Financial executives and data leaders make ideal allies. Both are interested in discovering the significance of the numerals.
They value discovering trends through analytics and clean, precise data.
Additionally, they know the data must be completely dependable before sharing findings, reports, or predictions.
Let’s talk about the various angles on how the two teams can collaborate successfully to ensure the business achieves its objectives.
Let us commence with the fundamentals.
Why is it Crucial for Leaders in Finance, Data, and Analytics to Work Together?
Data is used in almost every aspect of the business. Because the finance group is continuously developing new strategies to analyze the data in order to learn more about the business, finance is a close ally of the data and analytics group.
For making choices, particularly in regard to market expansion and mergers and acquisitions, the Finance department needs input into the data. Finance is a major supporter of D&A (Data and Analytics) as part of operations and wishes to collaborate closely with the team to guarantee the accuracy of dashboards and reports.
Recommendations For Enhancing Cooperation Between the Two Organizations
The most crucial point is comprehending how and why mistakes end in reports and displays. The difficulties lie beneath the display information. Finance frequently complains that the interface is malfunctioning and displaying inaccurate data.
Most of the time, the report goes smoothly when the D&A staff digs deeper into the root cause. The statistics itself is inaccurate, therefore. In many instances, inconsistent data is brought on by incorrect or out-of-date primary data.
The fact that the systems operating beneath the data are not matched is another issue. Alternatively, the system that gathers the data and distributes it with the primary data repository is not properly linked.
To determine whether the issue is with the method, the systems, or the data, the two parties must collaborate in order to pinpoint the issue’s primary cause. The problem can be resolved once the source has been found.
Demands Made to the D&A Employees By The Finance Section
Other than those for the conclusion of the quarterly statements and other standard financial reports, the finance section made additional demands of the D&A employees.
They are listed below:
When SAP acquired their new cloud businesses, the Finance group had to steer because the business strategy wasn’t what they were used to. For instance, performance depended greatly on the repetition rate.
During the acquisitions, the Finance Group learned that speaking the same language was necessary in order to use specific terms. For instance, accurate data were required to draw general business conclusions about renewal rates.
The financial division needed the same exact collection of data from the companies for aggregation.
They had to be cautious to create procedures that gathered correct information about contracts, termination, renewal, and other related subjects because every business described renewal rates differently.
Finding that vernacular was the first step in creating the documents they needed.
What Should DA Executives Understand About Working With CFOs And Financial Data Leaders More Effectively?
The DA head who is in charge of producing the report for finance must be familiar with the data, the fundamental procedures for gathering it, and the systems that gather, purify, and store it.
They keep tabs on the data’s origins, flow, and integrity. Utilizing the proper data to create dashboards and reports requires having that knowledge and being able to communicate it to the finance team.
Finding a D&A manager with data expertise and process understanding is essential. It is a special collection of skills. Additionally, they must understand how crucial data security is to companies.
When sales were actually $25 million, the financial section could not afford to report $20 million in sales. Data security is their primary objective, with speed following in second.
When making choices that are important to the business, they must move quickly.
When they ask the D&A employees for help, they encounter problems, and it takes three to four weeks to gather the statistics. They will always require fast access to accurate information.
What Should Financial Executives Know To Collaborate With DA Leaders More Effectively?
The financial team must be aware of the data, procedures, and tools that the D&A team uses. If data collection does require four weeks, describe why it is necessary to take that time and the actions needed to produce a new report or attribute.
Finance needs to be aware of what D&A needs to do to fulfill the request. A fast fix might involve adding a column to an offline Excel document and performing a computation to provide a single response to a business query.
Or, if a long-lasting, adaptable, and reliable answer is needed, it necessitates in-depth research and additional work on the fundamental data structures and systems.
Conclusion
Both parties should be aware of each other’s requirements, challenges, and pain spots as this is a mutually beneficial partnership.
It ought to be a cordial, conversational, and considerate partnership. When the departments collaborate in that manner, they can each support the professional and commercial objectives of the company.
These two teams regularly trade skills, which deepens their knowledge of one another.