The Update That Actually Moves the Needle
What Finance Should Say in the Strategy Room
Let’s be honest.
When Finance steps up in a strategy session, here’s what usually happens:
- They rehash the income statement.
- They talk about last month’s actuals versus budget.
- They show the same trends, repeat the same issues: inventory write-offs, FX hits, that one customer still not paying.
Within three minutes, everyone zones out .
You can see the body language shift.
Eyes drop. Phones come out. People whisper. The session hasn’t started, and already we’ve lost the room.
Then Finance gives up the screen… and spends the rest of the session approving POs and answering emails.
Disengaged. Marginalised.
And they wonder why they’re not seen as strategic.
Start With the Actuals
We budgeted X.
We delivered Y.
Simple. Clear. One slide.
Use a graph. No clutter. No word salad.
Then Bridge the Gap
Use a waterfall chart to reconcile what we said we’d do vs what we actually delivered.
Call out the non-repeatable headwinds:
- A plant shutdown.
- An unexpected strike.
- FX losses from a surprise devaluation.
Then the one-off tailwinds:
- An export rebate.
- A customer over-ordering ahead of a price increase.
Strip out the noise.
Get to the clean, recurring run rate.
This is what we’re really working with.
Now the Gold: Show the “What Could Have Been”
This is where the room leans in.
You say this:
“If we had hit the key operational KPIs, we’d have delivered R50m more to the bottom line.”
Then break it down:
- Gross Margin: Target was 34%, we landed at 29%. That’s R12m gone.
- Customer Service: Target 95%, actual 85%. Lost sales and churn = R5m.
- Utilisation: Goal 90%, actual 70%. That gap? R8m in lost output.
- Working Capital: At 19% of revenue. If we hit best-in-class 14%? R40m in cash freed up.
- Unprofitable Customers: 12% made negative profit. Break-even = R5m upside. But if we got them to just 10% GP, that’s R4.2m more—straight to the bottom line.
- Quality: Running at 4 sigma. 5 sigma? R10m saved in rework and returns.
- Span of Control: Current ratio is 1:7. If we moved to 1:11, like peers? R10m saved in overhead.
Now Paint the Picture
Say it with confidence:
“If we’d hit the right operational levers, this wouldn’t be a flat year.
We’d be R50m up. That’s what was at stake.”
Suddenly, strategy isn’t vague.
It’s visible. Measurable. Real.
This is the update that moves the needle.
Not because it’s packed with detail,
But because it connects the dots no one else is seeing.
That’s what Finance is for.
