Let's end the war between Finance and Data & Analytics
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
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Over the course of this series we've been exploring the growing importance of Data & Analytics as a function and as a skillset, and considering the ways in which D&A interacts with the Finance Function.
As we've seen, Data & Analytics teams have a lot to teach traditional finance professionals. In particular, the more agnostic approach taken by Data & Analytics, in which anything can be measured and flexibility is key, is an excellent lesson for stuck-in-their-ways Finance Functions that are stuck in the cycle of reporting the same old metrics. There is much more to the Finance Function than this.
Insight above all else
The most important learning is that the data itself isn't important - just as the same old context-free finance reporting is not particularly useful to a modern business. Data only becomes useful when it can be put in the service of insight generation and, ultimately, when it can be used to create better outcomes.
The major barrier to this is an inability on the part of Data & Analytics teams to communicate their findings with other business functions in a way that makes sense.
This is a problem that the Finance Function has come up against repeatedly, and is precisely the issue at the heart of the nascent Finance Function 4.0. In modern business, finance professionals understand that their job isn't restricted to the traditional finance skillset. While they of course need a firm grasp on the numbers, they also need the soft skills that are so crucial today. These include communication, creative thinking, and a holistic approach to their job.
So let's work together
The "last mile" issue that we explored in the previous article in this series cuts to the heart of the problems facing both Data & Analytics teams and the Finance Function. Gathering data and generating insights is fine, and there are many highly-skilled people available to help us do this. The challenge comes when we try to make ourselves understood by other stakeholders.
So how do we achieve this without completely changing the way our functions operate? Cooperation is the key. We need a "compatibility layer" to enable specialist functions to interact with each other in a shared language. Data & Analytics and the Finance Function are obvious bedfellows and a great place to start when it comes to encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration. If we get our relationship with D&A right, we can then scale that model up across entire organizations.
This is what business partners do. The business partner model is about collaboration, insight generation, and the translation of specialist knowledge into information that can be used and acted upon by non-specialist stakeholders.
If we can harness the power of Data & Analytics, augment it with the crucial oversight role performed by the Finance Function, and then unleash that combined power throughout our organizations, we can transform businesses for the better.
The future of business (just like the future of the Finance Function) is about cross-pollination, the breaking down of barriers, and the dissemination of knowledge. Business partners play a crucial role in these developments. Let's get started!
This was the seventh article in my latest series Finance vs. Data & Analytics. You can read the previous articles below.
While you await future articles why not read my latest series about ESG for finance professionals?
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You can read all the articles in another recent series about if finance professionals should learn to code below.
Continue reading below for more articles about how digital is impacting Finance.
Anders Liu-Lindberg?is the co-founder and a partner at the?Business Partnering Institute?and the 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 105,000+ followers and 185,000+ subscribers to my blog. I am also an advisory board member at?Born Capital?where I help identify and grow the next big thing in?#CFOTech. Finally, I'm a member of the board of directors at?PACE - Profitability Analytics Center of Excellence?where I support the development of new analytics frameworks that can improve profitability in companies around the world.
Director of Financial Planning & Analysis at United Road Services
2 年Amen!
Data-Driven Finance Leader |€1 billion+ Revenue Managed | 16+ Years' Experience
2 年There is no war, Anders :)