Some CFOs see the opportunity to build a robust, rolling and integrated 3-way model with planning, budgeting, forecasting and variance to actuals as an exciting challenge.

Other CFOs find it frightening and avoid learning new ways to financial modelling.

Which one are you?

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but what exactly does that mean, how much of this is subjective, and how does it relate to data visualization?

As you’re reading this article, think about examples of great dashboards, just okay dashboards, and really terrible dashboards. What’s the difference between these, what makes one great and another terrible? Additionally, how does that impact the story the dashboard is trying to tell?

Have you noticed the rise in the so-called low-code or no-code tools lately?

This sudden focus has become a big topic across a range of different business and technology contexts.

This article will dig into all you need to know about these tools.

Background

Last night we announced the arrival of Full Stack Modeller and the concept of being a Full Stack Modeller.

If you've never heard of the term then you have come to the right place to find out more.

My co-founders Kenny Whitelaw-Jones, Myles Arnott and Giles Male strongly believe that there is more to financial modelling than just Excel, Financial Modelling and Technology, even though the debate may show otherwise.

4 August | by Benjamin Stoter, Marcus Small and Lance Rubin

Introduction to the co-authors

Benjamin Stoter is a Chartered Accountant and is a self-taught financial modeller.

He completed his articles at KPMG whereafter he joined a national Real Estate company and worked in various roles such as Asset manager, Operational and Financial controller; Group Financial Manager and ultimately Group Head of Treasury, FP&A and Systems.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CO-AUTHOR

Lisa is a co-founder of a consulting firm that works with management teams to create confident decisions backed by data.  She uses financial modelling as a way to help her clients articulate their vision, bring colour through the numbers and break the strategy down into actionable steps.

Her company name, Effigy Consulting, is based around our belief that a financial model is a representation of the business:  The model is a safe space where you can test a business model and assumptions rather than destroying the actual business.

Typically in finance we have a particular type of cadence.

This cadence is largely consistent across different organisations no matter what the industry you support. We are likely to have some or all of these:

1. Monthly reporting,

2. Quarterly reporting and forecasting,

3. Half year reporting (if listed),

4. Annual statutory reporting and tax filing (we all have this one),

5. Annual budget process and

6. Longer range strategic planning for 3 to 5 years.

Now that's a pretty full dance card if you ask me.

So how do we keep up with all those requirements whilst making sure that we are not just hitting the deadlines but actually accelerating the value that we add to the business.

Read our latest blog for more insight without the big price tag attached.

Very few 😬 finance professionals have what it takes to build a good financial model, but if you use a few short steps you can find 👀 those diamonds👷 in the rough.

It's like changing someones title to Finance Business Partner and expect them 😁 to suddenly add value and build good models.

It doesn't work 👎that way, never will!

Without the right training and hiring you will just be running on the same tredmill 😵 with the same people with the same skills gap😱.

Being an advanced excel user📈(not that anyone can succintly explain exactly what that means) helps, but its certainly not the only criteria.☝

Forecasting does not guarantee you will be great at financial modelling. 😱

Just because you can drive a car doesn't mean you can be a Formula 1 race car driver. 🚗

Playing T20 cricket doesn't guarantee you will be a great test cricketer. 😁

The same goes for forecasting and financial modelling. 📊 📈 📉

#FinancialModelling #Finance #FutureofFinance

Is all this tech talk and Finance Transformation getting a bit much? 😵

Where do you start and stop? 🚦

There is so much on offer from RPA to Analytics to Modelling. 📈

Read my co-authored 🙌 article with Anders to learn more and demystify all the jargon and pick some practical solutions you can try. 👍

#finance #futureoffinance #analytics #Excel #cloud #digitization #FinancialModelling