Get ready! Finance automation is at our doorstep.

Did you hear about the new AI? The one called CoPilot for Finance?

Yep, slowly but surely automation is coming for finance jobs. Since 2013 I’ve been wondering when the automation robots would come and have been wondering what the next step for finance would be. If most of your job is manual, then you need to be thinking about how to upskill and what to upskill.

CoPilot for Finance sits in Excel and based upon the video on YouTube, its current capability is just reconciliation. According to a comment made in the comments section, “Copilot for Finance will be able to provide AI-powered, role-based workflow automation, recommendations and guided actions in the flow of work for finance teams.” According to Microsoft, variance analysis will come later. At some point, it may be able to compile profit and loss and balance sheet.

I don’t have access to it since I have not started subscribing to the CoPilot portion although according to the YouTube, it looks free, but probably free for those already subscribing to CoPilot Pro.

Well, it is still very rudimentary, I think it is time to really get moving on figuring out in which direction you are going to go.

If you haven’t been thinking about the next stage for finance, I suggest you mosey over to Accenture, PwC, or Deloitte to read their webpages on the topic of finance. Over the last few years, those consulting firms have been writing about what CFOs and the finance team should be moving towards. The latest iteration I saw was a team composed of various roles such as data analyst/data scientist, storyteller, subject matter expert (I think) and finance.

I was searching through my folders and files and found that I haven’t done any search in 2023. I did do some search for 2024 but I can’t find the document with the topic of roles in finance that included data science. I’m going to have to do another search to see if the thinking has changed in any way. But the finance department will be very different with different roles embedded in the team.

A recent query to CoPilot about what CFOs and finance managers look for brought up the following:

1. Analytical skills: Proficiency in financial analysis and modeling to forecast financial trends and inform business decisions.
2. Technological Savvy: Familiarity with financial software, data analytics tools, and an understanding of emerging technologies like blockchain and AI that can impact financial processes.
3. Strategic Thinking: Ability to contribute to strategic planning and align financial management with the overall business goals.
4. Regulatory Knowledge: Up-to-date knowledge of financial regulations and the ability to ensure compliance
5. Leadership and Communication: Strong leadership to manage teams effectively and excellent communication skills for clear reporting and stakeholder engagement.
6. Innovation Mindset: Openness to new ideas and approaches, especially those that can streamline operations and create cost efficiencies.
7. Adaptability: Flexibility to adapt to the rapidly changing financial landscape and the agility to respond to unforeseen challenges.

Probably wrapped in there would be business partnering, storytelling, and data analytics.