Being a chief financial officer is no easy feat, especially when it comes to handling financial documents. Sometimes, it’s even a challenge to keep track of such a massive amount of data while ensuring it’s stored and exchanged securely. This may be why 53% of CFOs plan to accelerate digital transformation using artificial intelligence, data analytics, automation and cloud solutions.
Fortunately, there’s a versatile solution that can help CFOs — virtual data rooms. Once you explore how they work, you’ll see that integrating them into your workflow is the way to go!
Who is a CFO?
A CFO (chief financial officer) is the top-ranking executive managing a company’s financial activities that involve keeping track of cash flow, analyzing financial strengths and weaknesses, and taking corrective actions as needed. In addition, CFOs must provide accurate forecasts that aid management in making decisions regarding investments or cost-saving measures.
What does a CFO do?
The role of CFO demands a vast understanding and mastery of several financial management areas. Additionally, possessing practical leadership abilities is crucial.
The standard CFO job description includes the following tasks and obligations:
- Financial strategy. Formulate and implement financial strategies that align with the company’s objectives.
- Financial planning and analysis. Develop and oversee the company’s financial planning and analysis procedures, such as budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting.
- Risk management. Recognize and manage financial risks, such as credit and market risks, and create suitable risk management plans.
- Accounting. Supervise the organization’s accounting functions, including accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), and general ledger (GL).
- Treasury. Oversee the company’s cash, investments, and debt to ensure efficient use of financial resources and optimal cash management.
- Taxation. Ensure the company adheres to tax laws and regulations and optimize tax strategies to minimize tax liabilities.
- Financial reporting. Prepare and scrutinize financial statements and reports for investors, management, and regulatory agencies.
- Compliance. Guarantee compliance with financial controls and accounting standards.
- Financial leadership. Provide financial guidance and support to the executive team, board of directors, and other stakeholders.
- Team management. Manage the finance team regarding hiring, training, and performance management.
Although the CFO’s job description varies depending on the company’s size, industry, and specific requirements, the above responsibilities are in most CFO job descriptions. As you can see, many responsibilities relate to financial data management, which can sometimes be a headache for CFOs. Fortunately, there is software that streamlines the processes.
What is a virtual data room for financial data management?
A data room is a secure online platform for storing, managing, and sharing financial statements, contracts, and other critical financial data. As a rule, a virtual data room is widely used in mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, restructuring, and other cases where strict confidentiality is vital. Also, a virtual data room due diligence has gained a significant population among deal makers.
Helpful tip: Read virtual data room reviews before choosing a provider. Thus, you will learn about all the advantages and disadvantages of the solution first-hand.
Data room features
Virtual data rooms can make your CFO’s job easier and more efficient by delivering the following features.
1. Document management features
- Secure data storage. Data rooms provide secure, encrypted space for keeping financial documents safe in transit and at rest.
- Document organization. The solution provides neat organization and categorization of documents through automatic indexing tools. As files are deleted or added, the structure remains organized.
- Drag and drop. With this feature, you can manage hundreds of files by dragging and dropping them from one place to another.
- Full-text search. All financial documents are easily searchable – a user should enter a keyword to find what is needed. Moreover, leading providers offer Optical Character Recognition, which allows finding data regardless of document format.
2. Document security features
- Dynamic watermarks. Watermarks provide security for all financial documents when viewing, downloading, or printing. This way, CFOs can confidently share data because watermarks make it secure and easily traceable.
- Granular document permissions. Only admins decide what operations can be performed with a particular document. Depending on the data room provider, several permission levels may be available, including Download PDF, Download Encrypted PDF, Fence View, etc.
- Remote shred. Access rights to data can be revoked even after downloading to maintain strict control over financial documents, providing CFOs an additional security layer.
3. Other features CFOs need
- Real-time collaboration. Virtual data rooms support real-time collaboration through private and group chats, notifications, and Q&A modules, allowing a CFO to work with colleagues and external parties on financial planning, analysis, and reporting.
- Financial reporting. Since documents in data rooms are automatically updated, CFOs can ensure data accuracy when reporting to stakeholders.
- Compliance support. The solution adheres to international data management standards such as ISO27001, SOC2, and GDPR. It ensures that users can be confident in their compliance.
- Audit trails. Detailed audit trails track all activities related to financial documents, aiding in regulatory compliance and internal auditing.
- Data analytics. Some providers offer data analytics tools that help CFOs gain insights from financial data, enabling better decision-making and strategic planning.
- Mobile accessibility. CFOs can access and manage financial data on the go via mobile devices, ensuring they are always updated.
What are the data room benefits for you as a CFO?
The benefits of data rooms are numerous, but the main ones are as follows:
- Safety. Virtual data rooms are super safe! Unlike other platforms, data rooms have no history of data breaches.
- A variety of features. The software is feature-rich. It offers not just secure storage and sharing channels but also tools for collaboration, communication, access setup, activity tracking, and report generation.
- User-friendliness. Using virtual data rooms is a breeze! There is no need to attend training sessions to take full advantage of the platform’s features because everything is intuitive.
- Cost-effectiveness. A virtual data room cost is usually affordable, allowing you to take your business to the next level without breaking the bank.
If this is what you were looking for, it’s time to look for top providers, check the tools they offer, read virtual data room reviews, and choose the best fit!