The current economic environment requires unprecedented agility from large enterprises. To achieve this, the Administrative and Finance Department (DAF) must reconcile financial results, compliance with regulations (IFRS, CSRD), and integration of non-financial indicators (CSR, ESG). At the heart of this transformation, digital tools (ERP, EPM, BI) and data play a pivotal role in making performance management a lever for operational excellence.
This article offers a comprehensive approach:
- How to define relevant key indicators and analyze them in real time?
- Why digital transformation requires a clear roadmap and an effective AMOA project manager?
- What are the links between the evolution of financial processes and agile governance?
We address these questions based on both recognized references and Ginesis Finance’s experience gained through numerous transformation projects, illustrating our points with concrete cases.
Managing performance in large enterprises
Managing the performance of a large enterprise involves setting clear strategic objectives, translating them into measurable key performance indicators (KPIs), and relying on a set of tools and processes to make informed decisions. Digital transformation is not limited to dematerializing or automating certain tasks: it entails a paradigm shift in how data are collected, analyzed, and leveraged.
Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs)
Purely financial KPIs (EBITDA, net income, cash flows) remain the backbone of performance management, but no longer reflect a company’s overall performance on their own. To meet IFRS and CSRD requirements, CFO functions are progressively adopting non-financial indicators (e.g., carbon footprint, diversity rate) to better capture value creation and anticipate risks, including reputational risk.
Rather than multiplying metrics, the most effective approach is to prioritize three major families of indicators:
- Strategic (long-term ambition: market share gains, ROI of digital projects, etc.)
- Financial (operating margin, cash management, equity, etc.)
- Non-financial (CO₂ emissions, alignment with the green taxonomy, employee satisfaction, etc.)
Beyond acronyms and theories, the challenge for the DAF is to build a coherent KPI system truly aligned with business realities. Thus, an industrial company targeting improved operating profitability might set an objective to reduce DSO by 15% within two fiscal years, while a retail chain would focus on increasing the customer retention rate. In all cases, the aim is to unite teams around shared improvement axes, ensuring a unified view of financial and non-financial performance.
Our advice:
For a DAF in 2025, it is increasingly essential to complement profitability indicators with non-financial KPIs aligned with the CSRD. Beyond the classic carbon emissions, consider integrating metrics on diversity, training, and workplace well-being. These factors are increasingly influencing the company’s overall valuation.
Analyzing data for informed decision-making
Data mastery is now a competitiveness factor. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) tools centralize and structure real-time data (sales, costs, cash, etc.). The rise of AI and machine learning adds a predictive layer: based on sales history or market trends, algorithms anticipate fluctuations, optimize inventory, and assess potential margin developments.
- Data collection: automate information flow using BI (Business Intelligence) connectors.
- Cleansing and reliability: implement controls to eliminate duplicates and anomalies—an essential step for IFRS reporting or CSR compliance.
- Predictive analytics: detect weak signals via AI (non-compliance risks, variations in raw-material costs, etc.).
Our Ginesis Finance experience:
In this context, the DAF benefits from systematically cross-referencing financial and operational data (production, supply chain, quality) to better assess overall performance and strengthen management analysis.
Assessing the impact of technologies on productivity
Coupling an ERP with a reporting solution compliant with IFRS/CSRD standards reduces time spent on consolidation and management control tasks. Responsiveness improves, as the DAF can focus on analysis and the recommendation of strategic scenarios.
- Dynamic dashboards: access with one click the evolution of financial indicators (cash flow, gross margin) and non-financial indicators (waste generated, recycling rate, etc.).
- Feedback: Companies investing in the automation of financial processes (invoicing, bank reconciliation) observe a notable reduction in human error and a marked increase in productivity. A study published in the International Journal of Applied Management and Economics (August 2024) shows that automation of accounting tasks leads to a significant improvement in operational efficiency, with lower costs and higher overall productivity.
FAQ: What is the impact of digitalization on company performance?
Digitalization facilitates automatic data collection, predictive analytics, and real-time collaboration, resulting in faster and more relevant decision-making.
Organizations that invest in digital performance-management solutions generally see productivity gains, better risk control, and optimized profitability. For example, according to an OECD study in 2017, SMEs benefit from improved access to skills, markets, and financing through digital transformation, which enhances their overall performance.
These results underscore the importance of digitalization in strengthening corporate competitiveness and efficiency.
Digitally transforming the organization
Digital transformation is not just about technologies: it is a broad organizational, cultural, and strategic undertaking. For the DAF, the challenge is to have robust tools as well as a clear vision of the objectives to be achieved: aligning operational performance with strategic priorities while ensuring smooth adoption of new practices by teams.
Defining an effective digital transformation strategy
Before choosing an EPM solution or deploying AI modules, it is essential to define a roadmap aligned with the company’s strategy. Key steps include:
- Audit of existing processes: identify friction points (manual data collection, silos between departments, etc.).
- Project scoping: clarify the scope (e.g., automating accounts payable, redesigning IFRS reporting, integrating CSRD non-financial disclosures).
- Tool selection: compare the ERP approach (integrated), EPM (specialized in financial performance), and BI solutions (data analytics).
- Change-management plan: anticipate team training and resistance to adoption.
The AMOA project manager (Assistance à Maîtrise d’Ouvrage) plays a structuring role. They act as an interface between business teams (DAF, management controllers) and IT or external providers, ensuring that financial and operational needs are properly addressed.
Our Ginesis Finance experience:
In a mission for a major CAC 40 player in the pharmaceutical industry, Ginesis Finance oversaw the implementation of an EPM solution to unify financial and non-financial reporting while integrating IFRS and CSRD standards.
Upstream, we established a change-management framework based on targeted training, co-construction of operating procedures with local teams, and regular feedback loops. This approach proved decisive in reducing consolidation time by 20%, improving the reliability of closings, and securing buy-in from all stakeholders involved.
By leveraging our triple expertise (business, project management, IS), we supported the DAF’s skills development and created the conditions for lasting adoption of the new solution.
Integrating digital tools into existing processes
Consistency and interoperability are two fundamental principles for ensuring the reliability of financial and non-financial data:
- ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): provides a comprehensive, unified view (sales, inventory, orders).
- EPM (Enterprise Performance Management): focuses on planning, budgeting, financial consolidation, and predictive analysis. Ideal for DAFs seeking to refine their steering.
- BI (Business Intelligence): enables the creation of dynamic dashboards and customized indicators in real time.
Data consistency (financial and CSR) is a critical issue, particularly under the CSRD, where any inconsistency can undermine corporate credibility. However, not all EPM solutions natively include the ESG dimension, making a careful preliminary selection and appropriate configuration essential to ensure alignment between economic and non-financial performance.
Diagram 2 (suggestion): Comparison of ERP, EPM, and BI tools for DAFs
- ERP: broad functional coverage, enterprise-wide steering, varied modules (accounting, supply chain, sales, etc.).
- EPM: focused on planning and financial performance (budget, forecast, consolidation).
- BI: advanced data exploitation (custom reporting, predictive analytics, real-time dashboards).
The central role of data in transforming management models
In most digital transformation projects, data quality and governance form an essential foundation. Data quality, data governance, and data management make analyses reliable, ensure compliance with regulatory requirements (IFRS, CSRD), and feed AI algorithms with consistent information. For the DAF, this often implies a complete overhaul of management models to align financial objectives with business imperatives and to integrate the non-financial dimension at the heart of value creation.
Measuring the return on investment of digital initiatives
A successful digital transformation must demonstrate its profitability. Companies that quantify benefits precisely (time savings, cost reductions, improved cash position, etc.) can more easily justify investments in tools (software, training, support).
- Time savings: automation of invoicing, dunning, etc.
- Cost reduction: elimination of input errors, reduced need for outsourcing.
- Cash improvement: better cash-flow visibility, ability to negotiate supplier and customer terms.
Our advice:
The DAF, drawing on its triple expertise (business, project management, IS), can lead the data workstream and ensure overall consistency. This consistency is essential to meet new reporting requirements (CSRD) and enhance the use of data in support of performance.
FAQ: How can a company successfully carry out its digitalization?
Success requires a clear strategic vision, alignment of stakeholders (executive management, DAF, IT), and the deployment of a coherent change-management plan.
The choice of tools (ERP, EPM, BI) should be guided by the objective of data consistency, and ROI measurement should be performed regularly to adjust course as needed.
Ensuring agile and effective governance
Governance encompasses the company’s management and control mechanisms, of which the DAF is a key pillar. In a rapidly changing environment (CSR regulation, technological advances, evolving customer needs), the ability to orchestrate change becomes a major asset.
Implementing collaborative working methods
Digitalization fosters collaboration through co-creation and information-sharing tools (ERP, BI platforms, etc.). Teams can track KPI progress in real time, comment on variances, and propose action plans. For the DAF, this results in:
- Greater cross-functionality: finance is no longer a silo; it connects with sales, HR, and customer service.
- Increased responsiveness: consolidating financial and non-financial data enables rapid alerts on budget overruns or CSR non-compliance risks.
Fostering leadership adoption of change
Executive sponsorship remains a decisive factor in the success of a performance-management project. Leaders must understand the benefits of digital transformation and be trained to use the new dashboards.
- Continuous training: upskilling on AI trends and on interpreting new CSR KPIs.
- Strategic alignment: ensuring every decision (investment, diversification, etc.) integrates a financial and a non-financial dimension, in the spirit of the green taxonomy.
Tracking the evolution of organizational capabilities
The DAF must regularly reassess available resources and skills. Management controllers are increasingly required to use data-science tools, while hybrid profiles (finance + IT) are emerging to address growing project complexity.
- Dashboards: measure the effectiveness of internal processes, such as average time to close, EPM tool adoption rate, etc.
- New DAF competencies: in-depth understanding of AI, ability to challenge IT on data governance.
FAQ: Why is performance management crucial in an uncertain economic environment?
In an uncertain context (inflation, geopolitical instability, globalized competition), performance management helps quickly detect budget variances and evaluate the impact of different scenarios. Thanks to digitalization, the DAF can rapidly simulate the effect of an external shock on margins, cash, or investment capacity, then define corrective actions.
Conclusion
Digital transformation offers unprecedented opportunities to strengthen performance management: more precise financial and non-financial indicators, interconnected ERP/EPM tools, predictive analytics through AI, and collaborative working methodologies. Finance departments that leverage these drivers can generate genuine competitive advantages, whether in productivity or regulatory compliance. To deepen the strategic dimension of profitability indicators, consult our article on financial performance.
Success hinges on implementing a clear strategy supported by an AMOA project manager and by leadership. The goal is to place data at the heart of decision-making while ensuring consistency between economic performance and societal responsibility criteria (CSR, ESG).
Next steps:
- Assess your company’s digital-transformation maturity.
- Identify priority projects (ERP, EPM, CSR reporting).
- Implement an action plan to enhance agility and reliability.
To go further, download our white paper “Performance Management: Full Speed Ahead for Digital Transformation” or contact us. Ginesis Finance will support your transition, from the initial diagnosis to the implementation of the most suitable solutions.