What do you do if you're an accounting executive wanting to make strategic business decisions?

Facts are the basis for making the best strategic decisions with the prerequisite being the UNDERSTANDING OF THE FACTUAL DATA. As the saying goes, the “the devil is in the details” . The understanding of the data leveraging analytics to understanding the current financial health, the market and benchmark is imperative to sound strategic decisions.

1) Understand the company's strategy, what are the pillars, the company's big bets. 2) The financial data is useful to the extent that it aligns with the company's strategy. Ideally, the available information should reflect a holistic view connecting financial indicators, market trends, and competitors. 3) Leveraging the available data would mean being able to identify those risks or growth opportunities in their businesses and their customers, the white spaces in the market, and the potentials in the portfolios. 4) Finally, do not to stop at the analysis of the information but to be able to take the insights to specific actions and be able to track them.

Sin Datos, no hay análisis, sin análisis no hay contabilidad y mucho menos de costos, ahora bien no se trata de cualquier dato, se requiere de contar con datos con calidad, basura entra, basura sale!!

Strategic decisions should be data informed and as an executive, one needs to consult with their team to get their valuable input. Once engagement with the team is done, the vision becomes more clear and strategic decisions that benefit the organization as a whole can be made.

If you're an accounting executive eyeing strategic business decisions, start by mastering the financial data you have. Dive deep into analytics—beyond just profit and loss. Understand financial ratios, track cash flow trends, and scrutinize budget variances to gauge your company's financial health and spot opportunities or areas needing attention. Leveraging this data, forecast future financial scenarios to evaluate how your strategic decisions might play out. This approach ensures your moves are data-driven, aiming for growth or improvement.

The "accounting executives" that I worked for did not perform this task. Instead, the role as described was done by the CFO & VP or Director of Finance. These requirements are very normal and should be done annually for the Budget and monthly for the Forecast. The discussions with department leaders usually include the CFO and maybe the VP or Director of Finance. The CEO will email her overview and instructions to the department leaders so they understand that the CEO is on board with everything said by CFO. Tying the budget to the strategies occurs at multiple levels. After the CFO meets with them. the VP or Director of Finance will follow-up then the staff will work directly with the department leaders.

As an accounting executive gearing up for strategic decisions, setting clear, measurable goals aligned with your company's vision is essential. Your job is to ensure these goals are financially sound. Collaborate with other departments to grasp their objectives and integrate them into the broader business strategy. This teamwork enables you to craft a budget that not only backs company-wide ambitions but also ensures financial health.

Strategic planning commences by establishing distinct, quantifiable objectives that are in harmony with your company's overarching vision. As an accounting executive, your responsibility lies in guaranteeing the financial feasibility of these objectives. Collaborate with other departments to comprehend their aims and how they integrate into the comprehensive business strategy. This cooperation will facilitate the formulation of a budget that bolsters company-wide objectives while upholding financial equilibrium.

Whether your team is setting the goals, or you are responsible for assessing or executing against goals set by other teams or leadership, it is important first to understand why the goal is important. If the goal language does not provide clarity, first ask questions, and make sure that everyone understands what the value is in executing. Once you clearly understand that information then you can define what your team's role needs to be and then make sure to cascade that through your organization. Too often leaders do not share with their organizations why the goal is important or provide enough clarity for teams to execute effectively.

La planeación estratégica parte de la información, algunas de las variables más importantes en la planeación previenen del area contable, y costos sin la menor duda es una de las variables de mayor peso en el análisis y toma de decisiones

In the realm of strategic decision-making, your accounting expertise is crucial for performing a detailed risk analysis. Assess the financial implications of each potential decision, taking into account market volatility, credit risk, and liquidity constraints. Crafting strategies to mitigate these risks is essential to protect your company's assets while ensuring that the potential benefits outweigh the risks involved.

Quando se coloca todos os riscos sobre uma análise, as variáveis de perda, possíveis ganhos e problemas futuros fica estruturado e demonstrado para toda a organização, com isso a tomada de decisão conjunta é mais clara. Com tudo sempre é importante que além do risco é importante estabelecer uma margem para que tal risco tenha de aceitação e que esta meta é um termômetro para a análise final sabendo que a variação pode ser involuntária.

Each strategic decision inherently entails a degree of risk, underscoring the critical importance of your accounting expertise in conducting a comprehensive risk analysis. One should delve into assessing the financial ramifications of prospective decisions, taking into account variables such as market volatility, credit risk, and liquidity constraints. It is imperative to craft risk mitigation strategies aimed at safeguarding the company's assets and maintaining a balance between risks and potential rewards.

For strategic growth, investing wisely in new projects or ventures is key. Carefully analyze each investment opportunity to evaluate its potential ROI, considering both long-term benefits and risks. Utilize capital budgeting techniques like net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) to make informed, data-driven decisions. This approach ensures your investments align with and contribute to your company's strategic goals.

Calculating ROI on an investment is very important. However it is also critical to evaluate that ROI against the ROI of other initiatives that could use up your team's time. Just because an ROI is positive does not mean that investment makes sense because resources are finite and may be better used elsewhere.

The major thing is, engaging in fresh projects or ventures is pivotal for strategic expansion. It's imperative to meticulously assess investment prospects to gauge their potential return on investment (ROI) while weighing long-term advantages and risks. Always employing capital budgeting methodologies like net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) enables making informed, data-driven investment choices aligned with your company's strategic goals, should be the practice for such.

In the current dynamic business landscape, maintaining competitiveness hinges on innovation. Foster an environment within your team that embraces and explores new ideas, promoting innovation. Assess the financial dimensions of innovative endeavors, factoring in initial investments and future revenue potential. Your financial acumen plays a pivotal role in prioritizing projects that provide optimal strategic benefits for your company.

Driving innovation is a culture that needs to be established by leadership and management. Some managers believe that they have all the good ideas and that everyone should just do what they said and don’t give opinions. However, leaders build a culture where everyone feels empowered to speak up and through out good ideas.

In today's rapid business pace, driving innovation is crucial for staying ahead. As an accounting executive, foster a culture that embraces new ideas. Evaluate innovative projects by considering both initial investment and potential future revenues. Your financial insight is key to identifying projects with strategic value, ensuring resources are wisely allocated to ventures that align with your company's long-term goals. This approach not only promotes a forward-thinking environment but also positions your company for competitive advantage and sustainable growth.

Know the organizational priorities and align the presentation with them. Understand the language of the audience and tell the story that resonates with each decision maker. The story may be a story, graph, slide deck or a data table. Summarize the point of view but have the details if needed.

Listen. Listen to as many people as possible who know the industry at shop floor to senior level. This will help put any numbers or analysis into perspective...the answer is often more nuanced than data would indicate

Keeping in mind that the communication has to be in common language that people from different fields will understand. In case a technical term is needed put a definition at the bottom

Strategic decisions should not be made by any one single person. As an Accounting executive you should draw on the experience of your team and create a culture where your team feels comfortable to challenge your perspective or suggest alternate approaches. In addition, it is critical that you have an ongoing dialogue with your peers in other areas of the business (finance, product, tech etc.) and you bring those experts together to create a well rounded view for the basis of making these critical decisions.

Continuous Professional Development: Stay updated with industry trends, regulatory changes, and technological advancements. Invest in ongoing education to enhance financial acumen and broaden strategic decision-making capabilities. Scenario Planning: Anticipate various scenarios and their financial implications. Develop contingency plans to mitigate risks and capitalize on opportunities, ensuring resilience and agility in response to changing market conditions. Stakeholder Engagement: Foster relationships with key stakeholders, including investors, board members, and external advisors. Solicit input, gather feedback, and cultivate trust to gain support for strategic initiatives and financial decisions.

Accountants are trained to look to the past and analyze what has already happened. Strategic thinkers focus on the future. An accountant that wants to engage in strategic business decisions needs to shift their mindset to look ahead. Some accountants can successfully make this shift, but others seem to struggle with this.