CFOs Use AI Finance Tools to Speed Reporting and Closes

CFOs at four companies in Europe and the U.S. have implemented AI-enabled finance platforms to centralize data, automate routine accounting tasks and shorten month‑end and quarter‑end closes. The platforms in use include Farseer, Abacum, Campfire, OneStream and Microsoft Power Platform.

EuroTeleSites, which manages more than 13,800 mobile towers across six central and eastern European countries, added Farseer last year alongside its SAP core. Lars Mosdorf, the company’s CFO, reported that the software consolidates and standardizes data from multiple sources and provides a single source of truth for finance and IT. He noted reporting and planning cycles run about 30% faster and planning errors have fallen by more than 40% since adoption. Mosdorf added that Farseer’s AI Analyst helps controllers identify key drivers behind deviations during time‑critical reporting periods.

Developer platform PostHog uses a mix of tools: Brex for corporate cards and expense controls, a custom billing system built on Stripe, Campfire as its accounting ERP and Abacum for FP&A. Fraser Hopper, ops and finance lead, said Abacum pulls ERP and HR headcount data into scenario models to simulate hiring and spending changes. PostHog reduced account‑close time from 20–25 days to fewer than 10 days after adding these tools. Hopper highlighted AI tagging as important to producing timely, accurate accounts and said automation has allowed the finance team to remain lean while delivering faster financial signals, such as hosting costs versus revenue.

At Emergn, NetSuite is the ERP foundation and an in‑house tool called Pulse links time recording, revenue forecasting, project and people management. Anjana Mistry, who serves as CFO and COO, reported that Excel remains in use for detailed analysis but AI features in Excel and Microsoft Power Platform have shortened modelling and variance analysis times. Mistry said routine, rules‑based tasks such as transaction coding and invoice processing have become faster, while emphasizing that professional judgment remains necessary: “Having an AI tool in Excel does not make you an accountant.”

Liberty Global replaced Oracle Hyperion with OneStream after assessing the group’s changing reporting needs as it shifted from a cable company to an integrated communications business. Alex Johnstone, divisional CFO, described OneStream as a financial system of record that will link management accounts from operating businesses into a single source and enable more automated business‑as‑usual workflows. He expects repeated tasks such as journal entries, consolidations and eliminations to be automated, freeing finance specialists to apply professional judgment and spend more time on strategic analysis.

Executives at all four firms reported that the AI-enabled systems have improved data accuracy, shortened reporting cycles and reduced manual workload. They cited specific uses including fraud prevention, expense monitoring, dynamic forecasting and automated tagging to speed closes. Several noted faster access to timely financial data helps business units make operational and resource decisions more quickly.