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Edge finance can help digital corporate spending's communication problem

How did the pandemic influence your company’s financial decision-making? For many businesses, it caused an inside-out shift.

Brought on by increases in SaaS solutions and remote workers, the pandemic caused companies to bump their SaaS spend in 2020 by 50% compared with just two years ago. This spending — once a siloed area reserved for a small circle of organizational stakeholders — is now out on a limb, vulnerable to exorbitance via lack of communication between a new slew of autonomous voices.

How can companies simultaneously rein in and empower these new spenders while keeping the bottom line in plain view? They need a new mindset that adds visibility to a company’s periphery.

Edge finance can help. What is edge finance? The concept amplifies spending visibility from the center of the business way out to its edges. Edge finance empowers employees charged with decision-making to own their spending choices and regularly communicate their ongoing usage.

Why is this pivot in thinking beneficial? For two reasons:

Less Wasted Spend.Obscured expenses allow precious company resources to leak from the boat. For example, your company is likely still getting billed for subscriptions the team no longer uses. Gartner estimates that 30% of software license costs are wasted. Unused subscriptions can be an unnecessary seepage that accumulates over time. Edge finance brings those issues to your attention right away.

Less Wasted Time. Traditionally, spending questions requires input from a bookkeeper. In the hours (or even days) it takes to get a response, the inquirer could find the answer themselves or lose interest entirely. An edge finance mindset empowersyou to answer your questions yourself — and to do so immediately.

Edge finance leads to less wasteful financial stewards. If you’re ready to extend visibility beyond your immediate purview, here’s how to act:

Learn the language.Finance language can be difficult to wrap your head around. For small businesses, learning the terminology is necessary for long-term viability and differentiation.

How do you build that knowledge? Invest in online resources or work with a temporary CFO who can help educate your team. These small-scale fixes can produce large-scale results.

Show every link in the chain.Most small business employees know little to nothing about how money — or their spending — impacts the company. Find ways to show them why their choices matter.

Break down departmental spending. Pull out information on how much an employee directly (or indirectly) spends every month. As more employees enter those conversations, edge finance raises the consciousness of their spending and impact.

Use technology as another set of eyes.There are tools available right now to keep your company’s financials in real-time focus. Read-only solutions can work in conjunction with your accounting software to give you access and answersthe momentyou need them.

These small steps will begin your journey with edge finance. Once you’re operating from 10,000 feet, you can easily see your complete financial picture — edges and all.

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