Oversight Shares Research Depicting New Best Practice For Improved Financial Controls, Increased Visibility
ATLANTA – April 14, 2021 – Oversight, the global leader in spend management and risk mitigation technology, today released the results of its commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting to explore the state of spend analytics in today’s financial organizations.
The study, Minimize Risk And Maximize Gains Through Spend Optimization Solutions, found that 85% of decision-makers with a spend optimization solution have a single view of spend, compared to only 9% of those without a solution. For those without a comprehensive view of total company spend, most spend analytics work is still done retroactively across siloed departments and systems using manual processes. Notably, while organizations with a spend optimization solution in place report fewer challenges and better financial controls, only 25% of respondents have adopted such a solution.
The study, which surveyed 207 finance and procurement leaders at companies with annual revenues between $500 million and over $5 billion in the United States, suggests a trend towards adoption of spend optimization solutions and better financial controls. Among the study’s topline findings:
Finding and Managing Spend Risk Requires Complete Visibility
Only one in four businesses have adopted the tools needed to gain visibility and control of total spend.
Current Spend Reporting Only Produces Partial Insight
56% of survey respondents agree the office of the CFO currently lacks the granular insights needed to optimize spend.
An Incomplete View of Spend Weakens Financial Control
Due to a lack of visibility into spend, nearly two-thirds (59%) of respondents only know after the fact if purchases comply with government regulations and company policies.
Spend Optimization Solutions Strengthen Financial Control
While only 14% of total respondents report using spend analytics tools for opportunity identification (i.e., optimization), the most successful companies adopt these tools at a higher rate. 24% of $1B+ firms already use spend analytics to maximize spending outcomes.
The study suggests that a growing number of today’s financial leaders are adopting spend optimization solutions to gain more complete, granular, and timely data insights that improve financial controls, and strengthen regulatory and policy compliance.
“Companies without spend optimization tools are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to controlling costs, ensuring compliance and spending more strategically,” said Terrence McCrossan, CEO of Oversight. “But, as the Forrester study showcases, those with real-time intelligence can make more efficient use of resources and build a culture of accountability that improves financial decision making. This study confirms what we at Oversight have known for some time: visibility into spend is still an aspirational goal for many organizations, but the ROI for those that have invested in automated tools is incredibly strong.”
For the full study and other best practices for gaining total visibility into organizational spend and risk, visit https://info.oversight.com/forrester-study.
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About Oversight
The world’s largest companies and government agencies trust Oversight to find and manage enterprise spend risk no matter where it resides. Oversight’s AI-powered spend management platform monitors and analyzes 100% of spend transactions, reducing audit effort and eliminating data silos. With full visibility into spend, Oversight customers find and prioritize spend risk that would otherwise go undetected. By identifying fraud, misuse and process breakdowns, Oversight reduces out-of-policy spending by 70% while maximizing audit efficiency and eliminating cash leakage. https://www.oversight.com/
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