Doublefin

Business Analyst and Business Data Analyst are not the same. Here's a simple breakdown: Business Analyst Business analysts bridge IT and business operations. They analyze processes, find improvement areas, and suggest solutions. They gather requirements, create specifications, and ensure smooth communication among stakeholders. They report to project managers and product managers. Business Data Analyst Business data analysts work with large datasets to extract insights. They use data analysis and visualization to spot trends, turning raw data into actionable intelligence. They report to data science or analytics managers or directly to senior leaders in departments like finance, marketing, or operations, depending on where their insights are needed most. Bottom line: Business analysts focus on processes and requirements, while data analysts focus on insights and analytics. Together, they provide a full view of business opportunities, blending qualitative and quantitative insights for better decisions. I hope this helps someone out there. P.S. I’m Warren Wang, CEO and founder of Doublefin. Before becoming founder, I spent 12 years at Google in finance leadership roles, managing multi-billion-dollar budgets and global teams.

Pay your people more. Reward their commitment. Don’t punish it. Think about it: Hiring new employees is expensive. Recruiting costs add up fast. Training takes months before new hires are fully productive. Turnover creates gaps that hurt morale and slows your team down. And yet, companies often spend more replacing employees than keeping the great ones they already have. So, why not invest in them instead? Offer raises that reflect their loyalty and contributions. Provide growth opportunities and upskilling. Show them they’re valued. Not overlooked. Employees who feel appreciated don’t just stay. They thrive. They grow with the company and deliver more value. Retention isn’t just good for culture. It’s smart for business. Pay your team what they’re worth. It’ll cost you far less than losing them. P.S. Many companies lack the tools to manage and plan headcount effectively. At Doublefin, we’re changing that.

Here’s the problem: Too many CEOs treat HR as a cost center, not a growth driver. If HR reports to Finance, the CEO doesn’t see its real value. It all comes down to how the CEO views HR: Operational? If HR is just payroll and compliance, reporting to Finance might make sense. Strategic? If HR drives morale, workforce planning, and aligns talent with business goals, it must operate as a peer to the CFO. - Finance tracks costs. HR builds culture. - Finance manages budgets. HR fuels strategy. HR must prove its value. Show how engagement impacts the bottom line. Deliver talent strategies that align with business goals. If HR doesn’t advocate for its seat at the table, no one else will. Great CEOs and CFOs see HR as a value center, not cost center. Agree? Disagree?

HR spends more time on admin than strategy. FP&A wastes hours chasing receipts. Why? Disconnected systems keep them stuck. But HR and FP&A don’t want silos. When data, financial plans, and workforce info live in silos, decisions slow, and teams misalign. The result? HR gets stuck in admin mode instead of driving impact. We built Doublefin to fix this: - Break silos - Eliminate errors - Slash costs instantly - Cut manual work by 60%. - Power proactive planning Doublefin unifies your workforce data into one strategic hub. Information flows. Teams collaborate. Decisions accelerate. Stop letting silos hold HR back. Integration isn’t a luxury. It’s how HR becomes strategic. Follow Warren Wang for more finance and HR insights.

The HR-Finance disconnect is stopping your growth. I watch companies struggle because their HR data sits in isolation. Think about it: How can you make smart decisions when important information remains trapped? 64% of HR leaders admit flying blind on financial impact. Compensation becomes a guessing game. HR approves hiring without budget visibility. Workforce costs spiral due to poor forecasting. Finance makes cuts without understanding talent implications. But it doesn't have to be this way. Forward-thinking companies have cracked the code. HR-Finance alignment isn't just nice to have. It is a must. That's why I built Doublefin. - Real-time data drives decisions. - Planning becomes truly strategic. - HR and Finance speak the same language. - People metrics connect to business outcomes. You see, with Doublefin, your HR and Finance teams finally work as one unified force. Instead of scattered spreadsheets and delayed reports, you get real-time insights that connect your people's decisions to financial outcomes. The result? Faster growth. Better decisions. Stronger teams. You must connect people who drive your business and those who fund its future. Follow Warren Wang for more finance and HR insights.

5 HR pains: (Headcount planning) 1. Not preparing for turnover. It's important to factor in expected attrition rates when planning headcount needs. Otherwise, you may underestimate openings and end up short-staffed once employees leave. Consider typical rates for your industry and company when projecting turnover. 2. Unclear staffing requirements. Heads alone don't determine needs - you must understand the work required. Lack of clarity around projects, goals, responsibilities and timelines makes it hard to pinpoint the right number and mix of employees. Conduct workload analyses, get input from managers and document job duties to give planning context. 3. Inflexible budgets. If budget numbers are set in stone from the start without adjusting in changing conditions, it limits quick response. Allow for some flexibility to adjust headcount up or down as markets, strategies and organizational demands shift. Build in buffers and work with finance early to ease restrictions if needed. 4. Internal alignment issues. Silos between departments like HR, finance and operations interfere with coordinated planning. Make sure all stakeholders are on the same page about priorities, constraints, timeline and sign-off process. Encourage collaboration so different perspectives are represented in decision making. 5. Reactive versus proactive planning. Waiting for crises like major delays or capacity shortfalls before filling openings is a recipe for reactionary moves. Form long-term forecasting to anticipate 12-18 months out so you're not constantly responding to urgent demands but instead strategically adding talent. Take into account lead times for hiring and on-boarding to stay ahead of the curve. That's it! P.S. I'm Warren Wang, CEO and founder of Doublefin. Before that, I spent 12 years at Google in finance leadership roles. I led company-wide financial and headcount planning, managed multi-billion-dollar marketing investments, and led a global team of 40 managers and analysts.

After 12 years in finance, here are 12 lessons: 1. The fastest way to lose trust is to present surprises. Bad financial news early is always better than bad news late. 2. Your stakeholders don't care about your workload. They care about their budgets. Frame everything through their lens. 3. The best cost-cutting ideas come from operations teams, not finance. Build those relationships early. 4. The most dangerous phrase in FP&A is "we've always done it this way." Question legacy financial processes relentlessly. 5. Knowing which financial metrics NOT to track is as important as knowing which ones to monitor. Less noise = clearer signal. 6. Financial policies exist to manage risk, not prevent progress. Learn when flexibility serves the business better than rigid rule enforcement. 7. Your financial models must scale with your business maturity. What works for a $10M company often breaks at $100M - plan for that evolution. 8. Three budget scenarios aren't enough anymore. Modern financial planning needs multiple paths with trigger points for each decision milestone. 9. The best finance professionals don't just explain what happened. They anticipate questions about what could happen next. Master scenario thinking. 10. The most valuable meetings happen after the financial presentation ends. Stay behind, build relationships, understand the unspoken market dynamics. 11. The most insightful financial analysis often comes from connecting data across departments. A spike in HR turnover can predict quality issues before they hit the P&L. 12. Technical skills get you hired, but emotional intelligence gets you promoted. Understanding the human side of financial decisions is what separates good from great. Finance is transforming. Numbers tell the past. Insights shape the future. Follow Warren Wang for more finance and HR insights.

ATS is not great at connecting with business processes internally, like: - Financial forecast - Hiring status reviews - Headcount approvals But ATS does a great job at managing candidate applications It’s designed to do 3 things: 1. Track resumes 2. Keep hiring organized 3. Manage candidate experiences Here’s where ATS struggles: 1. Manual data entry ATS relies heavily on recruiters to manually input job details, which often leads to errors and inconsistencies. This can result in mismatched roles or, worse, hiring for positions that weren’t actually approved. 2. No connection to financials ATS operates in its own silo, with no direct link to finance. So, when new hires are made, finance teams don’t get an automatic update, making it hard for them to forecast and budget accurately. 3. Time-consuming reconciliation HR teams often have to spend hours reconciling data between approved positions and what’s in the ATS. This manual work creates delays and increases the chance for mistakes. 4. Limited nollaboration ATS keeps hiring data within HR, but hiring decisions affect more than just the HR team. Without an easy way to share data with finance and other departments, it’s challenging to keep everyone aligned. This is where Doublefin comes in. Instead of replacing ATS, Doublefin works alongside it, connecting hiring data with workforce planning and financial forecasting. Here’s how it helps: Doublefin keeps approved positions and open roles in sync, reducing manual input and minimizing errors. Hiring updates automatically flow to finance, so they have accurate data for forecasting and budgeting. Doublefin breaks down silos, enabling HR, finance, and other departments to work together with real-time data. By reducing the need for manual reconciliation, Doublefin speeds up hiring workflows and lets HR focus on strategy, not admin. In short, ATS helps you track candidates. Doublefin helps you connect hiring to the bigger picture. It’s the tool HR teams need to make smarter, more aligned hiring decisions that support overall business goals.

No one cares about: - Your MBA in finance. - Your complex models. - Your PowerPoint skills. - Your VLOOKUP expertise. What people care about is the impact you create. Try this instead: Translate numbers into actionable insights. Tell compelling stories before showing off formulas. Build trust and relationships before building models. Understand the business before diving into spreadsheets. Drive decisions, not just deliver data. Your value isn’t in how well you use Excel. It’s in how well you drive business success. P.S. I'm Warren Wang, the CEO and founder of Doublefin. I spent 12 years at Google in finance leadership roles, including in Corp FP&A driving company-wide financial planning, headcount planning, and later as a finance director.

Master headcount planning in 5 simple ways: 1. Balance quantitative models with qualitative insights Combine data-driven workforce planning with intuitive insights from leadership and team feedback. This holistic approach ensures your headcount plans are both grounded in facts and adaptable to evolving team needs. 2. Align headcount projections with strategic business goals Make sure your headcount planning directly supports long-term business objectives. Each role should contribute to key growth areas, ensuring resources are allocated where they can drive the most impact. 3. Address skills gaps and future requirements Regularly assess your team’s current skills against industry trends. Proactively plan for upskilling, reskilling, or hiring to fill gaps and ensure your workforce is equipped to handle future challenges. 4. Build contingencies for flexibility Incorporate flexibility in your headcount plans to account for market changes, economic shifts, or sudden opportunities. Contingency planning keeps you agile, ready to expand or contract based on real-time business needs. 5. Track and improve forecast accuracy Continuously monitor the accuracy of your headcount forecasts by comparing actual outcomes with projections. Use these insights to refine future plans and optimize workforce allocation, improving both efficiency and cost management. Better headcount planning goes beyond numbers. Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you.