Mumbai: Businesses today are leading through uncertainty and addressing concerns with optimism to return to normalcy in a 12-18 months time frame according to the survey released by American Express India. 51% of companies have not been adversely impacted due to ongoing pandemic and have experienced either growth or have had no impact on business performance. Industries such as healthcare, pharma, and manufacturing witnessed growth despite the unprecedented time.
The survey was conducted for American Express by EY, the leading professional services organization, and explores the impact of the current pandemic on finance function and business operations along with the key financial transformation areas of focus. Over 80 CFOs of large and mid-cap companies responded to the survey, which acts as a curtain-raiser to this year’s American Express India CFO Summit, being hosted by Moneycontrol to be held on November 24, 2020.
Megha Chopra, Business Head, Global Commercial Services said, “The pandemic has led to significant changes and challenging situations for businesses across industries. Interestingly, 60% of the companies which responded to the survey are prioritizing transformation to ensure business continuity and resilience as one of their top focus areas. The silver lining is that many sectors reported growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what is really encouraging is that we have already started witnessing green shoots in the impacted sectors such as auto, travel, food, and entertainment.”
Technology: a key business enabler
While technology is being increasingly looked at as an enabler for virtual operations, there is also a growing need to leverage technology for better planning, forecasting, and reporting. Three out of five CFOs are also looking to us herin digital strategies and transform the core accounting processes. Two in every three CFOs are willing to invest in collaboration software & digital enablers to enable virtual operations.
Silver lining: Risks and uncertainties, not a deterrent
While the systemic risks loom large over organizations, there is a belief that further stimulus packages and regulatory support will ease the journey back to normal. 1 out of 2 CFOs agrees that they need to address issues such as productivity, costs, and talent management to be able to build resilience.
Re-strategize and focus on transparency across value chain
With supply chain management being a key issue for companies, CFOs are looking to re-strategize sourcing and focus on transparency across the value chain. Additionally, there is an increased focus to address bottlenecks in receivable and payable cycle – both internal and external- to meet working capital requirements.
The India CFO Summit will bring together various industry doyens such as Megha Chopra, Country Business Head, Global Commercial Services, American Express India, R Shankar Raman, CFO L&T, and Pratyush Mittal, CFO, Mondelez India, among others. It seeks to elucidate the pathway to navigate the next course of cash management and chart the businesses’ transition into the new normal with a CFO’s perspective.
