Q&A: Patrick Sunday, CAO at Bottomline, on Evolving Finance

Finance is constantly evolving; it has to, in order to keep up with new methods and mindsets which focus on a more productive and efficient workflow.

What’s the secret to success? 

In an exclusive Q&A, Patrick Sunday, Chief Accounting Officer at Bottomline, speaks to Finance Chief about how his accounting experience has informed his leadership ability to control a global business which processes up to US$16tn annually. 

Handling the global company at scale is no easy task, however, Chris’ career, which started in internal auditing, has provided him with the necessary tools to climb up to the top accounting spot of CAO. 

He notes: “Having first seen things from the internal audit side really accelerated my career on the accounting side. That transition was a real turning point for me”.

The skills, he says, “mentored me to build and run accounting operations functions as a strategic part of the business focused on driving accountability and being partnering with other teams across the organisation, rather than serving as a back-office scorekeeper”.

As CAO at Bottomline, Patrick leads over 100 people in multiple territories, from the US to Europe and APAC. 

What is the secret to managing the accounts for a company that processes over US$16tn annually? 

First and foremost, you have to do your homework and understand the businesses you are working with. You must be able to speak the ‘language of leaders’ if you want to be a trusted partner to them.

Running compliance, managing audits and overseeing an accounting organisation are the baseline expectations. What separates an effective finance function at this scale is a complete understanding of how the business works.

What are the company’s tailwinds and headwinds – its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Then it’s about translating that into meaningful insights so leaders can quickly understand their bottom line, how the business is performing and where its threats are coming from – all to help them make more strategic decisions. 

How is finance evolving in a traditionally risk-sensitive space? 

Two things come to mind - speed and precision. You can't chase speed without precision, otherwise people won't trust the numbers you're presenting. That tension will always exist. And it's a tension we see across the finance industry, not just internally. Our own research shows fewer than half of CFOs are completely confident in their ability to forecast cash accurately, even 30 days out.

The second piece is scale. Bottomline is growing at north of 15% a year. To support that kind of growth without constantly adding cost, you have to build a genuinely scalable organisation.

That means having global processes in place instead of regional silos. We've done a lot of offshoring, moving lower-complexity, labour-intensive work to lower-cost locations and building real critical mass there.

Over half of my organisation now sits in one strategic, low-cost location. That's what gives us the ability to keep scaling as the business grows.

What trends in finance have you seen over the last few years? 

The big one has been digital transformation, with AI as an extension of that. It's in every board conversation and every news story right now, but it's the same underlying trend: automating tasks, building a fully integrated financial systems ecosystem and driving efficiency so you can do more with less.

It's about how finance systems talk to each other, but also about how that connects to and supports sales, product, marketing and the rest of the business. That's been a huge area of focus for finance over the last several years, and AI is only accelerating it. 

We see this play out with our own customers, too. CFOs are under board pressure to adopt AI, yet what we're hearing is that many feel they're being pushed to move faster than their data, systems and controls can actually support.

That gap between ambition and readiness is exactly why AI needs to be applied within existing, controlled, finance workflows, rather than bolted on as a disconnected layer.

Could you tell us about the process of global scaling and how this informs approaches to success?

Bottomline is owned by a private equity firm, so we're always under pressure to reduce costs, or at least keep them flat, while the business continues to grow.

That's why scale is so important. We need to run global processes rather than separate regional or product-based operations. A smaller, more consolidated global footprint means we can have more people working in fewer locations, which helps drive standardisation.

When you combine that with digital transformation, you create faster processes that drive more and better value.

Ultimately, the goal is to tell the business’s financial story as quickly as possible so leaders can make informed decisions.

If something isn't performing as expected, then we need to be able to react quickly – whether that's reallocating capital, investing in growth, expanding sales and marketing, accelerating product development, or increasing investment in AI and R&D.

Finance plays a key role in making all of that happen. It all comes down to the right level of speed and precision, so leaders are provided with a clearer view of business performance faster, and can act with confidence.

Traditionally just a reporting role, would you agree that finance has moved into a more tech-heavy sector as business strategy evolves?  

Absolutely. It's a shift away from what I call the “scorekeeper” role, where the business does its thing, and finance tallies up the numbers and hands over the scoreboard. That's changed dramatically. Finance is now much more of a strategic partner.

When we're working with product, R&D, sales and marketing, or HR, we have to speak their language and understand their challenges. That puts finance at the centre of every function that makes a business run.

That shift only works if you trust the data and the systems behind it. Finance can't become a black box, so any technology we introduce must be transparent and auditable.

What really separates a world-class finance organisation from the rest is whether leadership is willing to embrace that change. Many organisations, and many finance leaders, still find that transition challenging.

Is there any advice you would pass on to the next generation of accounting professionals?

If you're in finance, you see things before everyone else. You see how a product is performing in the market, how customer churn is starting to show up in the numbers. You see it before the board does. That visibility is incredibly powerful.

The real question is, what do you do with that advantage? You're in a position to see problems and opportunities before almost anyone else in the business.

Understanding that and then deciding how you’re going to use that information, is the key to making sure finance is seen as a value-add rather than a blocker to company success.