It’s Time to Unlock the Unfair Advantage of Finance

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Who do companies look to when they need to create value? More often than not, the board will call in external consultants. They in turn rely on the finance function for information that they can slice and dice to come up with new insights and bold plans. Finance is the engine that drives the development of business strategy. We are intimately involved in value creation, but take none of the credit.?

This has to change. Finance is a constantly evolving function, responding instinctively to the challenges and opportunities within a business and to the surrounding economic conditions and the ebb and flow of markets that impact its growth. We are perfectly placed to create value and transform business, keeping the finance function relevant and visible. We need to have confidence in our unique skills, develop our innovative mindset, and ensure that business decision-makers know that we are ready to deliver. This is how we unlock the unfair advantage of finance.

Tools at our fingertips

The finance function has a unique, all-encompassing view of the whole business. The data we collect and interpret exposes the detailed interplay between all the different facets of the business, following the flow and the feedback loops of activity from production to sales to the management of people and premises. As finance professionals, we also have a wealth of expertise and tools at our fingertips.

What does the unfair advantage of finance look like when we unpack it skill by skill? It’s an awe-inspiring list.

• We have business acumen and can translate business activity into how we make money as a company
• We have the analytical skills to deep-dive into the numbers and translate raw data into valuable insights that inform decision-making
• We have a cross-value-chain perspective, a bird's eye view of all the functions and divisions of the business, allowing us to optimize value creation across the company.
• We have access to a broad range of financial and non-financial data from which we can synthesize new knowledge about our business
• We have a seat at the table with key decision-makers

Does any other function in the company have these? It’s a truly unique position, but one that is undervalued and undersold. In the past, other disciplines have seen finance as backward-looking and penny-pinching, focused on reporting historical data to satisfy regulators, and counting the costs of every proposal that comes across the desk. This could not be further from reality! Finance dives deep into all of that historical data, adds a pinch of solid business acumen, builds insights and optimization strategies, and is poised to drive profit.

We know how to identify value creation opportunities, and we shouldn’t be leaving it to consultants to take all the credit. But most finance teams haven't unlocked their unfair advantage, and it’s a vital step for us to stay relevant as businesses transform.

Show off your Unfair Advantage

Not sure how to do this? It’s all about influencing the business stakeholders, using business partnering to elevate your impact on the company. There are several clear messages that decision-makers need to hear, and we’ll be examining these in detail over the next few weeks. We need people to understand that:

• Finance professionals know how to make money
• Finance drives insights from analytics
• Finance is like an all-seeing eye in the company
• Finance can leverage its unparalleled access to data
• Finance knows how to use its seat at the table
• Finance holds the keys to a trillion-dollar opportunity

Are you ready to unlock the unfair advantage of finance? Let’s go!

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If you want to learn more about how finance professionals can influence decision-making then check out my latest article series "The Art of Decision-Making" below.

The ultimate guide to decision-making for finance professionals

Do you understand how you make decisions?

Do you make decisions or do you influence them?

From influence to impact - the hardest part of Finance

The art of improved decision-making explained

If you want to become a better business partner, consider?taking our online course "Business Partnering Explained - Value Creation Unlocked " to get a better handle on the role. It's accredited for 5.5 CPD hours.

You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box ”?where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the?Finance Business Partner Forum ,?which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community.

The Mindset Change Checklist For Finance Professionals (the last article in a series about he mindset change that finance and accounting professionals should make to become business partners)

It's Time To Decide If You Want To Be A Business Partner (the last article in a series about the personality traits of business partners)

All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders" ?(the last article in the series about our new capability model)

Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering? ?(part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive on the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)

Your Journey To Successful Business Partnering Explained

How To Create Value Through Business Partnering

Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset ?(part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)

From Business Partner To Working Within The Business ?(part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)

Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation? ?(part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)

How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight ?(part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)

The Future Of FP&A: Two Ways To Take The Reins

What Is The Accounting Profession Paradox?

What Defines A Finance Master?

The New Career Path For Finance Professionals

How Finance People Can Be More Successful

The CFOs Roadmap To Transforming Finance

How To Become A Finance Business Partner

Financial Analyst vs. Finance Business Partner

Finance Business Partner Is A Bullshit Job

How Business Partners Keep A Plan On Track

Anders Liu-Lindberg ?is the co-founder and a partner at the?Business Partnering Institute ?and owner of the largest?group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering ?on LinkedIn with more than 10,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company?Maersk . I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner ” and a?long-time Finance Blogger ?on LinkedIn with 60.000+ followers and 140.000+ subscribers to my blog. Recently I became an advisory board member at?Born Capital ?to help identify and grow the next big thing in #CFOTech.