Financial insights are often perceived as the exclusive domain of the finance function—an arena of spreadsheets, reports, and systems accessed only by specialists. However, this traditional view limits the transformative potential of financial data. In truth, the value of financial insights extends far beyond finance. When democratized, financial insights have the power to elevate decision-making across every business function—from marketing to sales, operations, and beyond.

By enabling all business partners to play a role in the finance function and providing them with self-service access to financial insights, organizations can break down barriers, speed up decisions, and unlock immense value. This shift transforms finance from being a limited resource to a shared asset, fostering collaboration and enabling smarter, faster, and more informed decisions across the company.

Moving Beyond Traditional Financial Models

Traditional financial processes often operate like a manual search engine: business partners submit a request to finance and wait for an answer. This antiquated model not only delays decision-making but also discourages collaboration and engagement. When business partners face these barriers, they are less likely to ask the questions that could drive deeper insights and strategic alignment.

Kurt Shintaffer, a leader in financial innovation, emphasizes the transformative potential of better data access:

“Giving better access to the data while serving our business partners—is how we unlock true business value.”

By democratizing financial insights, organizations can eliminate these inefficiencies, empowering business partners with tools to access real-time data independently. This shift enables both deeper collaboration and a more agile approach to strategic action.

Delays in data access often translate to missed opportunities, slower strategic action, and increased financial risks. Democratizing financial insights eradicates these delays by enabling real-time, self-service access to financial data.

Finance as a Partner, Not a Gatekeeper

The role of finance must evolve from being a gatekeeper to becoming a true partner. To achieve this, finance should adopt the mindset of a service provider. Consider this:

• Who are finance’s customers? Business partners across marketing, sales, operations, and other functions.
• How can finance serve them better? Often the best way to finance can serve our business partners is actually through self-service. Through the enablement of self-service financial insights, finance can ensure the delivery of real-time data to make strategic decisions.

When finance teams view themselves as service providers, they shift from controlling access to enabling engagement. This shift empowers business partners to:

• Ask more questions: Self-service and real-time access encourage more frequent and meaningful data inquiries.
• Engage deeply with insights: Self-service tools foster ownership of data-driven decision-making.
• Improve decisions: Armed with timely and relevant insights, teams make better operational and strategic choices.

From Concept to Reality: How AI Co-Pilots Democratize Financial Insights

The aspiration to democratize financial insights across the organization is powerful, but the question remains: How do we truly make it a reality? The answer lies in the rise of a transformative technology: AI Co-Pilots purpose-built for Finance teams. These aren't simply tools; they define a moment for change, transforming the way organizations interact with financial data.

AI Co-Pilots, built with robust security measures and Role-Based Access Controls, ensure the right people have access to the right data, and only that data. This controlled access empowers business partners to ask critical questions as they arise, rather than resorting to backlogged finance request queues, eliminating those manual barriers between business owners and finance partners.

Imagine a scenario where a marketing lead can explore the impact of a campaign adjustment in real-time without lengthy delays or the help of a financial analyst. These AI-powered tools equip them with this level of immediacy. With just a few clicks, business partners can:

• Conduct On-the-Fly Scenario Analysis: They can explore different budget scenarios, understand financial consequences before taking action, and strategically refine their plans.
• Gain Real-Time Visibility: No more waiting for month-end reports, budget owners can access up-to-the-minute insights into their budgets and compare them to current tracking or financial forecasts.
• See the Direct Impact of Decisions: They are enabled with visibility to immediately analyze, visualize, and understand the direct financial impact of their decisions before those decisions ever come into effect.

Furthermore, when combined with an effective collaboration platform, this self-service access enables greater understanding and accountability with requests. For example: budget adjustments can be submitted to the finance team and be visible for review while simultaneously impacting forecasting and overall strategic plans in real-time.

By equipping non-finance professionals with these powerful self-service capabilities, AI Co-Pilots effectively distribute ownership and promote collaborative data-driven decision making, marking the transition from outdated traditional models to truly collaborative and impactful practices.

How Precanto Makes This Possible

The vision of democratized finance isn't just an ideal; it's an attainable reality when you equip your organization with the right tools. Precanto’s FP&A AI Co-Pilot is engineered to be the cornerstone of this transformation. Rather than simply offering access to data, Precanto creates a dynamic ecosystem where real-time insights drive collaborative and strategic action. Think of it less as a software solution and more as an organizational game-changer.

We recognize that true empowerment isn’t just about handing over data, it's about making it instantly and intelligently accessible. That's where the real value of Precanto is. Our platform provides capabilities designed not just to accelerate but to fundamentally improve decision-making:

• The Power of Independent Discovery: Business partners gain self-service access to real-time financial data, cutting through the static report barriers that slow them down. This isn’t about merely sidestepping the finance team; it’s about empowering them to become financial strategists themselves, taking true ownership of their budgets and bottom lines. The ability to ask critical financial questions when those questions arise drives collaboration with and alignment across all organizational business units.
• Beyond the Numbers: Strategic Vision: The AI-powered scenario modeling capability enables your teams to see financial impact through the future and of hypothetical outcomes. It encourages thinking of risk-averse decisions without slowing down momentum. Instead, teams engage in meaningful discussions on the financial ramifications of different pathways, fostering collaboration on a whole new scale and elevating business strategies to new heights.
• Finance Redefined: Precanto moves organizations away from siloed business units and towards unified strategic partnerships. With unparalleled visibility, everyone can now see how their choices ripple through the business as a whole, fostering a culture of collective accountability and collaboration in order to reach organizational strategic goals.

With Precanto, your organization won’t just adapt to change; it will drive change. With every department fully informed and able to make financial decisions autonomously, it truly becomes collaborative and effective, no longer operating in traditional isolated business units.

Ready to Stop Talking About Transformation and Start Making It?

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