CFOs are storytellers.
But to deliver their story to the Board well, information first has to travel down a funnel. In goes all the data pertaining to company performance and strategy. Once the CFO is done with it, out comes a simplified, coherent message.
Or at least, this is how it should be.
Finance leaders know their numbers inside and out. The Board, however, does not. Given the sheer volume of data that exists today, narrowing it down for the Board can be daunting.
How can you get the Board to see what they need to see?
Adopt their mindset
The Board only needs so much information. When preparing your report, keep your message simple. Remember- they need you to take everything you’ve got and summarize it succinctly enough so they can comprehend the big picture without conducting a lengthy deep dive. They need the key pieces of information, the patterns or conclusions that have emerged, from all the numbers you’ve obtained. Keep this in mind as you prepare your financial report.
With Datarails, you can easily examine consolidated numbers from disparate sources in order to gain an understanding of the wider business picture. And when you present said business landscape to the board, the solution’s single-click drill downs will allow you to confidently back up answers on the fly to the Boards’ questions, should they arise.
Clarity
Objectivity and accuracy are vital. The Board needs to know where things stand, for better or for worse, and as soon as possible. Datarails has a live embedded charts feature that is perfect for this. When you present your report, your figures and charts update on the spot thanks to real-time, live charts.
Meetings with the Board serve a preventative function too. So if there is a decline in sales, they need to know. And if things are looking up, they need to know as well. Remember- you’re not trying to make a sale to the Board. As such bring up potential risks, before they arise, in order to mitigate them.
Show them the big picture
Give the Board a quick refresher of how things were and how they are now before telling them where things seem to be going. Comprehensive coverage of the past and present will give them the perspective they need to look into the future.
Visuals can help with this and convey your message in a straightforward way. Datarails’ Insights feature is excellent for this. The web-based, real-time dashboards are fully customizable, allowing you to visualize your data as you see fit.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Datarails helps you ensure the Board sees exactly what they need to see in order to make the best decisions for the organization.
Deliver what they need, exactly when they need it.
By empowering each finance professional to independently work with data, Datarails helps deliver actionable, data-driven insights. With Datarails reporting is made easy, so you can deliver these insights to the Board as effortlessly as possible.
About Datarails
Datarails is a FP&A software that empowers each finance professional to independently work with data and deliver actionable, data-driven insights. Finally, count on numbers you can trust and reduce inefficiencies without having to change how you work on Excel. With Datarails, strengthen the connection between finance and operations to drive better organizational decisions.