Makers and Partners (MAP), an audit firm, has called on Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the country to champion the use of technology in financial reporting to help mitigate organisational risk.

Nii Addo Mensah, Managing Partner at MAP, emphasised that integrating financial technology in reporting could streamline operations, enhance data accuracy, reduce costs, and improve decision-making through real-time data analytics.

“This investment in technology, even though initially it seems to be expensive, but you could see that over time it becomes better in reducing cost and in the end eliminates a lot of errors in your work and also gives accurate information to the users of the financial statement,” Mr Mensah explained.

Mr Mensah made these remarks during a CFOs Breakfast Meeting organized by Caseware Africa.

The event aimed to discuss the integration of financial technology, future-ready skills for CFOs, innovative financial reporting solutions, and challenges in adopting new technologies.

The forum, themed “Becoming Financial Professionals of the Future: Embracing Technology Today for Tomorrow’s Challenges,” engaged professionals about the challenges they experience and how they can overcome them using the right technology.

Mr. Mensah noted that with the emergence of Fintech, many companies use it as a third-party application instead of integrating it into their accounting solutions.

“Once you can integrate it, the risk of errors and the risk of misstatement is being managed,” he said.

He also advised businesses to ensure a smooth transition when implementing new financial technologies by conducting thorough needs assessments, choosing scalable and compatible solutions, providing comprehensive training to staff, and maintaining clear communication throughout the implementation process.

Madam Simphiwe Zuma, Africa Sales Manager of Caseware, highlighted that the firm offers technology solutions for financial professionals, particularly in financial reporting compliance.

She noted that their software is International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) compliant, making CFOs' tasks much easier.

“Compliance is changing regularly, therefore, businesses must be abreast with the right technology,” Madam Zuma said. “We automate everything that’s required to be able to implement the software.”

She added, “Instead of CFOs worrying about who is going to query the standards, who is going to know how to put it into the financial statement, we as a software provider have done that for them.

"What is important is to understand and interpret the standards and then use the software to implement.”

Kwasi Agyemang, CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, mentioned the impact of Business Intelligence (BI) software in eliminating onerous data analysis tasks, including financial data analysis.

He emphasised that today, heads of departments and CEOs can access well-analyzed financial statements with infographic presentations at the click of a button on a good Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP).

Mr. Agyemang concluded, “The benefits of technology-driven financial reporting and management are far-reaching, and these benefits directly translate into cost savings, improved decision-making, and ultimately, better financial performance for organizations.”