Finance Should Be Driving the Business—Not Just Ticking Boxes
Once upon a time, finance teams were all about balance sheets, reporting deadlines, and making sure the numbers added up.
- Month-end closed? Great.
- Budgets signed off? Perfect.
- Reports sent to leadership? Job done.
But here’s the problem—none of that actually grows the business.
- A great finance team doesn’t just report numbers—it influences decisions.
- It doesn’t just track costs—it helps the business make money.
- It’s not just reactive—it’s proactive, strategic, and commercially sharp.
Here’s how to build a finance team that actually adds value—rather than just ticking compliance boxes.
1. Stop Hiring ‘Traditional’ Finance People Who Just Play It Safe
If your finance team is full of number-crunchers who don’t challenge decisions, you’ve got a problem.
👎 What holds finance teams back?
- A fear of stepping outside their lane.
- A focus on historical data instead of future insights.
- Thinking their job is just about reporting, not influencing.
🚀 What a high-value finance team looks like:
- They ask tough questions, not just report the answers.
- They provide commercial insight, not just spreadsheets.
- They act as a true business partner, not just a compliance function.
🔧 How to fix it:
- When hiring, look for commercial acumen—not just technical ability.
- Test for problem-solving and business understanding in interviews.
- Encourage a culture where finance people contribute beyond the numbers.
📢 Rule of thumb: If your finance team isn’t influencing business decisions, they’re just an overhead.
2. Make Finance a Strategic Partner, Not Just a Support Function
If your finance team isn’t involved in key decisions, you’re not using them properly.
Too many businesses see finance as an admin department rather than a commercial function.
👎 What goes wrong?
- Finance gets brought in at the end of decisions, rather than the start.
- They’re focused on ‘what happened’ rather than ‘what’s next.’
- Leadership sees finance as ‘the team that says no.’
🚀 What works better:
- Involve finance in strategic discussions early—not just when budgets are needed.
- Get finance to analyse opportunities, not just costs.
- Make sure finance leaders are commercially savvy, not just technically strong.
🔧 How to fix it:
- Shift the mindset—finance should be asking ‘how can we?’ not just ‘can we afford it?’
- Encourage finance to challenge leadership decisions with data.
- Ensure finance is sitting at the leadership table, not just reporting to it.
📢 Rule of thumb: If finance is only involved when money needs approving, you’re doing it wrong.
3. Hire People Who Understand Business, Not Just Numbers
A finance professional who only understands accounting isn’t enough anymore.
👎 What outdated finance hires look like:
- Great at spreadsheets, bad at communication.
- Can produce reports but can’t explain what they mean.
- Knows finance inside out but doesn’t understand business operations.
🚀 What high-value finance hires look like:
- They translate numbers into insights leadership can act on.
- They collaborate across departments—finance, sales, operations, marketing.
- They help drive revenue, not just control costs.
🔧 How to fix it:
- Hire for commercial mindset, not just qualifications.
- Look for finance professionals who ask “why” not just “what.”
- Assess communication skills as much as technical skills in interviews.
📢 Rule of thumb: If your finance team can’t explain numbers in plain English, they’re not adding enough value.
4. Automate the Repetitive Work So Finance Can Focus on Big Decisions
If your finance team is drowning in manual reports, they don’t have time to add strategic value.
👎 Common bottlenecks in finance teams:
- Too much time spent on data entry and reconciliations.
- Endless spreadsheet consolidation.
- Month-end closing that takes forever.
🚀 What top-performing finance teams do instead:
- Automate transactional tasks so finance can focus on analysis.
- Invest in tools that make reporting faster and more dynamic.
- Free up time for finance to contribute strategically.
🔧 How to fix it:
- Identify areas that can be automated—payroll, reporting, expenses.
- Upgrade outdated finance systems that slow the team down.
- Give finance professionals the time to think, not just process.
📢 Rule of thumb: If your finance team spends 90% of its time on reporting, they’re not adding enough value.
5. Encourage Finance to Take Risks (Not Just Avoid Them)
Finance professionals are trained to minimise risk—but great finance teams know when to take smart risks.
A finance team that just says “no” to everything will hold your business back.
👎 What risk-averse finance teams do:
- Shoot down ideas without exploring alternatives.
- Focus only on cost-cutting rather than growth opportunities.
- See risk as something to eliminate, rather than something to manage.
🚀 What strategic finance teams do instead:
- They assess risks and suggest ways to mitigate them.
- They balance caution with commercial opportunity.
- They work with leadership to grow the business—not just protect the bottom line
🔧 How to fix it:
- Encourage finance to bring solutions, not just highlight problems.
- Reward strategic thinking, not just cost-cutting.
- Ensure finance professionals understand the long-term vision, not just short-term risks.
📢 Rule of thumb: If finance’s default answer is ‘no,’ they’re not a commercial function—they’re a roadblock.
Final Thought: Your Finance Team Should Be a Growth Engine, Not Just a Cost Centre
Finance teams should be driving business success—not just tracking it.
The best businesses are:
- Hiring finance professionals who think commercially, not just technically.
- Involving finance in strategy, not just reporting.
- Automating the admin so finance can focus on big decisions.
- Encouraging finance to take a proactive, not reactive, role.
Want to build a finance team that actually adds value?
We Do Benchmark ensures your salaries are competitive—so you attract the right finance talent.
We Do Group finds and secures top-tier finance professionals—before your competitors do.
