The role of the CFO is undergoing a pivotal shift. In an environment of economic uncertainty, digitisation and growing competitive pressures, CFOs are evolving beyond their traditional finance role into strategic business partners.
This transformation, however, requires finance leaders to gain full visibility and control over the company’s spending, including on software.
The rise of SaaS
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) has seen its popularity soar in recent years, driven by the promise of greater convenience and efficiency, and the ever-increasing number of new solutions available in the market.
Gartner predicts that by 2026, public cloud-spending will exceed 45% of all enterprise IT spending, up from less than 17% in 2021.
CFOs are evolving into strategic business partners
But while cloud-based software has emerged as the bedrock of technological innovation, it is not without its challenges.
On average, companies use more than 100 SaaS applications, and the surge in AI adoption is only adding to this total. A recent report by SaaS subscription-management platform Cledara found that the use of ChatGPT and OpenAI grew 16% in 2024, while that of other top AI tools grew by an impressive 117%.
Not surprisingly, the exponential growth has made it difficult for finance departments to keep track of what they’re spending or limit the power of employees to purchase software, with 65% of finance and IT leaders admitting their current SaaS management processes leave room for improvement.
Cristina Vila Vives, founder and CEO of Cledara, says: “For many businesses, cloud applications are often the biggest expense after payroll. Yet the decentralised buying process and the speed and ease with which individual teams can purchase software can lead to a worrying lack of visibility and control for finance leaders.”
The hidden cost of unmanaged SaaS
A lack of centralised buying creates many risks, especially for growing companies. CFOs may find that they are paying for duplicate services or tools they may no longer need, or that they have little to no visibility into contract terms, renewal dates or usage limits. Moreover, many companies rely on one or a handful of payment cards to make purchases, which, if compromised or blocked, can put the entire tech stack at risk.
Without visibility, renewals or changes to SaaS pricing can put pressure on the bottom line, runways and forecasting. And finance teams may miss the opportunity to negotiate costs or seek more cost-competitive alternatives in partnership with business leaders.
Adding to that challenge is a shift, seen increasingly in AI applications, towards usage-based pricing, making it difficult for CFOs to accurately forecast and budget future spending.
This complexity, coupled with the need to manually track software subscriptions and chase invoices, means that CFOs are wasting precious time on low-value, time-consuming and inefficient processes, which distract from the more strategic expectations of modern finance leaders.
Smarter SaaS management
Against this backdrop, robust SaaS management, which enables CFOs to identify which solutions are being used and actively track, analyse and optimise the costs and security of these subscriptions, is critical.
Smarter SaaS management empowers CFOs to move from firefighting to strategic planning
Unlike spend-management platforms, which simply track expenses, a SaaS-spend-management platform offers a much deeper level of insight, helping CFOs to uncover duplicate or unused subscriptions, avoid unexpected renewals and reduce the risk of compliance fines.
According to research from Cledara, companies underestimate the amount of subscriptions they have by up to 40%, often using several tools that do the same job, creating both cost and operational inefficiencies.
Not only does a SaaS-management platform help CFOs to better understand their tech stack and gain greater control over usage across the entire business, but it also provides actionable insights, leading to better budgeting decisions, enhanced efficiency and more strategic planning.
The role of SaaS in strategic finance
For Vila Vives, Saas-management tools, which integrate with other products that companies already use, can significantly enhance the CFO’s visibility and control over software spend. As the role of the CFO continues to evolve, the ability to adapt to changing business needs and technologies will be increasingly important.
“Saas adoption will only grow as more and more businesses embrace new and exciting technologies to enter the market,” says Vila Vives. “Having full visibility over every application the business uses will ensure the business’s tech stack is fulfilling its purpose and every investment aligns with the wider, strategic goals.”
Embedding a SaaS-management platform is about so much more than simply cutting costs, it is about empowering CFOs to focus on strategic, business-critical tasks to stay ahead of the competition.
For more information please visit cledara.com
The role of the CFO is undergoing a pivotal shift. In an environment of economic uncertainty, digitisation and growing competitive pressures, CFOs are evolving beyond their traditional finance role into strategic business partners.
This transformation, however, requires finance leaders to gain full visibility and control over the company’s spending, including on software.
