In today’s finance functions, data is abundant, but influence is not. Despite an overwhelming array of dashboards, KPIs, and performance metrics, finance teams often feel sidelined when it comes to shaping commercial strategy. This blog explores why more financial data isn’t translating into greater strategic impact, and what needs to shift for finance to become a true business partner at the decision-making table.
The Data Dilemma
Data Overload vs Strategic Impact
Finance teams are producing more data than ever before, yet many still struggle to influence strategic business decisions. Over-reliance on dashboards, spreadsheets, and backwards-looking reports often creates noise, not clarity. Despite the rise of finance automation and business intelligence tools, key insights are often lost in translation. Access to data alone does not equal commercial influence.
The issue is not just volume, but relevance. Finance must shift from passive reporting to active interpretation - focusing on the business-critical metrics that actually shape outcomes. It’s not about showing more charts, but telling better stories with the data you already have.
Legacy Systems and Integration Gaps
One of the most frequently cited frustrations among Finance Directors is the outdated nature of their finance systems. Many are dealing with tools and platforms that were built for a different era; systems that don’t integrate well across departments and force manual workarounds. As one FD noted in our latest Finance Connect session: "We're being asked to own decisions, but our systems are stuck in 2010."
This lack of integration means finance is too often reactive rather than proactive. When finance tools don’t communicate with commercial or operational systems, finance leaders lose visibility and strategic influence. Data becomes siloed, and the finance function is left reconciling, rather than enabling, strategic direction.
The Real Gap: Influence
Lack of Early Involvement in Strategy
Too often, finance is brought in at the final stage, after strategic decisions are already made. This reactive model limits the function’s ability to shape long-term direction or challenge flawed assumptions. Influence must begin at the planning stage, not during post-hoc financial validation.
Finance leaders need to proactively embed themselves into cross-functional planning sessions, boardroom discussions, and commercial sprints. Early involvement leads to better alignment, fewer surprises, and stronger business performance.
The Need for Soft Skills
Strategic influence requires more than numerical fluency; it requires soft skills. Finance professionals must learn to communicate complex insights simply, frame data in a business context, and navigate interdepartmental tensions.
This includes developing emotional intelligence, active listening, and constructive challenge. Finance leaders must become translators and storytellers, able to present data in a way that engages, aligns, and inspires action. Without these relational capabilities, finance risks are seen as a blocker rather than a partner.
Reframing Finance as Co-Pilots
From Gatekeepers to Strategic Partners
To shift perception, finance must evolve from being the department of "no" to the function that enables strategic growth. This means becoming less focused on gatekeeping compliance and more invested in enabling commercial agility.
Strategic finance teams are those that say, "Here’s how we can do it", not just "Here’s why we can’t." This mindset shift is essential to building trust and positioning finance as an enabler of innovation.
Building Commercial Acumen
Commercial awareness is no longer optional; it’s a core competency for modern finance teams. Understanding product margins, market dynamics, sales strategies, and customer needs helps finance professionals contextualise data and challenge assumptions effectively.
Organisations must invest in upskilling their finance teams in commercial literacy through cross-functional secondments, collaborative projects, and ongoing business education.
Telling the Right Story with Data
Numbers alone don’t persuade; narratives do. To drive action, finance teams must learn the art of data storytelling. This means packaging insights in a way that is timely, visual, and relevant to different stakeholders.
Tools like scenario planning, data visualisation, and strategic forecasting can help finance communicate impact more clearly. The goal is not just accuracy; it’s influence.
The CFO of Tomorrow
The role of the CFO is undergoing a major transformation. Today’s most effective finance leaders are not just technical experts; they are trusted advisors, cultural influencers, and strategic architects.
Tomorrow’s CFO is someone who brings clarity to complexity, bridges silos between departments, and models the behaviours they want the wider business to adopt. They lead through influence, not just oversight. And they see finance not just as a function, but as a strategic lever for growth.
Conclusion
Want to hear how other CFOs are navigating this shift in mindset and capability? These are the kinds of challenges we explore in our Finance Connect sessions - practical, peer-led conversations with real commercial impact. Join the conversation.
