Advanced ERPs could cut financial close times by 30%, Gartner says

Dive Brief:

Modern enterprise resource planning platforms — increasingly equipped with artificial intelligence and other advanced features — have the potential to deliver meaningful results for CFOs who are prepared to cut through vendor hype, according to a Gartner report announced Tuesday.
Gartner predicts that finance teams using cloud ERP applications with embedded AI assistants could see a 30% faster financial close by 2028.
“Cloud ERP finance applications will deliver additional automation, insight, and efficiency to finance functions in the near future by integrating machine learning, GenAI, and AI agents,” Mike Helsel, a senior research director in Gartner’s finance practice, said in the Tuesday press release. “However, realizing these benefits requires CFOs to navigate vendor hype, organizational change and the evolving economics of AI in the enterprise.”

Dive Insight:

Gartner forecasts that AI-enabled tools will account for 62% of cloud ERP spending by 2027, up from just 14% in 2024. Today, most CFOs are still in the early stages of adoption, hindered by challenges such as poor data quality, integration complexity and skills gaps, Gartner said.

Adaptive analytics capabilities emerging in cloud ERP platforms will equip finance professionals with conversational, natural-language interfaces and “context-sensitive dashboards that quickly translate large amounts of data into clear, actionable insights,” according to Gartner’s release.

Other cutting-edge capabilities include AI-driven planning and forecasting features that allow organizations to respond more quickly to market changes.

“CFOs should insist on industry-specific features, transparent pricing, and reference-able customer adoption for AI tools, while investing in data governance and upskilling finance teams to maximize ROI and mitigate adoption risks,” Helsel said in the release.

Finance leaders should avoid feeling under pressure to find a quick fix to their ERP needs, according to Marcus Harris, a partner at law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, who specializes in drafting and negotiating enterprise software-related licenses and agreements.

Companies selling the system may try to inject a “false sense of urgency” into the process, Harris said during a virtual event hosted earlier this month by the editorial teams of CFO Dive and its sister publication CFO.com.

“You’ve got to play it smart,” he said.