Remote Work: The Future of Finance?

From CFO magazine to PWC to KPMG, the response from finance teams who transitioned to remote overnight, has been overwhelmingly positive.

CFO magazine reported that McKinsey’s leader of strategy and corporate finance practice noted that the use of accounting and automation software and other tech to get work done virtually was “surprisingly good” – so much so that they believe the future of work for finance is definitely hinging toward being more predominantly virtual.  They noted that for learning, mentoring and team-building being together is vital ,but that much of the day to day automated work is better, remote, with less distractions than the office.

Amongst the tech being depended on by virtual finance teams – Microsoft Teams with its superior security features compared to something like Zoom, has become a go-to.   Instant messaging tools and secure cloud-based document sharing tools have also been business critical for finance teams operating remotely.

Those businesses which had already migrated IT systems to the cloud certainly felt the benefit of being able to collaborate, virtually, from anywhere.  Gartner’s survey earlier this year indicated that just over half of responding CFOs intended to shift upto 10% of their workforce to remote work permantly whilst almost  a quarter were looking to move 20% or more of their finance teams to remote or semi-remote work on a permanent basis.  In FutureCFO, Clive Webb, Head of Business Management at ACCA’s Insight Team noted an increase in investment in technology transformation, commenting that “remote access to systems and the use of cloud-based applications has been key.”

PWc’s Remote Work Survey  in June 2020 indicated that a permanently flexible workweek was broadly supported – over 80% of office workers would like to work from home at least one day a week , and over half of employers seem to back the idea of doing so.  That said, the report noted that the office is not dead yet, with a quarter of respondents indicating they will require more office space three years from now.

The future remains uncertain, but what is clear is that remote work has become – and will remain – a staple of business life.