Do you have what it takes? The skills needed to move from number crunching to business partnering:

There comes a time in every successful finance professional’s life that they may start to look beyond their own borders to the benefits of business partnering.

Fair enough, too. Once you have developed the requisite skills to move beyond number crunching, it makes sense that you would want to take your highly valued financial acumen and use these skills to assist other parts of the business.

Business partnering is a broad term that can take on many different meanings depending on the organisation, but essentially it refers to using the finance professional’s skills to inform strategic business decisions in other parts of a company or organisation.

By working side by side with a business leader in a specialized unit, accountants and finance professionals are able to affect real and lasting change within an organization. For example, it could mean working with HR or business leader to work out the best way to structure bonuses or KPIs or it could mean working with R & D departments to ascertain the level of financial risk for a specific project.

The benefits of business partnering for both you and the business are manifold. Rather than keeping the finance professionals siloed off in the accountant departments, tactical business partnering is highly strategic, creative and immensely rewarding. The finance professional brings unique insights and a whole new set of questions to the table, and, in turn, he or she deepens their knowledge of the organisation through their immersion in other parts of the business.

But, do you have what it takes to move into business partnering?

Here are some of the skills you will need:

Communication

Finance professionals are steeped in the terminology of their trade, but it’s important to remember that not everyone outside of your sector will know what a P&L statement is. The ability to use clear and concise language and communicate with others from other sectors and departments is fundamental.

This is especially the case when dealing with people in areas that are far removed from finance, such as arts organisations.

The most successful business partnering occurs when the finance professional’s perspective is communicated in a collegial and clear fashion, and they are able to create a bridge to a shared understanding.

Analytical skills

Business leaders want more from finance professionals than the numbers. Any accountant can walk into a boardroom and deliver the figures, but business partnering is about the expert synthesis and analysis of data.

The c-suite is always keen to know the drivers behind the data — they are, after all, focused on growing the company — so a finance professional who can drill down into the figures and tell executives why a trend is occurring will be invaluable to a company.

Courage

It may surprise you to learn that courage is a big part of the role, but speaking up is something that a lot of finance professionals, like the rest of us, struggle with. Why is that the case? No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, but as a finance professional you will often be the naysayer in a group of executives.

If the figures don’t square up or business leaders are floating ideas that are unsustainable, it is up to you to speak out about your concerns for the benefit of everyone involved.

Leadership

All successful business partners are highly persuasive because they are adept at getting others to see their point of view.

If you think the company, based on your analysis of figures, should be heading in an entirely new direction you need to do more than just state that.

You need the skills to mount a successful case by arguing for your ideas, backing them up with facts and appealing to people’s reasoning logic.

This is not a skill that comes easily to everyone, but it can be improved with practice.

Focus on solutions

The most in-demand finance professionals are those that can move the numbers from a situation to a solution.

Rather than presenting the figures and leaving them in the hands of executives, you could use your skills to find a practical solution that would address the issue and move the company forward. It is OK to be the bearer of bad news if you come up with an attractive solution to the news you are delivering.

As you can see, business partnering requires a range of soft skills that demand valuable interpersonal traits.

Some workplaces are experts at providing finance professionals with opportunities to acquire these skills, but, if business partnering appeals to you, it’s important to take charge of your own career and ensure you are developing these traits on a daily basis.

The skills needed to move from number crunching to business partnering

Mansfield & Co Recruitment