The Ledger

Curated content for
analytical business leaders

What Makes a True Data-Driven Organization?

July 18, 2019

Finance is woven into the fabric of almost everything a business does, and today’s organizations need to do more than track and control costs to be profitable. Many finance organizations that are aspiring to become more data-driven are moving forward with analytics transformation today. Those who are successful are able to leverage embedded analytics into core financial processes and empowering their finance teams with insight on demand. However, businesses that rely on spreadsheets and disparate systems for robust analytics usually hit major roadblocks, because it’s near impossible to obtain a single version of financial truth with these outdated tools. There are three essential factors that businesses must encompass to become a true data-driven organization.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

 

The Cost of Poor Business Decisions

July 17, 2019

According to Gartner, poor operational decision-making compromises upward of 3% of profits. As digitalization pushes businesses to grow and change, operational decisions are increasing in speed, volume and complexity — creating a challenge for finance, whose job it is to make sure those decisions are financially sound. Progressive CFOs are modernizing their decision-making process by adopting a business model that provides granular visibility into past, present and future financial performance. For finance teams to maximize their ability to drive financially sound operational decisions, they need to improve the financial aptitude of operational decision makers and instill more finance information and analysis into those outcomes.

Read More at Smarter with Gartner >

 

Powerful Apparel Pricing Requires Advanced Analytics

July 16, 2019

Today’s consumers are more sophisticated and technologically savvy, making them harder to predict and even harder to satisfy. For apparel manufacturers and retailers to be successful, they must think be able to predict future wants and needs of their potential customers. Many successful apparel manufacturers and retailers have found a scalable way to employ a responsive, intelligent pricing discipline that aligns their pricing strategy with their customers’ willingness to pay by leveraging insights from advanced analytics to make smarter pricing decisions. Pricing smarter requires understanding where customers perceive value and having the agility to respond to competitors’ moves with full insight into the impact on financial performance.

Read More at McKinsey Insights >

 

Robust Financial Analytics Are the Key to Business Visibility

July 15, 2019

When it comes to obtaining actionable analytics, the best thing a business can do is drastically decrease their use of spreadsheets. While spreadsheets can still be helpful in a tactical capacity, they should no longer represent a view of reality that is relied on for business visibility. Instead, businesses should invest in a centralized platform that enables a single source of financial performance truth. A fully-integrated tool that provides robust financial analytics enterprise-wide is crucial for any modern organization to make faster and more informed decisions that enhance their customer’s experiences and drive business performance. A single source of trusted financial data also supports critical processes that modern businesses need to remain competitive like budgeting, forecasting, and predictive analytics.

Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >

 

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