According to new data, the majority of UK senior financial leaders reported that they missed out on growth opportunities because their employees did not have direct access to budgets. Soldo
Many senior finance leaders are reluctant to give employees direct access to company funds despite 78% saying that they would trust them with the money. This leads directly into a productivity bottleneck. This is due to the perceived lack of understanding of finance policies by employees (35%). Over half of UK workers (54%) confess to breaking the rules in order to access company funds.
Impact on business growth
A study conducted with employees and finance leaders highlights the negative impact of restricting budgeting access on growth potential.
- Missed Revenue Opportunities: Many of the senior finance leaders who reported missed revenue opportunities in the last 12 months note that they have suffered substantial financial consequences. These include financial losses (39%), the loss of existing clients (38%), or delayed product and service launches (39%).
- Project delay and frustration: Nearly 50% of employees say that interactions with finance has slowed down projects. 31% point to the slow response time from finance and 21% note a focus on cutting costs at the expense growth.
- Administrative burden: A high administrative burden is experienced by one in six finance managers. 59% of them admit that budget adjustments are a challenge as priorities change.
Almost three-quarters (73%) report that complex financial processes hinder or slow them down in their efforts to help employees pursue new business opportunities. Moreover, they revealed that 60% of finance teams face surprises at the end of each month. This distracts them from their growth strategies.
Brandon Till, the Head of Transformation for Soldo says, “Everything a business does needs money. When you don’t empower your employees by giving them their own money, then, simply put, nothing happens.” What is the cost? Growth. Our findings clearly demonstrate this.
“By giving employees the power to manage their budgets responsibly and giving financial leaders the tools to proactively control decentralised expenditure, organisations can operate more efficiently and confidently.”
Budget access – a path to productivity increase
By increasing employee productivity, empowering employees through improved access to company funds can reshape growth strategies for businesses. Employees and finance leaders cited the following as primary benefits:
- Improved employee motivation: Senior leaders predict an increase in proactivity, agility and motivation.
- Increased productivity: 40 percent of employees think their productivity will increase if they have easier access to budgets.
- Improved finance-business relationship. More budget flexibility can improve the relationship between finance and business.
Decentralising company spending – i.e. Finance teams are unable to see what has been spent in real time because the procurement process is not centralised. They also face increased administrative burdens at month’s end.
With a progressive approach to spend governance, businesses can spot inefficiencies, eliminate waste and accomplish more. Businesses can eliminate waste, improve efficiency and achieve more with a progressive spend governance approach. .”
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