Grunt: A Finance Professional’s New Best Friend

In partnership with Grunt . Learn about how Grunt can empower your finance team with tools that won’t just increase your productivity but also your impact here. As part of our partnership with Grunt, you get a unique opportunity to try it for free. Go here to start your free trial.

Creating professional and visually compelling management reports and business review materials can often feel like a marathon for finance professionals. From ensuring data accuracy to delivering insights in a clear, concise format, every detail matters. For the past month, our finance team has been testing Grunt, which we have seen in action and been impressed by through some of our client engagements. Grunt is a PowerPoint add-in that promises to streamline the process of building effective presentations. Grunt is a trusted tool by large global companies like CBRE, Coca-Cola, Aker BP, Pepsi, and Engie, to name a few.

The results? A faster and smarter way to craft impactful management reports and business reviews. Grunt has allowed our team to shift the focus from repetitive formatting tasks to what matters most—delivering insights that drive decisions. Here’s how it has transformed our workflows.

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Elevating Management Reporting and Business Reviews with Grunt

One of Grunt’s standout benefits is how it automates and simplifies key aspects of presentation creation. The tool’s features allow users to focus on insights and storytelling rather than struggling with the mechanics of slide design.

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1. Automating Routine Tasks for Better Focus on Insights Grunt’s dynamic charts, such as the automated agenda, ensure our decks stay organized without manual updates. Add a new slide, and the agenda adjusts itself instantly. This feature is a lifesaver during tight deadlines, allowing us to focus on crafting insightful analyses instead of fiddling with formatting. One team member noted, “It’s great to know that when I update a slide deck at the last minute, the agenda takes care of itself. That peace of mind is invaluable.”

2. Drag-and-Drop Customization for Financial Visuals?Visualizing financial data often involves tailoring charts and tables to convey the right message. Grunt’s drag-and-drop functionality makes customization effortless, helping us create visuals that resonate with management without spending hours on adjustments. By making intuitive changes, Grunt allows us to iterate quickly and refine visuals to support our narrative better.

3. Ready-to-Use Templates for Structured Reporting Grunt's templates are more than just visually appealing. They’re also designed with finance professionals in mind. Whether we’re preparing a quarterly business review or a deep dive into key metrics, these templates provide a strong foundation for clear, structured storytelling. A team member shared, “The templates save time and spark inspiration. They give me a starting point that always feels professional.”

Grunt’s ease of use, especially with these templates, has helped us maintain a consistent look and feel across our reporting materials, ensuring every presentation meets the high standards expected by management.

Key Features Tailored to Financial Reporting

Grunt’s features go beyond aesthetic enhancements. They directly address finance professionals' challenges in reporting and presenting complex data. Each tool is designed to help us communicate financial insights with clarity and precision.

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1. Gantt Charts for Timelines and Projects One feature that has stood out to our team is the Gantt Chart widget. This tool often transforms a labor-intensive task—creating and formatting project plans—into a streamlined process. The ability to quickly build and format timelines has been invaluable for tracking project milestones and aligning stakeholders. One team member remarked, “The Gantt Chart widget is phenomenal. What used to take me hours is now done in minutes, and the results look even better than before.”

2. Visual Grid for Tables and Summaries Finance professionals must often summarize large datasets into concise, understandable tables. Grunt’s Visual Grid widget excels at this, enabling us to build clean, well-structured tables in record time. “For FP&A reports, this has been a game-changer,” one colleague shared. “When time is short, I rely on the Visual Grid to create something polished and professional.”

3. Charts with Seamless Excel Connections Grunt’s integration with Excel allows charts in PowerPoint to update automatically when linked data changes in Excel. This feature saves time and reduces the risk of errors for rolling forecasts or budget-to-actual comparisons. “I love how Grunt keeps everything synced with Excel,” one team member noted. “It’s made preparing for business reviews so much less stressful.” This functionality ensures accuracy while allowing finance professionals to focus on insights rather than manual updates.

4. Charting Excellence for Clear Communication Grunt offers a range of chart options with a modern interface. Whether we’re presenting CAGR arrows, trend analyses, or key performance metrics, these tools ensure our visuals are functional and engaging. Grunt helps us communicate our findings more effectively by making it easier to create professional charts that resonate with stakeholders.

These tools have enhanced the quality of our presentations and saved countless hours of effort. Although the learning curve may require some initial adjustment, the productivity gains are well worth it.

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How Grunt Supports Finance Professionals

Grunt addresses some of the most common challenges finance teams face when creating management reports and business reviews. It goes beyond simply making slides look good. It creates an environment where finance professionals can focus on insights rather than operations.

For example, recurring reports like monthly or quarterly reviews benefit from the consistency Grunt enables. Our team can quickly identify trends and maintain a cohesive narrative using the same templates and tools across presentations. Additionally, automation features like the agenda widget save valuable time, especially when last-minute edits are required before a meeting. One colleague said, “Grunt’s ability to automate the little things gives us more time to focus on the bigger picture.”

Getting started with Grunt is also remarkably easy, thanks to its collection of pre-built templates tailored for professional use. These templates provide a strong foundation for any presentation, making crafting polished materials simple. “The templates are fantastic,” one team member shared. “They take the guesswork out of slide design and allow me to focus on the message I want to deliver.” This ease of use makes Grunt accessible to finance professionals of all experience levels.

These benefits extend to the speed and efficiency of the reporting process. By streamlining tasks that used to take hours, Grunt gives finance professionals more time to focus on analyzing data and crafting compelling stories that drive decision-making. Furthermore, the polished look of Grunt-generated presentations builds credibility with stakeholders, reinforcing their trust in our insights.

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A New Era for Finance Presentations

Grunt has proven itself to be more than just a PowerPoint add-in—it’s a tool that empowers finance professionals to deliver clear, impactful, and visually stunning reports. Whether you’re crafting monthly business reviews, FP&A reports, or executive presentations, Grunt can help you save time, enhance quality, and focus on what matters most: delivering insights that drive decisions.

One of the most compelling reasons to adopt Grunt is its significant productivity gains. According to internal analysis, more than 62% of slides typically produced in business presentations—such as charts and tables—are eligible for time savings with Grunt. Compared to traditional PowerPoint workflows, users can reduce the average time spent on slides by up to 66% for tables and grids and 60% for charts.

This means that tasks that ordinarily take hours—like formatting visuals or syncing data from Excel—can now be completed in a fraction of the time. As one team member said, “With Grunt, I’m not just saving time; I’m able to dedicate more focus to refining insights and making sure our numbers tell the right story.”

Grunt is worth exploring if your finance team wants to elevate its management reporting and presentation capabilities while drastically reducing preparation time. With these time savings, you can finally focus on what matters: delivering data-driven insights that drive decisions and create impact.

Learn about how Grunt can empower your finance team with tools that won’t just increase your productivity but also your impact here. As part of our partnership with Grunt, you get a unique opportunity to try it for free. Go here to start your free trial.