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LEARNING RESOURCES

“The more time you spend in this initial
phase, the better the later phase will be,”
she said. Finance Business Partnering: Influence to Impact
Now, she’s applying those same lessons
to her new job. She’s currently working to Acquire essential problem-solving skills that can positively affect all
draw together disparate streams of data, areas of the business; learn how to leverage analytics tools and
especially from the manufacturing floor, techniques to aid decision-making; and become accomplished in
so the company can understand how its presenting and influencing key business decision-makers.
production of metal powders meets up
with forecasted demand and financial Find this course in the AICPA Store and in the CGMA Store.
assumptions. COURSE
Keep it in the cloud
Cloud-based tech is a natural fit for Business Partnering
business partnering. By choosing tools Covers partnering both within and outside of finance, including
that live on the cloud, finance prepares for thoughts on changing CFO priorities in the digital age, synergies
future connections and collaboration. between strategy and partnering, a proven partnering framework, and
“Cloud equals collaboration,” Hood practical tools and techniques.
said. “If you have cloud, you can
collaborate across your business and VIDEO
inside of your business.”
Another benefit of cloud platforms is
the relative ease of integrating different
applications. Various applications can now
be “knit together”, even if they’re offered by Often, these platforms have hidden still busy trying to close the books, keep
different developers, Sehgal said. features that can improve workflow. For the numbers right — and many of them
But the constant migration of data also example, meeting platforms can record did not have the skills to rise up and help
brings risks, Weglinska said. Finance has and automatically transcribe meetings. their CFOs”, he said.
to ensure that each application and Those transcripts can be catalogued for Some of these skills can be developed
repository is storing and sharing data in a future reference, making a handy record in house. Hood suggested “reverse
uniform way rather than relying on that keeps all partners on the same page. mentoring” with tech-savvy young
bespoke transformations at each stage. The basic apps are “exponentially employees sharing their ideas and advice
“It’s about preparing the data before the growing in functionality”, Hood said. “If with senior members.
migration, making sure it’s the same quality you haven’t started, dip in a little bit more.” Finance also can recruit for specific
data as the one that we want to keep,” she But it’s not just the apps themselves — skills, of course. Many companies have
said. She suggests using simpler tools like it’s how you use them. Hood suggested even created new job titles: finance
Excel to create prototype reports and setting guidelines for digital collaboration. transformation leader, tech leader, digital
databases, ensuring you understand the For example, in an app like Slack, leaders leader, digital enablement officer.
scope of needs before committing to code. should think about how to organise But the fact is that the profession is in
The transition to cloud software brings channels in a way that makes it easy for heated competition for talent with the
other new responsibilities for finance, too. people to find relevant discussions. tech sector, which has been hiring in huge
Because they are often simpler to operate, “What kind of channel hierarchy do I numbers and at high salaries. To build the
the oversight of cloud applications may want, to make that information findable?” right team, Sehgal said, finance has to
fall more directly on finance rather than IT. he said. Employees can also use the create a vision of its tech- and
“You see finance owning more tech “pinning” function to highlight important partnership-based future.
solutions,” Sehgal said. “Finance doesn’t documents or messages, and they can tag “We need to paint a vision for finance.
want to take [it] over. That’s not the goal. documents with common search terms We need to think about diversity of
But the way the world is changing, you say, and hyperlinks to ensure that others have thinking,” Sehgal said. “We need to think
‘Where do I need to build my skillsets?’ multiple ways to find needed information. about the tools and technologies.”
That affects training. That affects “Those are huge things that are really, The key, Venkataraman said, is to think
recruiting.” really low cost,” Hood said. “That’s how big, but start small and learn fast. ■
you free up time.”
Create a collaboration culture with
communication tools Build the skills
The use of digital communication and All this raises a question: Does finance Andrew Kenney is a freelance writer
collaboration apps like Slack, Teams, currently have the talent to take on new based in the US. To comment on this
Zoom, and the Google suite are now the roles in tech and business partnering? article or to suggest an idea for
baseline. But there’s still room to improve Many teams aren’t ready, Hood said. As another article, contact Oliver Rowe
how they’re used in business partnerships, demand for partnership and forecasting at Oliver.Rowe@aicpa-cima.com.
Hood said. has spiked, CFOs’ team members “were

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