A version of this article first appeared on EideBailly.com. 

To become disruptive leaders in today’s changing marketplace, CFOs need to lead intentionally with data-driven decisions. This goes beyond simple financial statements and delayed month-end reports. Instead, it requires a focus on real-time views into operations, which can only be achieved with accurate and accessible data.

Developing a Successful Data Strategy and Data Culture

We have found that poor data has a devastating effect on organizations. It’s also an increasingly prevalent problem. Almost half of business leaders found that manual data processes, inaccurate or inconsistent data, or siloed data all contribute to a lacking data strategy.

Developing a successful data culture begins with an in-depth understanding of business goals. That’s why performing a data assessment is so critical. A thorough data review will help you understand the available information, where it is coming from, and what actions you can take. This foundation informs what comes next — preparing your technology infrastructure to create meaningful insights.

The Role of Data Storage AND VISUALIZATION in Your Data Strategy

Finance teams do most of their financial planning in Excel. It is not uncommon for an entire FP&A process to live in a single spreadsheet. As organizations grow, having a real-time view of operations becomes increasingly difficult.

The reality is: these inefficiencies are the result of trying to use a data reporting tool as a data storage tool. Centralizing your data creates a single source of truth that you can rely on for real-time insight.

Investing in a robust data collection and management system and data visualization tools can help make this a reality. Things to consider as you look at your data technology needs include:

• Do you want to host your data in the cloud or an on-premise system?
• What is your plan for data migration and integration?
• What types of information do your employees need in their reports?

Further, follow these best practices when creating a plan for reporting:

• Reports should make key takeaways easy to spot.
• The visuals in reports should tell a story that is meaningful and easy to understand.
• Insights should be shareable across the organization.
• Reports should allow for drill-down analysis.

Your data can be centralized, organized, and accessible, but it is useless if it does not tell you what you need to know about your business.

Next-Level Value: Adopting Artificial Intelligence

Not only will data help you make strong decisions, but it can also help influence your AI capabilities.

The quality, quantity, and accessibility of your data directly impacts the performance and accuracy of AI in your organization. Poor-quality data can produce inaccurate, biased, or irrelevant outcomes.

Here are a few strategies for optimizing your data with AI in mind:

• Accumulate raw data. It is crucial to gather historical and real-time data from multiple sources, such as transactional systems, customer interactions, and sensors.
• Practice good data hygiene. Data cleansing removes inconsistencies, errors, and duplicates from a dataset. This ensures your data points are reliable and will not introduce errors in AI algorithms.
• Unify your data. At many organizations, data is spread across multiple channels and tools. Siloed or fragmented data can hinder AI’s learning ability. Consolidating your data in a data warehouse will create a single source of truth.
• Govern your data. Data governance refers to the management of data throughout its lifecycle, including quality management, privacy, and data access.  
• Annotate and organize your assets. Adding meaningful and informative labels to each of your data assets provides context that AI models need to learn from.

Leading with Data

The CFO’s role is evolving to meet digital age demands. The modern finance office now manages digital projects affecting an organization's financial health and strategy. By embracing responsibilities around digital initiatives like your company’s data strategy, you can help drive innovation, mitigate risk, and ensure your organization’s overall financial health.