{"id":10219,"date":"2019-11-20T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T20:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=10219"},"modified":"2023-10-18T10:14:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:14:39","slug":"4-ways-financial-leaders-can-become-more-data-driven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/4-ways-financial-leaders-can-become-more-data-driven\/","title":{"rendered":"4 ways financial leaders can become more data-driven"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/money-matters\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Money Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t4 ways financial leaders can become more data-driven\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2019-11-20T15:22:00-05:00\">November 20, 2019<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"4 ways financial leaders can become more data-driven\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/4-ways-financial-leaders-can-become-more-data-driven\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/the-resource-group\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/Sage-Advice-YT-logo-350x350.png\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/Sage-Advice-YT-logo-350x350.png 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/Sage-Advice-YT-logo.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 40px) 100vw, 40px\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">The Resource Group<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Business technology continues to evolve at lightning speed. As more applications transition to the cloud, information has never been easier to gather. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.resgroup.com\/How-to-become-a-data-driven-finance-leader-webinar?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWldFME9HVTJOemc0TldVMSIsInQiOiJtVU1GZmVyeURaUmJLRFRkWlc2Z1dVTjBtbmpCcWdDZ3grdGpHS0Q2N2Q3NDNsVXpPSXFGdXIwTm9vWDRIT1pRVXN1R0tSaWxjWE1udTNrXC9mN0lXNW11ZEF3cGoycVYzK25kVWw5Rjc0dVFMZHNmazhNSW9IRzFvZ3ozTGdMdFoifQ%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data is becoming more and more essential<\/a> to remaining competitive and succeeding in any industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">However, despite the growing importance of data, many CFOs and Finance Leaders feel they\u2019re underusing it in their roles as business leaders and advisors. Why is this disconnect happening? What barriers still exist when it comes to gathering data, and understanding and using it? As a financial leader, how can you make the best use of data to help your company grow? <h2>1. Use the right technology<\/h2> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">When it comes to gathering, understanding, and sharing information, your accounting solution forms the foundation for success. Your solution should have the ability to collect and use both financial and operational data from across multiple departments and systems. For the purposes of sharing data across your business (not to mention understanding it in the first place), your financial solution should have excellent reporting capabilities. If your current system involves manually exporting information to create spreadsheets, it\u2019s time for an upgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><h2>2. Focus on the big picture<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With modern technology making it possible to automate more and more financial processes, it\u2019s time to shift your role to managing the bigger picture of your business. Automation allows you to worry less about daily accounting tasks or maintaining your accounting systems. Once you\u2019ve freed yourself and your team from some of the more repetitive duties, you can think more about using data to help every aspect of your organization operate more effectively. <h2>3. Use your data to create realistic goals<\/h2> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As you gather data and accurately identify where your business is at right now, you can use that information to gain a better view of the future. Are your business goals realistic? How do your benchmarks compare to the performance of similar organizations? Continued monitoring of your progress towards goals can reveal spikes or dips in performance and help you revise strategies as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><h2>4. Drive proactive change<\/h2><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">A data-driven financial leader focuses on the future success of the business and works to make those goals come true. Real-time monitoring of success metrics and detailed analysis of your operations will reveal trends over time. You can then use what you know to advise and inform other decision-makers, and form plans based on the facts.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Business technology continues to evolve at lightning speed. As more applications transition to the cloud, information has never been easier to gather. Data is becoming more and more essential to remaining competitive and succeeding in any industry. However, despite the growing importance of data, many CFOs and Finance Leaders feel they\u2019re underusing it in their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1506,"featured_media":9244,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158,348,43,47,48],"tags":[2,170,420,168],"business_type":[40,41],"lilypad":[],"context":[418,429],"industry":[57,451,58,55,54,450,204],"persona":[150,100,151,97],"imagine_tag":[209,436],"coauthors":[886],"class_list":["post-10219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accountants","category-free-guides-templates","category-money-matters","category-people-leadership","category-technology-innovation","tag-accountants","tag-business-strategy","tag-cloud-financial-management","tag-sage-accounting","business_type-small-business","business_type-growing-business","industry-financial-services","industry-healthcare","industry-nonprofit","industry-professional-services","industry-retail","industry-software-saas","industry-technology"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"The Resource Group","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1305768201.jpg","imagine_tags":{"209":"Accounting","436":"Intacct Accounting"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/9244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=10219"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}