From Insight to Impact: Driving Execution Through Finance | Ep. 9

Olivia

Hello again, and welcome to FP&A Done Right. I’m Olivia, and as always, I’m delighted to be joined by Ryan. Today we’re getting into something that honestly makes or breaks a finance transformation—execution. Not dashboards, not PowerPoints, but actually turning plans into reality.

Ryan

Absolutely, Olivia! And you know, let’s just put it out there: even with stellar strategy, most organizations stumble right at the finish line—execution. I think it was Workday that reported, what, 63% of CEOs think execution is just... too darn slow?

Olivia

That’s right. And even more concerning, fewer than 1 in 5 executives feel genuinely ready to pivot when something unexpected happens. That’s an abysmally low number given how fast things are shifting these days—you blink and the market’s changed.

Ryan

Yeah, and honestly, I’ve been in those boardrooms where everyone’s nodding along with a well-crafted deck, but the moment someone says, “okay, how are we making this happen,” the room kind of freezes. And, I’ll admit, early in my finance career, I was one of the folks thinking, “I’ll just stay over here in the spreadsheets.”

Olivia

But that whole mindset is changing—and has to. We’re seeing finance teams step out of that “scorekeeper” mentality. Instead of just reporting what’s happened, they’re expected to be right there at the table driving outcomes. Curiously, this evolution—from reporting towards active participation in business—means we now have a seat at the table when decisions are made, not just when they’re summarized.

Ryan

Exactly. And it’s not just a cultural preference, it’s becoming a business necessity. When I led a digital transformation for a Fortune 500, our old process was just cranking out reports—by the time leadership had them, things already changed. But moving to real-time reporting, we actually gave folks the ability to act while the information was still fresh. It was like shifting from huddling over a playbook after the game, to calling audibles mid-drive. That’s where the agility kicks in.

Olivia

It’s a big shift, right? Execution has become the real metric for whether all our transformation projects—digital or otherwise—are actually paying off. And the numbers tell us we have a long way to go, but also, that the future role of finance is so much more dynamic than it was even five years ago.

Ryan

Let’s get into what this looks like on the ground. Because, you know, stories stick better than spreadsheets sometimes. One of my favorites is the Texans Credit Union story—they used to do all their budgeting and scenario planning in—you guessed it—spreadsheets. When someone in senior management asked, “what happens if interest rates move by half a percent,” it was a trip back to the desk and... I’ll get back to you next week.

Olivia

The pain of “I’ll get back to you.” Been there, too many times. That changed entirely for a credit union with Workday Adaptive Planning. Suddenly, their CFO could literally click a few buttons in a meeting, run the scenario live, and everyone gets an answer in real-time. And the trickle-down of that? Faster decisions, branch-level visibility, and fewer silos.

Ryan

Spot on. That move gave them a single source of truth across all branches—now it’s just, “here’s the answer, right now,” and they’re spending more time on strategic discussions, less time wrangling messy files. But it’s not just credit unions—remember that biotech company? They used to battle Excel errors and recalcitrant formulas just trying to reconcile payroll data across countries. Now, they’ve automated all that and, more importantly, freed up time to actually analyze the data instead of just compiling it.

Olivia

Right, the bio tech said their finance work was “like night and day” after implementation—less manual work, more time for value-added analysis. And it’s not only because of the tech, it’s about how easy it became to spot cash flow issues or opportunities, and respond in real time. Let’s also talk about a business in home construction—they moved away from consolidating spreadsheets for dozens of projects, which used to eat up, what, 10-15 hours just to get the latest numbers?

Ryan

Yeah, and now they do the same work in about four hours, with integrated reports spanning not just finance, but project and loan management. It’s like having instant visibility at the project level, which is essential with building timelines and fluctuating costs. They even tied in cash flow modeling with project milestones and bank loan draws—so leaders aren’t just staring at a static plan, they can see risk coming before it bites.

Olivia

Let’s dig into HOW these companies, and others, make that leap from insight to action. Continuous planning comes up everywhere now—versus those traditional, static, annual plans. According to BARC and Workday, 80% of organizations see more value in dynamic forecasts than sticking to those old annual budgets, which are usually obsolete before the ink’s even dry.

Ryan

I mean, traditional plans are like making a football playbook in the summer and then refusing to call any new plays, even when it snows in November. With rolling forecasts and continuous planning, you’re updating your approach as conditions change—it makes scenario planning a real living process, not some annual “set it and forget it.”

Olivia

Absolutely. The framework that keeps coming up is this Agility Loop—a recurring cycle of Plan, Execute, Measure, Adjust. The AFP actually recommends this as the backbone for navigating change. But it’s not just about speed; integrated technology ensures that planners and operators share a single, real-time view, breaking down those classic finance-versus-operations silos.

Ryan

Yeah, and let’s talk about upskilling. Because even the best planning system won’t help if the team isn’t able to interpret data quickly or build bridges to other functions. 88% of Workday Adaptive Planning customers say finance is now seen as more strategic, which means teams need more data literacy, business partnering chops, and frankly, comfort with ambiguity.

Olivia

It’s so true. The cultural shift is almost as big as the technology upgrade. Finance teams have to move beyond scorekeeping and become strategic partners—getting cozy with digital tools, collaborating up and down the org, and being ready to adjust as fresh data comes in. And sometimes, that means developing new habits and learning to challenge the old status quo. I still triple-check my formulas, just in case—but now I’m looking at how to immediately act on the outputs, not just confirm the math.