More than half of organisations are not making use of the insight provided for them by their finance business partners for decision-making.
A survey of 75 senior financial officers by Deloitte found that, while over half of the respondent organisations view finance as a source of trusted financial information, just 8% regard this output as their primary source of insight.
This is despite the fact that organisations are increasingly seeking support from finance in decision-making, which has led to greater demand for finance ‘business-partnering’ activities over the past two years.
Finance functions have the opportunity to use the wealth of data available to them to challenge decision-making in the business. But the survey findings indicate they are not making the most of this opportunity, with 42% of finance functions having provided data in significant detail, but with limited context. This restricts the amount of guidance business partners can give back to their businesses and the impact they have on decision-making.
Malcolm Wilkinson, finance business partnering lead at Deloitte, said: “There is a big difference between simply providing data, and giving insight and guidance. Many finance business partners currently focus their efforts on providing a good service in the eyes of the business. To provide true insight and fulfil their finance responsibilities, they must also provide an independent challenge, based on a clear understanding of the true drivers of business performance.”
Deloitte’s analysis has shown that organisations whose business partners have clearly defined roles are much more likely to develop and retain the skills required to guide, influence and challenge the business.
Despite a link between clarity of roles and the required skills, 45% of finance functions have no definition for the role of their decision support teams and business partners.
Wilkinson added: “Clearly defining the finance business partnering role, including the requirement to challenge the business, is essential.”