared with a comprehensive international
solution that integrates countries and legislations.
This is due to the synergy effects that arise if only
one installation is used and the reduction in
adaptation, update and maintenance costs.
Furthermore, you speed up your processes and
achieve greater transparency and quality of
information.
It is also beneficial if your software is set up in a
modular manner, because you have access to all
functions and applications (production, purchasing
and sales, finance, CRM, warehousing and
inventory, etc.), but only use them as required. The
implementation is then gradual, with predictable
costs and realistic goals. In addition, modular
software also enables you to respond quickly to
strategic changes, by easily adding new modules.
Modular software protects the IT budget

12. 1212
Summary
The overall potential of software
A business software solution that integrates the
"classical" applications of internal and external
accounting for both domestic and international
locations including legislation, currencies and
languages is the ideal tool for international
mid-sized companies.
Furthermore, the software must offer the necessary
scope of functionality to enable you to manage your
tasks, such as analysis, controlling and planning, in
a straightforward manner. As a result, you can
realise huge efficiency potential by means of IT
alone and once again carry out your strategic work
more effectively. You achieve an improvement in
quality, because you can access information more
rapidly, clearly and in a consolidated manner with an
integrated and comprehensive solution. Last but not
least, the work burden is reduced in the long term
and your stress levels fall, as the software reliably
provides meaningful information at any time.
Solution selection checklist
The following checklist is intended to provide you with
an overview of the key criteria for an international
solution that also meets the requirements of mid-sized
businesses. It is designed to help with your market
research.

13. 13
Summary
Checklist: Choosing the right software
for your needs
Provider: Yes / No / Notes
Functionality
Are all your key basic applications integrated (financial accounting including
accounts receivable and payable, investment accounting, cost accounting,
controlling, consolidation, etc.)?
How much expertise does the provider have with regard to finance?
Multi-Company
Does the software allow all company divisions (finance, purchasing and sales,
CRM, inventory, production) and subsidiaries to be integrated?
Internationality
Multilingualism: How many languages does the solution "speak"?
Currencies: Does the software support different currencies and enable the
management of exchange rates?
Legislations: Does the system integrate various legislations, including
accounting standards, reporting, forms, etc.?
Countries: In how many and in which countries is the solution available?
Flexibility
Does the solution have a modular structure, and does it allow a cost-efficient,
phased implementation?
Is the solution designed to expand, and is it therefore scalable? Does it allow
simple customising at a reasonable cost? Can individual adjustments be
made to processes, for example?
Operation
Is the software easy to operate?
Does it offer clear analysis in the form of dashboards, for
example? How much training effort is necessary for
users/employees?

14. 14
Summary
Checklist: Choosing the right software
for your needs
(continued)
Provider: Yes / No / Notes
Technology
What is the underlying technology platform?
Does the solution support modern technology standards? Does it
support different database systems or is it limited to one system?
Can third-party systems be linked seamlessly via available interfaces?
Investment security
How long has the provider been on the market? Does it offer
investment protection? How good are its references?
How much attention does it pay to the further development of its
software? What is its product strategy with regard to the future?
Provider
To what extent does it specialise in mid-sized and
large companies?
What is the sales process? Does the company have a direct contact for
its customers or do they operate via partners?
Support
What is the provider's support network like, is it local or global?
Remember to discuss service level agreements with the provider,
for example regarding the international availability in the event of support queries.

15. 15
Introducing Sage ERP X3
The ERP solution that sets the
foundations for international
expansion and growth
Sage ERP X3 is a business software solution
specifically designed for mid-sized companies as
well as for subsidiaries of groups and large
companies that have to fulfil international
requirements. The product has been proven as a
comprehensive solution for more than ten years. To
date, over 3,700 customers in 58 countries and from
a variety of sectors ranging from production and
services through to logistics have chosen
Sage ERP X3.
Thanks to its up-to-date technology, the solution
helps companies remain efficient and flexible in
global business. This is because Sage ERP X3 is
simple, fast and cost-efficient to use and can be
adjusted on an individual basis to meet the
requirements and challenges of mid-sized
companies. Furthermore, Sage ERP X3 is geared
to the specific requirements and challenges of the
financial reporting and accounting of mid-sized
and international businesses. To this end, the
solution supports many languages, currencies
and legislations.
A pan-European organisation within the Sage
Group, which specialises in products and solutions
for the mid-sized business segment, operates
behind Sage ERP X3. It realises joint activities and
initiatives, for example in research and
development, sales and marketing, or
implementation and support. At the same time, Sage
relies on and continues to extend its local expertise
in the respective countries. As a result, Sage
customers not only have access to global resources
and contacts, but Sage unites a high level of
national and international expertise, ensures that
solutions are constantly up-to-date and accelerates
development in line with legal conditions and
technological progress.
If you have any questions about
Sage ERP X3 or would like to
arrange a free demonstration
of the product, then please call:
+44 (0)800 952 0082.

16. 16
Sage ERP X3 globally
3,700 customers
58 Countries
Sage
North Park
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE13 9AA
United Kingdom
Telephone: 0800 952 0082
Email: UKEME@sage.com
www.sage.co.uk/sage-erp-x3