Finance & Accounting Budgets, Staffing, and Process Metrics

How much are organizations budgeting for their finance & accounting (F&A) function, and how many F&A professionals do they require? What is the allocation of F&A resources by job function and subprocess, and what is the split between internal and external personnel (outsourced or in shared services centers)? How is the F&A budget allocated? What are the key performance metrics for the finance & accounting function? To answer these questions, and others, we provide our Finance & Accounting Budgets, Staffing, and Process Metrics study. For a full description, read more below.

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PURCHASE/DOWNLOAD BY INDUSTRY OR ORGANIZATION SIZE

Chapter 1: Executive Summary (Coming Soon)
Chapter 2: Composite Metrics (Coming Soon)
Chapter 3A: Metrics by Organization Size: Small/Midsize (Coming Soon)
Chapter 3B: Metrics by Organization Size: Large (Coming Soon)
Chapter 4: Banking and Finance (Coming Soon)
Chapter 5: Energy and Utilities (Coming Soon)
Chapter 6: Healthcare Payors (Coming Soon)
Chapter 7: Healthcare Provider (Coming Soon)
Chapter 8: Life Sciences (Coming Soon)
Chapter 9: Discrete Manufacturing (Coming Soon)
Chapter 10: Process Manufacturing (Coming Soon)

INTENDED AUDIENCE

For the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and F&A professionals, this study provides key metrics and unbiased data for benchmarking your organization’s F&A function budget and staffing levels and along with F&A key performance metrics. This study will allow you to achieve the following outcomes:

• Benchmark your F&A budget levels. Compare them with those of organizations in your industry sector.
• Manage your F&A staffing levels, including internal staffing as well as external staff—those within business process outsourcing (BPO) providers or in shared services units. A variety of staff productivity metrics are provided (see below)
• Evaluate your F&A key performance indicators (KPIs). These allow you to compare the performance of your finance & accounting organization against your industry peers.

For business process outsourcing (BPO) providers, this study provides valuable insights into the current F&A budget and staffing metrics, giving up-to-date insights into the market landscape. It also provides insights into the current use of external F&A personnel for various job positions.

KEY METRICS DESCRIPTIONS

INTRODUCTION AND DEMOGRAPHICS

Each chapter begins with an introduction, presenting the key findings of the study.

Section 1: Demographics

We first provide a description of the demographics of the survey sample for the chapter). These include organization-size demographics, including organization revenue, SG&A budget levels, F&A budget levels, and number of employees.

We continue by describing the total F&A staff member head count.

Section 2: Finance & Accounting Staffing Metrics

This section provides typical staffing levels for the F&A function. This includes internal staff, which includes contingency workers, and external staff, which includes F&A personnel in global capability centers (GCCs) or shared services centers, outsourcing service provider personnel serving the F&A function or residing in other departments.

• F&A Staff by Personnel Type: Internal, Outsourced, GCC, and Other
• Percentage of Internal F&A Personnel by Sub-Function: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Accounting, Tax, and Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A).
• Percentage of Internal F&A Staff That Are Contingent or Temporary Workers.
• Percentage of Outsourced F&A Personnel by Sub-Function: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Accounting, Tax, and Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A).
• Percentage of GCC F&A Personnel Performing Various F&A Sub-Functions: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Accounting, Tax, and Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A).
• Payroll Administrator Headcount Allocation
• Business Analyst Headcount Allocation
• Data Analyst Headcount Allocation
• Technology Specialists Headcount Allocation
• Operations Excellence and Project Manager Headcount Allocation
• Other Financial Management Staff Headcount Allocation

Section 3: Finance & Accounting Budget Metrics

• Percentage of F&A Budget by Category
• Percentage of Total F&A Budget Dedicated to Contingent Workers
• Percentage of Internal Budget by F&A Sub-Functions
• Outsourced F&A Budget by Sub-Function
• GCC F&A Budget by Sub-Function

SECTION 4: Finance & Accounting Process Performance Metrics

• Annual Number of Purchase Orders Processed
• Annual Number of A/P Invoices Paid
• Annual Number of Invoices Without Purchase Order
• Annual Number of Customer Invoices Issued
• Annual Number of Legal Entities
• Annual Number of Journal Entries
• Days Payable Outstanding (DPO)
• Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
• Percent of Bad Debt Written Off
• Percent of Invoices Generated Electronically
• Percent of Invoices Straight Through Processed (STP)
• Percent of Invoices Paid On-Time
• Percent of Cash Auto Allocated
• Percent of Journal Entries Automated
• Percent of Reconciliation Automated
• Time to Close
• Most Important Metrics Used to Evaluate the F&A Function

SECTION 5: FINANCE & ACCOUNTING TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

• Primary Business Systems for ERP
• Primary Business Systems for FP&A
• Primary Business Systems for Other F&A Tools

APPENDIX

The Appendix includes common terms and definitions used in our annual survey and in this study. It also includes a detailed definition for all budget categories and staffing categories. The Appendix concludes with a brief discussion on the statistics used in this study.

• Common Terms and Definitions
• F&A Budget Categories
• How We Define F&A Job Functions
• Statistical Notes

CHAPTER DESCRIPTIONS

Chapter 1: Executive Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the key findings from the full study and describes the contents of the subsequent chapters. It also includes information on the study participants and the survey methodology.

• Introduction
• Key Findings
• Overview of the Study Contents

Chapter 2: Composite Metrics

This chapter provides composite metrics for all of the organizations surveyed, across all industry sectors and organization sizes.

Chapter 3A: Metrics by Organization Size: Small/Midsize

This chapter provides procurement business process metrics for small and midsize organizations across all industries.

Chapter 3B: Metrics by Organization Size: Large

This chapter provides procurement business process metrics for small and midsize organizations across all industries.

Chapter 4: Banking and Finance

Chapter 4 provides benchmarks for banking and financial services companies. The firms in this sector include commercial banks, investment banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, consumer finance lenders, and other types of lenders and financial services providers.

Chapter 5: Energy and Utilities

Chapter 5 provides benchmarks for public utilities, oil and gas producers, service companies, and midstream distributors across all organization sizes. The respondents in this sector include public utilities (water, gas, and electric), integrated energy companies, upstream exploration and production companies, natural gas companies, pipeline operators, and other energy and utilities companies.

Chapter 6: Healthcare Payors

Chapter 6 provides benchmarks for health insurance companies. The firms in this sector include companies that sell medical and dental insurance along with healthcare providers that also offer health insurance plans and function as healthcare payors.

Chapter 7: Healthcare Providers

Chapter 7 provides benchmarks for healthcare providers, including hospitals, group of hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare services providers.

Chapter 8: Life Sciences

Chapter 8 provides benchmarks for life sciences companies.

Chapter 9: Discrete Manufacturing

Chapter 9 provides benchmarks for discrete manufacturing organizations. Discrete manufacturers are defined as those where the production process adds value by fabricating or assembling individual (discrete) unit production. The category includes manufacturers of consumer products, athletic equipment, industrial equipment, telecommunications equipment, aerospace products, furniture, auto parts, electrical parts, medical devices, and electronic devices, among other products.

Chapter 10: Process Manufacturing

Chapter 10 provides benchmarks for process manufacturers. Process manufacturers are defined as those where the production process adds value by mixing, separating, forming, or chemical reaction. The sector includes manufacturers of chemicals, petrochemicals, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, food and beverage products, cosmetics, building materials, packaging materials, steel, glass, paper products, and other process-manufactured goods.

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING BENCHMARKING

Avasant Research not only publishes business process metrics. We also provide custom benchmarking services for clients.

Looking for expert assistance in evaluating your F&A budgets, staffing, and key performance metrics? Our custom benchmarking consulting service provides an in-depth assessment of your F&A key metrics against our database of peer organizations. Contact us for pricing and a free sample of the benchmarking deliverable.