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Few roles offer as clear a view of how finance is changing than that of CFO, and as Chief Financial Officer of Ricoh Europe Tim Stuart has an unmatched perspective. After holding senior finance roles at FTSE 100 organisations, he moved to Ricoh ten years ago and has since been closely involved in the company’s transformation from a hardware-led organisation into a digital services business.
Tim’s background spans audit and large-scale business operations, including a decade at KPMG. Paired with his current responsibilities overseeing finance, tax, treasury, legal and procurement for Ricoh Business Services across Europe, he’s uniquely positioned to combine technical discipline with a strong focus on strategy.
“It’s no longer just about closing the books and producing reports,” Tim explains in our interview. Instead, “finance teams are now expected to play a much bigger strategic role in the business”. With advances in data analytics and AI, the speed at which insights can be found has never been greater, enabling finance teams to offer guidance on “what’s happening now and what could happen next”.
These new strategic roles need skills to match. According to Tim, teams must become more comfortable with understanding digital principles, including “how data flows across systems,” whilst also independently recognising what AI “can and can’t do, and where human judgement remains essential”.
For many finance teams, preparation also means building closer relationships with other functions within the organisation. Tim highlights that successful transformation relies on finance working arm in arm with IT to ensure systems remain accurate.
Tim’s advice for those looking to engage in this new ecosystem is simple: “plan early”. Those who plan ahead will be able to manage regulatory change compared to those who react at the last minute, a forbidden luxury in this fast-paced new ecosystem.
With pressures to evolve continuing to build, we started our interview by asking Tim what changes he’s already seen in the day to day, and what organisations may yet still be underestimating about that shift.
Finance has undergone a big transformation recently. It’s no longer just about closing the books and producing reports. Finance teams are now expected to play a much bigger strategic role in the business, helping to make crucial decisions, particularly in response to challenging economic turns and under increased regulatory pressure.
Board members and senior leaders consistently want quicker answers and clearer insight, and they’ve realised that finance is the right place to look. Finance teams and CFOs have the ability and insight to shed light quickly, not only on what has happened in the last quarter, but what’s happening now and what could happen next. Advances in AI and data analytics are accelerating the speed at which insights can be generated and quickly expanding the areas in which finance can add context and value. These abilities have pulled them much closer to the centre of the organisation, and the role of a CFO is more strategic now than ever before.
What is still underestimated is how hard this shift is to deliver in practice. Many teams are being asked to move faster and add more value, while still relying on manual processes, disconnected systems and slow access to data. That creates pressure and limits the time available for analysis and collaboration- our research shows just how acutely aware European finance leaders are of this tension. Underinvestment in process automation is one of the top contributing factors impacting employee productivity, therefore until routine work is reduced, it will remain difficult for finance to fully embrace this transformation.
Accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) are still heavily manual in many organisations. In fact, research shows that AP teams spend between 60 and 70 percent of their time on manual data entry and follow-up. There’s no doubt that this limits those teams’ productivity, causing delays and increasing the risk of error. AI and machine learning can already handle much of this work, from extracting invoice data to matching payments and flagging exceptions. Yet across the finance sector, adoption remains uneven.
The issue is rarely a lack of understanding about the benefits of automation, but more often, it comes down to system complexity and fear of disruption. Core finance processes typically sit across multiple platforms that were never designed to work together, and anything linked to payments, compliance or audit naturally can make teams cautious.
But e-invoicing regulation is starting to force a change in this dynamic. Across Europe, governments are introducing mandates that require invoices to be issued and received in structured digital formats that can be checked automatically. Germany enforced this as of January 2025, with Belgium and France due to follow suit this year. These mandates will also affect organisations operating cross-border, who will need to comply with e-invoicing rules to trade within the EU.
These rules make manual handling harder to justify and expose weaknesses in fragmented processes. As regulatory deadlines approach, automation is becoming less about efficiency alone and more about compliance and sustainability.
It’s a great question because this is where many finance leaders are feeling the most tension right now. There is pressure to move faster and reduce manual effort, but it cannot come at the expense of control or audit standards. Core principles like approvals, segregation of duties, data integrity and traceability still must be maintained as processes change.
Automation works best when it is applied to well-defined workflows with clear ownership and controls. Rather than replacing everything at once, so many teams are rightly taking a phased approach, starting with areas where the risk is well understood and the benefits are clear. When doing so, close collaboration between finance and IT is essential. Controls need to be designed into processes from the outset, not added later.
This becomes even more important as AI is introduced into finance processes. Models and tools need to be transparent, explainable and governed in the same way as any other system that supports financial decision-making. That includes end-to-end audit trails, validation checks at key stages and clearly documented responsibilities and sign-offs.
E-invoicing is a good example of how this balance can work in practice. When implemented properly, it introduces standardisation and consistency into invoice processing, strengthening controls around accuracy and compliance while also freeing up time for team members to do higher-value work.
The core technical skills that have also been required by finance are still important, but the role now demands a much broader skillset. As manual tasks are reduced, finance professionals need to be more comfortable working with digital processes and understanding how data flows across systems. That increasingly includes understanding how AI is being used in finance processes, what it can and can’t do, and where human judgment remains essential. The ability to question and interpret outputs, rather than blindly trust them, is becoming a critical finance skill.
This doesn’t mean everyone needs to be a technology expert, but finance teams do need a stronger grasp of data and automated workflows, particularly as digital reporting and e-invoicing become more common.
Judgement and communication have also become more important. Finance teams are increasingly expected to set into that ‘storytelling role’ – being able to explain what the numbers mean, whilst highlighting potential risks and supporting wider business decisions. Therefore, being able to clearly articulate insight to non-finance colleagues is now a core part of the role.
Finally, adaptability and collaboration matter more than they used to. Regulatory and technology change is constant, and finance teams need to be willing to learn new tools and be agile in how they work. That often involves closer collaboration with IT and operations to make sure processes remain accurate, compliant and fit for purpose.
Many finance teams are starting by reviewing current processes, particularly those that are still heavily manual. E-invoicing mandates across Europe have been a big catalyst for this, highlighting where existing approaches struggle to meet expectations around accuracy and traceability.
Investment priorities are shifting as a result. Our research shows a growing focus on tools that help teams work more efficiently and reduce reliance on manual effort, with 34% of finance leaders saying they are placing a higher priority on investments in tools that help staff do their job more efficiently than they did in the previous year. That trend is likely to continue as regulatory demands increase.
Alongside this, finance leaders are paying close attention to how emerging AI regulations are likely to shape their technology decisions. There is a clear emphasis on using automation and AI in ways that are transparent, well-governed and compliant by design, rather than bolted on later. Nearly a third of leaders say they want clearer guidance on how to introduce automation without disrupting existing systems or weakening controls.
Preparation often means finance and IT working more closely together to ensure changes are well governed and auditable. Compared to those that react at the last minute, teams that plan early are better placed to manage regulatory change with less disruption and pressure on staff.
In five years’ time, I suspect finance will be judged less on how efficiently it processes transactions and more on the strategic input it delivers to the wider business. Meanwhile, accurate reporting will be expected as standard, leaving the real value in how well finance helps leaders understand what the numbers are telling them.
There will be much greater emphasis on forward-looking insight. Finance teams will be expected to support planning, assess different scenarios and flag potential issues earlier, rather than focusing mainly on historical numbers. AI will play a major role here, enabling more dynamic forecasting and real-time insight. Across the finance sector, this will raise the bar on what ‘good’ looks like, as leaders expect faster, more confident decision support from their finance teams.
People will also be a bigger part of the picture. As competition for finance talent continues, teams weighed down by manual work and outdated processes will struggle to hire and retain staff compared to those that invest in better ways of working.
Resilience will be another key measure, particularly the ability to respond to regulatory change, manage disruption and maintain control under pressure. Finance functions built on reliable data, clear processes and well-connected systems will be best placed to meet these expectations and support the organisation over the long term.
