The first official accounting records are tax information etched onto clay tablets from around 3,300 BC. These artefacts were discovered by archaeologists in Egypt and were understood to have been used by Egyptians to monitor their pharaoh’s possessions and uncover fraud.
The accounting system remains largely unchanged today. Fundamentally, it is still an independent record of inventory and transactions. Finance teams, however, have since switched their clay tablets for technology and now have to manage a carefully curated selection of platforms. Each CFO‘s tech stack comprises software designed to manage financial activity, from payments, payroll and accounting to spend management, financial planning and analysis.
As the finance function continues to take on a more diverse and strategic role within the organisation, and the volume of information being collected increases, the tech stack is becoming an increasingly vital weapon in the CFO’s arsenal.