iFD and Sage Event: Driving enterprise value – The iFD community recently came together for an insightful session hosted in partnership with Sage, featuring Marvin Fletcher Rogers, Principal Consultant and Head of Business Development at Sage. The event centred on a crucial topic for today’s finance leaders: unlocking enterprise value through authentic intelligence-enabled financials.. It offered an in-depth look at how finance functions are evolving and the tools, strategies and mindsets that facilitate scalable growth.
As businesses face ever-more complex market conditions and pressure to scale quickly and efficiently, this session provided valuable guidance on how finance teams can move beyond traditional reporting.
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THE CHANGING ROLE OF FINANCE IN SCALING BUSINESSES
Marvin opened the session by discussing the fundamental shift in the role of finance within organisations. Where finance once focused primarily on historical reporting and compliance, it is now a proactive, forward-looking role, supporting operational teams, guiding strategic decisions and driving efficiency.
FINANCE AS A STRATEGIC PARTNER
Scaling companies face numerous FinOps challenges: increasing complexity in operations, evolving governance requirements and the need for rapid, data-driven decision-making. The finance function must provide real-time insights, scenario planning and robust financial controls to navigate these challenges.
Marvin emphasised how finance teams are breaking down traditional silos, collaborating more closely with departments such as sales, marketing and operations to deliver greater business value. This cultural shift requires new skillsets; finance professionals must be commercially aware, tech-enabled and comfortable interpreting both financial and non-financial data.
UNLOCKING ENTERPRISE VALUE THROUGH FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
One of the core themes of the session was the critical importance of financial transparency to maximise value. As businesses grow, whether organically or via mergers and acquisitions, accurate, consolidated and accessible financial data becomes a foundation for strategic success.
MULTI-ENTITY AND MULTI-GAAP REPORTING
Growing businesses often operate across multiple countries, legal entities and regulatory regimes. Marvin highlighted the complexity involved in consolidating financials across different accounting standards (GAAPs), currencies and tax rules. Sage Intacct’s cloud-native solutions support multi-entity consolidation, multi-book reporting and localisation. This enables finance teams to generate timely, accurate reports that comply with diverse requirements.
INVESTOR-GRADE METRICS AND AUDIT READINESS
For companies seeking investment or preparing for an IPO, investor-grade financial metrics, such as the Rule of 40, unit economics, adjusted EBITDAand audit readiness are essential. Transparent financial reporting builds trust and eases due diligence, boosting valuations. Marvin emphasised the need for strong controls, real-time reconciliation and detailed audit trails, which not only ensure accuracy but also provide actionable insights for finance teams, boards and investors.
EXAMPLE: SUPPORTING M&A INTEGRATION
Imagine a mid-sized tech company acquiring a smaller competitor to expand its product suite. Without seamless financial consolidation and reporting, integrating the acquired business can lead to delays, inaccuracies and lost strategic momentum. Tools that enable tiered consolidation and multi-statutory reporting reduce these risks and help the company grow faster after a merger.
DELIVERING SCALE WITH AI-ENABLED AUTOMATION
Automation is now a must-have for growing finance teams without adding to headcount or risk. Marvin explained how AI-powered automation transforms finance operations, streamlining workflows, reducing errors and enhancing decision-making.
AUTOMATING MANUAL PROCESSES
Traditional finance teams often spend too much time on manual tasks like data entry, invoice processing and reconciliations. Automating accounts payable and receivable workflows frees up valuable capacity, allowing finance professionals to focus on analysis and strategic work.
AI AS A FINANCE COPILOT
AI goes beyond automating tasks, it also delivers intelligent insights. Marvin introduced the Sage Copilot, an AI assistant designed to provide finance teams with predictive analytics, anomaly detection and automated close processes. By delivering faster real-time, actionable insights, the Copilot helps bridge the gap between finance and operations, enabling smarter more agile decision-making.
For instance, it can flag unusual spending patterns or predict cash flow issues before they happen, allowing teams to act early. This predictive power is especially valuable for fast-growing businesses where agility and cost control are critical.
Combining automation with AI allows companies to scale their finance operations without growing the team as quickly as revenue or transactions increase.
MANAGING GROWTH AND OVERCOMING SCALING PAINS
Scaling businesses inevitably face operational challenges that can restrict growth if left unaddressed. Marvin outlined some of the most common pain points and how modern FinOps practices help overcome them:
- COMMUNICATION SILOS
In many businesses, finance remains isolated from other departments, leading to duplicated effort and delayed decision-making. By integrating systems and encouraging cross-functional collaboration, finance teams can break down these silos, streamline communication and improve agility.
- MANUAL AND DUPLICATE EFFORT
Manual data handling is inefficient and error prone. Finance teams must leverage automation and integrated platforms to eliminate redundant tasks, ensuring that finance operations keep pace with the growth of the business.
- INSUFFICIENT REPORTING INSIGHT
Timely, detailed reporting is key to strategic decision-making. With advanced analytics and dimensional reporting, finance teams can deliver targeted insights for stakeholders at every level, from CEOs to operations managers.
KEY VALUE CREATION LEVERS FOR FINANCE LEADERS
Marvin identified several key levers finance leaders can pull to drive enterprise value:
- Unlocking Organic Growth
Organic growth strategies include product expansion, entering new markets and adopting innovative revenue models such as subscriptions or usage-based pricing:
- Dimensional and cohort analysis enables deeper understanding of customer behaviour and revenue drivers.
- Localisation capabilities ensure compliance with entity-specific tax, currency and statutory reporting requirements.
- Forecasting and scenario planning allow businesses to model multiple outcomes and optimise resource allocation.
- Supporting Inorganic Growth Through M&A
Mergers and acquisitions can be powerful drivers of growth, but they also demand strong financial integration to realise their full value. Without it, companies risk inefficiencies, data inconsistencies and delayed decision-making. A smooth financial integration ensures unified reporting, better visibility across entities and faster alignment on strategic goals.
- Multi-entity consolidation and multi-book reporting ensure accurate financial aggregation.
- FinOps tech stack integration enables smooth data flow across platforms.
- A holistic financial and operational picture supports strategic decision-making and risk management.
- Leveraging AI-Powered Automation
Automation improves efficiency and scalability, while AI delivers predictive insights.
- Streamlined AP and AR processes reduce manual workload.
- AI-powered insights enhance financial planning and risk mitigation.
- Tools like the Sage Intacct Copilot facilitate real-time collaboration between finance and business users.
MAXIMISING VALUATION WITH FINANCIAL INSIGHTS
Ultimately, these initiatives aim to maximise enterprise valuation by demonstrating financial transparency, operational efficiency and growth potential.
- Investor reporting and governance provides stakeholders with confidence.
- Real-time, investor-grade metrics enable timely performance tracking.
- Compliance and internal controls mitigate risk.
- Detailed reconciliation and audit trails support audit readiness.
CONCLUSION: A ROADMAP FOR FINANCE LEADERS
This iFD Community event offered valuable insights into how finance teams can evolve from traditional roles into strategic growth enablers. By adopting intelligent, forward-looking financial systems, finance leaders can drive scalable growth, boost efficiency and unlock real value.
For finance professionals focused on innovation, embracing cloud-native solutions, leveraging AI and strengthening cross-functional collaboration will be key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing landscape.
Contact us today to learn more about how AI-enabled finance can transform your business.
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