Industry — Finance
Finance
Finance reporting is most valuable when it explains the operational drivers behind the numbers. JBI helps connect finance, operations and planning so leaders can act with more confidence.
In Ricky's Words
Why I enjoy working in finance
Finance is where every operational decision eventually shows up, usually a month later and without the explanation attached. I enjoy connecting the two, because a finance team that can explain the why behind a variance stops being a scorekeeper and starts being part of the operational conversation. That shift changes how leadership uses the numbers.
Common Challenges
What we see most often
- Finance reports disconnected from operations
- Budget versus actual reporting delays
- Manual board reporting
- Poor cost centre visibility
- Forecasting challenges
- Cashflow visibility issues
- Finance teams spending too much time reconciling
- Leadership unclear on operational drivers
Capability 01
Business Intelligence and Reporting
Finance teams are asked to explain the result, not just report it. Reporting connects the ledger to the operational drivers behind every variance.
Examples
- Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash reporting refreshed automatically
- Variance analysis with the operational driver attached to each movement
- Rolling forecast reporting against budget and prior year
- Cost centre and project performance packs for budget holders
- Board pack produced from one governed model
KPIs that matter
KPI reference for finance
The measures we most often build for this industry, why each one matters, how it is calculated and the bands we benchmark against.
| KPI | Why it matters | How to measure | World class | Benchmark | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days to close | How fast is the cycle? | Business days from period end to reporting. | ≤3 days | 5–8 days | 10+ days |
| Forecast accuracy % | Can we plan on our numbers? | 1 − |forecast − actual| ÷ actual. | ≥95% | 88–94% | 75–88% |
| Variance explained % | Do we know why it moved? | Variance with an identified driver ÷ total variance. | ≥95% | 80–90% | 50–80% |
| Manual journal count | How much is patched by hand? | Manual journals per close. | <10 | 20–50 | 100+ |
| Reporting rework hours | Where is the team's time going? | Hours reworking numbers per cycle. | Near zero | 10–30 | 40+ |
Capability 02
Data Engineering, Fabric and AI Readiness
Consolidation done in spreadsheets is slow and fragile. We build the model so close is faster and traceable.
Examples
- Join ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), payroll, billing and operational data in one model
- Standardise chart of accounts and cost centre mapping across entities
- Automate consolidation and intercompany elimination
- Data quality checks on unposted, unmapped and duplicate transactions
- Full audit traceability from report back to transaction
Capability 03
Power Platform and Business Applications
Approvals and requests still live in inboxes. We put them into workflow with a record.
Examples
- Capex and purchase request capture with approval routing
- Expense and credit card acquittal with receipt capture
- Budget holder review and commentary capture at period end
- Journal request and supporting evidence workflow
- Automated reminders for outstanding approvals at close
Capability 04
Continuous Improvement and Business Process Improvement
Most of the close is waiting. We map the cycle and take days out of it.
Examples
- Map the month-end close and find the queues
- Remove manual reconciliations that a model can do
- Standardise commentary and reporting templates
- Shift effort from producing numbers to explaining them
- Improvement register measured in days to close
What we work on here
- Finance reports disconnected from operations
- Budget versus actual reporting delays
- Manual board reporting
- Poor cost centre visibility
- Forecasting challenges
- Cashflow visibility issues
What changes for you
- Faster reporting cycles
- Better financial visibility
- Stronger business planning
- Better connection between finance and operations
- Leadership focused on decisions, not reconciliation