07/07/2026
SSCs have spent two decades proving they can do more with less.
In 2026, the question boards are asking have changed. It's no longer, "are you efficient?" It's, "can you prove your value within this fiscal year?"
61.6% of finance leaders now say data accuracy is their number one automation priority. Volume is scaling faster than headcount can follow. Compliance rules are tightening across every region. And the talent hired for data entry is being replaced by AI.
The organizations getting ahead of this aren't waiting for a transformation program. They're picking one high-volume process, setting hard baselines, and proving ROI within 90 days. Fugro reduced processing time from 2 minutes to 35 seconds across 300,000 invoices a year. Veolia hit 90% automation with 8x faster processing speeds. Wolt is running 50,000 invoices a month across 10 countries at 60% straight-through processing.
The playbook exists. Here's what it looks like ๐
Shared service centers must prove measurable value in 2026. Here are the 5 top challenges and what leading organizations are doing differently.