en
da
How can you release the potential of the role as a finance business partner? This is the focus of this article that brings you insight about the value of having a good plan as well as seven focus areas that will help you in the role as a finance business partner.
An individual plan makes the difference. It all begins and ends with putting your guiding star in the sky or - in everyday language - defining the vision for that for which you would like to be known in the business. Subsequently, the process consists in specifying your current point of departure and the potential that you should work with to be able to deliver the focused and persistent efforts strengthening the value of your role as a finance business partner.
But what makes a good plan?
A good plan contains an understanding of your business culture, its value propositions, and its business-related needs, as well as a prioritisation of your tasks and a mapping of your own competences.
The company's strategy, plans, and business model - and thus the business-related needs - are decisive for your ability to support the decisions and considerations of the business. Therefore, awareness of these areas and thorough knowledge about them will help you in your role as a finance business partner.
Finally, the systems and the applications supporting Finance are often decisive for releasing the full business finance potential in terms of freeing up time. This is also where the biggest challenges are to be found in the form of inadequately implemented solutions, faulty data, insufficient data quality, and non-financial data.
From intentions to a specific plan
It's also important to map your own personal competences and preferences, experience, and interfaces with your colleagues.
In this connection, it would also be obvious to review your tasks and processes and to update them, thereby releasing time to deliver something new. This means that you will probably have to move or rethink some tasks or make them more effective.
The strongest plans have aligned interfaces. Therefore, it's a good idea to be aware of your interfaces and their correlations with your team's plans.
Clearly defined roles are required to be able to deliver on business finance and to perform well. And therefore, awareness about the interfaces and the differences between the various roles is decisive for your success.
Unfortunately, a finance business partner role is launched without the business and the stakeholders having fully realised what the role should contain and what impact it will have on the tasks that the employee concerned used to solve.
And this often results in frustration. Both with the business and with you who assume the role as a finance business partner. Especially, if time has not been allocated for you to deliver something new, or if previous tasks continue to take your time, thereby preventing you from delivering as a finance business partner.
Consequently, it would be an advantage if you have - before you assume the role and thus the title of a finance business partner - planned what is next and how to communicate this to the rest of the organisation. This enables you to create the 'free space' needed to deliver something new, while striving determinedly to follow the plan for how to create value as a finance business partner and how to achieve this.
When preparing your plan, it could be advantageous to focus on the specific measures and to set a timeline that is sufficiently flexible to be adjusted as you go along. And not least to allocate time for continuous measurements of your activities to create progress.
So far so good. But how do you proceed with your plan and what should it contain more specifically?
Seven focus areas to help you with the finance business partner role
We have collected seven focus areas that you could advantageously use as a guide in your plan on how to fill the role as a finance business partner and create value for your business. They will secure you a possibility of integrating your new role in the best possible way in the business and that you pose critical questions as you go along so that you do not spend all your time preparing analyses that will not be used to add value.
- Be aware of your mindset
It is, after all, your mindset and your job preferences that make a difference when it comes to easily being successful in the role as a finance business partner. Since the role requires you to be enthusiastic about understanding figures, using figures, engaging in dialogue with the business, and being a part of the business-related decision process.
If, on the other hand, you prefer to produce figures, it may be a good idea to plan how to secure that you get about in the business. Since it is decisive that you are proactive and create the important dialogue on what brings business value. - Create an equal collaboration with your stakeholders
To be able to engage in an equal collaboration with you stakeholders in the business, two things are important: Firstly, you should know what is on your stakeholders' agenda and understand how decisions are made.Secondly, you yourself should take a suitable role and come across as an equal partner. You should neither be the a who intends to help the business understand finance nor go to the other extreme and subject to the business and do everything they want.
- Understand what drives the earnings
Understand the non-financial drivers of good and poor performance. Often both the business and the finance function supporting it will deliver the figures they are asked for. Rather than ask critically whether these figures are also the ones providing most value-creating insight on the basis of which to make business decisions. -
Be proactive, proactive, and proactive
Be a part of the business so that you know what is going on. Acquire knowledge about business developments so that you can handle the figures on the basis of known causal connections.
It's good to remember that proactive financial planning with forecasts, budgets, etc. is not about submitting tables to stakeholders requesting their input. But rather it's about ensuring that you can - with your knowledge and continuous dialogue - deliver financial figures and analyses that either support or challenge the business plans that you are a part of. Thus, you ensure inspiring dialogues in connection with scenario planning and business considerations. - Establish the direction of your business views
Your business views help set the direction of your priorities, your input, and your sparring with the business. If, for example, you hold the view that the company has too many products, it is more important to engage in dialogue about the potential of the products than to prepare more analyses of things that don't create value for the business. - Let the monthly reporting be secondary
Allow yourself to pay less attention to the monthly reporting since it should, preferably, be supported and confirmed by other 'early indicators' in the business. There is a tendency to only discuss the correctness of the figures in connection with the month-end closing - unfortunately, to the detriment of the dialogue and the good business and the decision-making processes.
The dynamics and dialogue taking place between the monthly reporting make the difference and can create the basis for you helping to boost the performance of the business. Therefore, you should use a simple and dynamic reporting process and spend energy on ad hoc and inspirational analyses as a basis of business decisions. - Know your KPIs and limit their number
Unfortunately, many political agendas are in play when the company's performance is to form the basis of, for example, bonus goals. Thus, it's important that neither you nor Finance becomes a part of this 'game', but rather acts with a professional value base by delivering full transparency.
Consequently, it is Finance's task to help limit the number of KPIs in the business, thereby leaving room to focus on the most relevant KPIs, and to help ensure that the KPIs have been chosen due to their creation of value for the business rather than as expressions of individuals' political interests.
The good example of finance business partnering
Now that you've read this article, you are hopefully better prepared to assume the role as a finance business partner and to create new value for your company.
But what actually happens when a finance business partner is working determinedly to define his or her role and to create as much value as possible for the business?
We can give you a good example of this - since we have spoken with Asbjørn Christensen Haslev, Director of LB Forsikring about how this company uses the finance business partnering role and how he is focused on creating confidence, thereby being a trusted advisor to the business.
You can read our case interview with LB Forsikring in Danish right here.
It begins with your vision and individual plan
Basico helps our customers develop and strengthen their business finance - both when it comes to designing and rolling out the finance business partner concept or helping each individual finance business partner get started well.
In the latter case, we provide inspiration, assistance for a specific plan, and help overcoming the obstacles that prevent you from following through on your plan.
Would you like to continue the dialogue? Then, please contact Senior Partner Henrik Dahlgaard for a non-binding talk about experiences and input for your journey as a finance business partner.
