Hug your Finance team. Get Your nominations in today!

Two-thirds of finance professionals say that they don't get the recognition they deserve and are sorely underappreciated compared to other departments.

In the words of one of last year's winners of, Datarails Office of the CFO Awards, Robin Kiziak :

“There are lots of people who don’t get the recognition they deserve in the finance and FP&A space.  Much of this comes down to the fact that finance and accounting professionals are seen as an essential, but back office function.

This is totally the wrong attitude.The sales team have their bell to ring and horns to toot when they make a sale…we should be doing the same when we’ve completed another period end, or round of budgeting!”

This ends today. The 2024 Office of the CFO Awards is now open for nominations.

Nominate here the finance professional that deserves recognition in your business https://lnkd.in/eBZD-aU6

Celebrate a beloved colleague (or yourself for any of these honors)

1. CFO of the Year

2. FP&A Pro of the Year

3. Visionaries in AI Finance

4. Controller of the Year

(Warning fame and swag follows!)

Join the roster of past winners including Melanie Lau Esther Bergman Steven Ailey Kathy~ Svetina Sarah Spoja Shannon Nash, Esq., CPA Sruthi Lanka Katie Bollinger David Van Vlierbergen Renato Boldo Barry Lin Kasey Noffsinger Gina Slack CPA, MBA Steve Haase Javier Aguayo Max B. Chris Abbiuso Susan Bosch Nicolas Boucher Adam Shilton Don Tomoff, MBA Robin Kiziak Wendy Van de Putte Jefferson Torres Saldanha Matt Fausett Anthony Davlin , Lemia Young, CPA, MBA

Thanks to our all-star judging panel for 2024: Wassia Kamon, CPA, CMA, MBA Christian Wattig Aviv Canaani Glenn Hopper

Nominate now ❎ https://lnkd.in/eBZD-aU6

Bridging the Gap: Translating Finance Insights for Effective Decision-Making

Skip Herman Kastroll is the Senior Director of Insights & Analytics at AmPhil, a company that helps non-profits raise more money and advance their missions.

(Skip also happens to be a happy Datarails user, crediting the platform with transforming how he is able to manage and communicate his company’s finance processes).

Here, Skip outlines 3 strategies for turning financial data and analysis into insights that help management make informed decisions, often on a quick turnaround.

1. Simplify! When presenting financial data and recommendations, use plain language (not the finance nerd-speak that we love!). Identify the main message and convey it in a clear and concise manner so management can quickly grasp the basic points and understand their implications for the business.
2. Make the Recommendations Practical. Point out the best possible solutions, just don’t ignore reality when you do. Management usually has considerations beyond just the financial data, so use case studies whenever appropriate to help management visualize the way forward and act on recommendations.
3. Differentiate Between Interesting Insights and Actionable Ones. Keep your eye on the ball: just provide enough detail on the expected benefits and risks and be prepared to briefly present greater detail and outline the implementation steps when management opens the door.

Check out the full article:

FP&A Today 🎧

When AI Outperformed Financial Analysts – Alex Kim

In this episode Glenn Hopper talks to the researcher responsible for the groundbreaking study which found that AI is better at conducting financial analysis than humans. Alex Kim , University of Chicago Booth School of Business, provides a full overview of his findings, methodology and the impact on FP&A, CFOs and finance from the attention-grabbing study “Financial Statement Analysis with Large Language Models”. The analysis, which made headlines across the world, found AI produces a 60% rate of accuracy in predictive financial performance. Human experts’ accuracy tends to fall between 53% and 57%.

Apple| Spotify| YouTube| Blog post and Transcript

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