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KnowledgeCity

Using Financial Data to Drive Strategy

Drive strategic decisions through reporting alignment and stakeholder-focused communication.
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Course: On-Demand
Provider :  KnowledgeCity  8 Lessons ·  23m  in English 

Course Description

In this Using Financial Data to Drive Strategy course, you’ll understand how FP&A uses financial data to support strategic decision-making. We’ll also explore the alignment between reporting and strategic planning. These practices help leaders turn insights into action. To build this capability, the course moves from clear reporting into strategic alignment and stakeholder influence.

We’ll explore the use of financial data to inform strategy, presenting tools such as reports and automated workflows. You’ll build stronger decision-focused communication and develop more effective strategic planning support. We’ll also address reporting narratives, automation of financial workflows, and stakeholder influence to provide a complete understanding of using financial data to guide strategy. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to communicate insights, align plans with strategy, and influence decisions with data.

Learning Objectives:

• Communicate financial insights clearly to support decision-making

• Align financial plans with strategic business goals

• Identify stakeholder priorities when sharing financial recommendations

• Evaluate opportunities to automate finance workflows

• Interpret financial results using trends, variances, and risks

What You'll Learn

  • Communicate financial insights clearly to support decision-making
  • Align financial plans with strategic business goals
  • Identify stakeholder priorities when sharing financial recommendations
  • Evaluate opportunities to automate finance workflows
  • Interpret financial results using trends, variances, and risks
  • Influence decisions with data through decision-focused communication

Key Takeaways

  • FP&A uses financial data to support strategic decision-making, and aligning reporting with strategic planning helps leaders turn insights into action.
  • Clear reporting narratives strengthen decision-focused communication of financial insights.
  • Automating financial workflows is one of the tools for using financial data to inform strategy.
  • Understanding stakeholder priorities helps when sharing financial recommendations and influencing decisions with data.
  • Interpreting financial results through trends, variances, and risks supports more effective strategic planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

The course moves from clear reporting into strategic alignment and stakeholder influence. It covers communicating insights through reports, aligning planning with strategy, automating finance workflows, and influencing stakeholders with data, including reporting narratives and tools such as reports and automated workflows.

What skills will I gain from this course?

You'll build skills in planning, management reporting, and stakeholder communications — including communicating financial insights clearly, aligning financial plans with strategic goals, evaluating opportunities to automate finance workflows, and interpreting results using trends, variances, and risks.

What will I be able to do by the end of the course?

By the end, you'll be able to communicate insights, align plans with strategy, and influence decisions with data.

How is the course structured?

It includes an introduction followed by lessons on communicating insights through reports, aligning planning with strategy, automating finance workflows, and influencing stakeholders with data, with 'Test Your Knowledge' checks after the main lessons.