Today’s CFOs are being asked to do more than manage day-to-day finances. They’re expected to become an integral part of corporate decision making, which is increasingly driven by data. This has evolved the CFOs role in digital transformation.
But digital transformation can be costly, which is why this changing role is also coming with greater pressure to demonstrate ROI. According to IBM’s 2024 CFO Study, nearly 65% of CFOs say they’re under pressure to accelerate ROI on their technology investments.
One of the biggest challenges CFOs face is how to achieve meaningful, scalable transformation without risking wasted investment. Trying to overhaul multiple systems all at once can backfire, often resulting in high costs, inconsistent implementation, and positive ROI timescales measured in years, if it happens at all.
A stepped, modular approach of introducing technology in stages can potentially be far more effective, delivering faster results with less upfront investment. Starting small allows finance leaders to see returns earlier, optimize processes incrementally, and keep transformation efforts agile.
In this article, we’ll explore why a phased approach is essential for effective tech implementation, how CFOs can build a data-driven foundation for transformation, and which tools and techniques are most effective for ensuring data integrity and accelerating ROI.
The CFOs Role in Digital Transformation
As strategic advisors, CFOs are central to driving digital initiatives that align with both the company’s financial goals and long-term growth strategy. But many finance leaders find themselves walking a tightrope between keeping up with the rapid pace of technological change, and the need to prove ROI on tech investments in the short term.
That’s particularly challenging with tech implementation, because spending doesn’t automatically equal immediate returns. While AI, automation, and digital platforms hold enormous potential for efficiency and insights, their success hinges on high-quality data and thoughtful implementation. Even spending big money can result in sub-par returns, and there are countless high profile examples of failed digital transformation from some of the world’s biggest companies.
So, money needs to be spent on digital transformation, but the challenge is knowing where and how to spend it. It’s no surprise that one of the key findings of the IBM CFO study was that leading CFO’s are better at determining investment priorities.
A modular approach to digital transformation allows CFOs to begin with one high-impact area, such as payment automation or cash flow forecasting, and build out additional functionality over time. This measured approach not only reduces the initial financial burden but also ensures that each step provides clear value, making it easier to justify further investments.
Why Data Integrity is the Key to Scalable Transformation
Data integrity — clean, organized, and consistently formatted data — is the foundation of any successful digital project. Without it, the promised value of all of the tools, features, and analytics are compromised. A step-by-step approach to digital transformation allows for data quality to be managed and maintained at each phase, so that the tech implementation is based on reliable data from the start.
It’s like starting a road trip with the wrong coordinates (data) for your destination. No matter how much ‘progress’ is made or how many adjustments are implemented, it’s not going to work if that foundational data is wrong.
But the right end result isn’t the only benefit of a solid data foundation. It can also help make the process more sustainable and effective. Here are some of the reasons why:
Accuracy
Consider this, nearly 40% of CFOs do not completely trust their financial data, according to a BlackLine survey. This impedes decision making and makes it difficult to respond to sudden market changesClean data enables CFOs to make more informed decisions, ensuring that automation and AI produce accurate and actionable insights. This is about reducing the margin of error for forecasts, providing more accurate reporting to better inform decision making, and allowing for better identification of trends and anomalies.
Efficiency
Accurate, organized data minimizes the time spent on error correction and manual adjustments, allowing teams to focus on high-value analysis. Simply put, the better the system works, the less time is spent on manual work, the better the ROI will be.
Scalability
Starting small, with well-maintained data processes, allows CFOs to gradually expand transformation efforts while preserving data integrity across all initiatives. A modular approach to digital transformation must have a scalable process to allow it to be effective across the whole business. The data processes that work for the first implementation need to work for the last, or the project risks becoming a white elephant.
When CFOs adopt a modular approach, they can establish strong data quality standards in each area, such as payments or reconciliation, before expanding into other areas. This not only strengthens the accuracy of each system but also prepares the organization for scalable, data-driven growth.
4 Steps for Building a Data-Driven Foundation
We’ve talked about the challenge facing CFOs and the importance of the right foundation, but how do you go about practically building it? Well, here are essential steps CFOs can take to give them the best chance for success:
1. Start With Data Centralization
Centralizing data from disparate sources creates a single source of truth that improves consistency and accuracy across all financial reporting. By using a centralized treasury or data management platform with API integrations, CFOs can consolidate data from multiple banks, departments, and systems. Starting with one core area, such as payments or reconciliation, can simplify this process and ensure data quality from the outset.
2. Standardize and Normalize Data
With the data all in one place, there needs to be a level of standardization that allows it to be used effectively. Inconsistent data formatting is a common obstacle to accurate reporting and automation. CFOs should prioritize solutions that automatically standardize and normalize data, particularly when dealing with multi-bank transactions or multiple formats.
Even if some manual work is still required to refine the automated system, it will substantially cut it down from a fully manual process. By centralizing and standardizing data incrementally, CFOs ensure that each area added to the transformation initiative builds on accurate, uniform data.
3. Use Data Tagging and Categorization
Tagging is a powerful tool for data organization and categorization. It’s another feature where the simplicity somewhat hides the huge benefits it can bring to an organization.
By implementing data tagging, CFOs can create organized, easily filterable datasets. For instance, by tagging transactions by region or type, such as all payments originating in the U.S. or Canada, CFOs can instantly generate reports or conduct analysis without sorting through fragmented data. We’ve heard many stories at Trovata about CFOs being able to generate bespoke reports or create scenario forecasts in the moment, while discussing the situation with their CEO.
“A key benefit that we get from Trovata is completely off the cuff analysis. Our bank data used to be unreadable and unusable, but with Trovata as a data analysis layer in between, we can instantly analyze vendor or customer relationships, see the last time we made specific payments, and more. Trovata turns our bank data into a rich source of insights.”
Faheem Sorathia Senior Accountant at Emerald
Getting this process in place also builds the foundation for better control over company-wide financial data as digital transformation scales across the business.
4. Adopt a Step-By-Step Approach With Targeted Automation
AI is everywhere. Some might argue, it’s a little too ubiquitous. While AI, machine learning and automation tools can add major benefits if deployed thoughtfully, going nuts on automation can create more problems than it solves.
Applying automation selectively helps ensure high-impact gains with minimal risk. CFOs can begin by automating specific processes — such as bank reconciliations or cash forecasting — before moving on to more complex areas. This gradual, targeted approach minimizes disruption, improves ROI, and builds a solid foundation for further automation.
Selecting Modern Tools for Data Management
The final piece of the puzzle is selecting the right modern finance platform to enable all of these steps. Especially when trying to maximize ROI, getting this choice right is incredibly important. Here are key features CFOs should prioritize in their search:
API Integration for real-time data flow — Tools with robust API connectivity simplify data integration across multiple banks and platforms, ensuring an accurate, real-time, single source of truth.
Multi-bank data standardization — Look for platforms that automatically standardize data from multiple sources, reducing manual intervention and preserving data integrity.
Flexible implementation — Select a platform that allows for quick, incremental deployment, making it easy to add functionality as needs evolve. It’s important to understand the difference between cloud-based software and cloud-native software. While cloud-based options have been adapted for cloud hosting, cloud-native options have been built specifically for the cloud.
Advanced tagging and categorization — Solutions that support tagging enable CFOs to categorize and organize data effectively, simplifying reporting and analysis as the transformation progresses. Look carefully at how these tags can be used in a real world setting. What reports can be run using the tags? How about forecast scenarios?
Built-in automation — Automated data analysis and movement capabilities allow for seamless, accurate insights, even when data is added incrementally. As mentioned above, automation use needs to be thoughtful, but done right, it can be incredibly powerful.
Mastering Digital Leadership in 2025
In 2025, successful digital transformation will rely on a thoughtful, stepped approach led by CFOs who prioritize data integrity. By taking incremental steps, focusing on data management, and choosing adaptable technology, CFOs can accelerate ROI, minimize risks, and lead digital transformation without disruption.
Ready to start your digital transformation? Explore how Trovata’s modern, flexible treasury and finance tech solutions can support your team as you build a scalable, data-driven future. Book a demo today.
