Getting Business Partnering Right

SSON's new columnist brings a CFO's perspective to our discussions: Finance isn’t an island on its own, but is, instead, a function of what the business and its institutions need from it. Five ideas that will ensure the finance teams connect properly with their business colleagues, and which Jens Madrian found particularly helpful.

Five ways your Finance team needs to connect to the business if it is to succeed in the new world. Let's face it, Finance Business Partnering is hardly a new concept. But once you've worked operational roles and partnered with Finance, you get to understand that it comes in many forms. Here are five ideas that will ensure the finance teams connect properly with their business colleagues, which I found particularly helpful in a "services delivery" context.

1. Do the basics well (always) The digital revolution is going to bring automation and robotics to accounting, but that doesn't mean the Finance team can automate their relationships with their stakeholders. Accurate and timely reporting is just as important as ever, as credibility rests more on doing the basics well than on fancy modelling or analytics. They will need to ensure their business colleagues fully understand the implications of the numbers, meaning they have to educate, coach and interpret the numbers in relevant ways if business colleagues are to trust their finance business partners. Being predictable isn't boring.

2. On the same pitch Experienced business leaders have had enough of Finance teams watching and criticising from the stands. They want partners who are invested in their organisation, who understand the commercial model, who are willing to offer an opinion and stand by it. This became particularly apparent in outsourcing negotiations I had in the past – you want to have someone next to you who gets it, and can not only emphasize with commercial, but also with the operational & cultural consequences, and sure doesn't sit on the fence "helping". Crucially, they won't accept criticism from Finance unless they know Finance share some of the pain. So, spend time in the business, sit with colleagues and join in, but don't go too native. If they see you on the same pitch they'll come to you for advice, and you'll find the advice you do give will land well.

3. Hold them to account on the numbers This is a question of not diluting the accountability. The business must own their own numbers, so don't just assign targets, buy them into the targeting. Help them with the how. If you support them in de-risking their plans, closing the gaps in the planning, they will own those plans all the more. And it's only after the business has created its own targets that you can hold it to account on them. Behave as if you feel responsible, but never dilute that accountability.

4. Become a go-to adviser If you can support the decisioning process, helping them build confidence in their own plans and constantly course correct with analysis and advice, they will come to you more and more as their trust builds. Tell them when they are wrong, do it directly, do it in private, and do it carefully. When they feel they make better decisions with you at the table, you'll be a business partner in practice, not just in principle. A trusted adviser.

5. Lead change in their business, not just in your own Driving the pace of change, and developing capability and know how, has never traditionally been the remit of Finance. It was our job just to cost it and report it. Today, with change being technological in nature as well as cultural, a new finance person will need to drive the right type of change that creates opportunity to streamline processes and manage costs, as well as to drive the top line through innovation. This new Finance person will be au fait with technology, customer-centric and will operate like a leader throughout the business, not only in Finance.

These are the elements of Finance Business Partnering that work. Practical and tested themes in an services delivery context that will help you contract effectively with the business.