What are the top management challenges for finance teams?
Getting it right in finance is vital, but that takes more than just crunching numbers. More than any others, finance teams have to tackle challenges head-on before they have too much impact on the numbers you need to manage. So how do you help your finance teams meet these challenges?
The challenges that financial managers face
What are the common problems in finance departments today? Let’s take a look.
Optimizing processes and productivity
Improving productivity is one of the toughest challenges faced by financial managers. More so than any other factor, it heavily skews the way they judge their team’s success. But it’s worth remembering; it’s an eternal challenge that never goes away. And no matter what you do, it will always be on your agenda.
So what’s the best approach for helping your finance team take on a problem that you can never fully solve? As with all optimization challenges, it’s not about looking for a solution; it’s about looking for the next opportunity. That could be new technology or new skills. Better technology or a more knowledgeable team are the best ways to refine and streamline processes and boost productivity.
The talent war
As your finance team's data and technology begin to play a more significant part in organizational success, using them to their full potential becomes critical. For many teams, this means bringing on board a whole raft of new skills while ensuring that people in existing positions are working at the top of their game and delivering real impact.
It’s down to you to help your people realize their potential, and to know how to identify the best people to bring onto any given task. Doing both of these goes beyond simple HR. It's not simply about having positions to fill, which can become an expensive way to boost teams. You need to know how to get the most out of the talent you have, and what to do when that’s not possible — creating an inspiring and exciting environment and culture for change, giving people the tools and opportunities to shine.
Connecting and improving data
Data accuracy and ease are essential to finance teams. Finance teams can’t function if data is inaccurate or impossible to find. Forecasting becomes impossible. Budgeting becomes inaccurate. And without these, planning becomes pointless.
You need to integrate the tools you use. Integration brings cohesion. And ultimately, it gives you one accurate source of truth across your team (and organization if possible). Planning and budgeting tools like Unit4's FP&A give you this capability, along with a lot more besides. So you can be sure your team can answer any question asked accurately and quickly.
The usual team management issues
Technology has changed the face of finance teams and how they work, but there are some day-to-day problems that technology alone can’t fix. Your people are still people at the end of the day. So you still have to create opportunities, engage and inspire, help ambitious people get ahead, improve work/life balance, develop better cultures, help talented people shine and work together. And all while doing the work your team needs to do.
The good news is, although technology may not have solved all these problems, it does make managing them easier. The right technology gives your people the tools they need to do their work, connect and grow—all in one space. For more information, check out our coaching cheat-sheet here.
How to run a finance department smarter with Unit4
Unit4 FP&A lets you create a better way to work. Our software-as-a-service platform gives finance teams intelligent applications that help your organization innovate and deliver great experiences. Your people get the flexibility and freedom to have what they need, how, when and where they need it.
Now you can help your team swiftly adapt to change, automate back-office tasks and optimize decision-making, and be the best themselves they can be without the hassle.
