What is Finance Business Partner? First time I heard about this term was when I listened to a podcast show called Strength in Numbers by Andrew Codd. It is a term we can sort of associated with but can be opened up with different definition.
According to Andrew, being a Finance Business Partner, one apply her/his financial expertise and commercial acumen to contribute valued insights, driving partners’ decisions toward better outcomes that best satisfy business needs.
In my own terms, I would describe Finance Business Partners are finance professionals, particularly, financial analysts, who would spend most of our time understanding the business and industries. Not only we are proficient in data analytics, we make sense of data and proactively identify the implications to our businesses of what’s happening now and in the likely future environment.
It is true that Finance holds the key functions such as controllership and compliance in an organization. It satisfied the need in an organizations by conducting activities as budget planning, target-setting variance analysis as well as assessing margins and returns on investments to ensure systems, people, processes, and assets are being utilized & stewarded in the most cost effective manner.
However, these functions and tasks associated with would be gradually replaced by automation and intelligent tools. In the current uncertain world with disruptive innovation happens every year, Finance needs to quickly transform and re-establish itself in the organization and start delivering impactful values again.
Business Partnership would be the next development Finance needs to embrace. It positions Finance in not just looking after cash internally but also outward to start navigating where the organization should move forward next. And this has become especially true and validated how heavily have Finance Business Partners and FPA been involved during Covid-19 crisis.
As what Andrew explained what the next vision looks like for Finance Professionals.
“Effective finance business partners are the ones who make connections between people, groups and issues. They have the courage to speak up, to challenge, to hold up the mirror to the business and ask questions. They will be sitting in the middle of the table brokering and linking up points, adding a commercial overview and financial angle, as well as driving better outcomes.”
What is Finance Business Partner to you? As a finance professional, are you looking to do something more, different? Let’s hear it!