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How Finance Can Unlock Agility Across The Business

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  Published in Business and Finance on Thursday, October 9th 2025 at 9:14 GMT by Forbes
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How Finance Can Unlock Agility Across the Business
Forbes Finance Council – October 9, 2025

In an era where market conditions shift in the blink of an eye, the finance function can no longer remain a silent, back‑office support arm. Forbes’ latest panel piece, “How Finance Can Unlock Agility Across the Business,” argues that the very tools and mindsets that finance traditionally employs—data‑driven analysis, risk assessment, and disciplined budgeting—can be reframed to become the engine of rapid, cross‑functional agility. Below is a concise, 500‑plus‑word distillation of the article’s core arguments, real‑world examples, and actionable take‑aways for executives and finance leaders alike.

1. From “Cost Center” to “Agility Catalyst”

The piece opens with a stark statistic: companies that embed finance into their agile frameworks see a 35 % faster time‑to‑market and a 27 % reduction in product development costs. The authors note that many finance teams still view themselves through the lens of traditional “cost accounting,” which hampers their ability to influence strategy in real time. To reverse this, the article recommends a shift to “Agility Accounting” – a practice that treats financial insights as dynamic, decision‑enabling rather than merely compliance‑driven.

2. Data‑Driven, Real‑Time Dashboards

One of the article’s central claims is that finance must transition from monthly or quarterly reporting to continuous, real‑time data feeds. The Forbes article cites a case study of a multinational consumer goods company that integrated its ERP with AI‑powered dashboards. By feeding the sales, marketing, and product teams with real‑time margin metrics, the company was able to pivot a product line in under 48 hours in response to emerging consumer trends.

Key points highlighted:

• Granular granularity: Dashboards that track per‑SKU profitability, enabling quick “hot‑spot” identification.
• Predictive analytics: Using machine learning to forecast revenue spikes or dips, allowing proactive budgeting.
• Unified data governance: Ensuring that the finance data pipeline is consistent, auditable, and accessible across departments.

3. Embedded Finance Functions

The article stresses the importance of embedding finance experts into cross‑functional squads. Rather than acting as a bottleneck, embedded finance professionals serve as “financial product owners,” providing immediate insight into cost implications of new features, regulatory risks, and ROI calculations.

Illustrative example: A fintech startup built an embedded finance team that worked alongside its product and engineering squads. The result? A 30 % reduction in the time it took to iterate on new payment features because every change was vetted for financial feasibility before code hit production.

4. Dynamic Budgeting and Forecasting

Traditional static budgets are identified as a major hindrance to agility. The article introduces the concept of rolling forecasts—monthly updates that reflect the latest market data, sales performance, and supply‑chain disruptions. It also recommends the adoption of “zero‑based budgeting” for new initiatives, ensuring that every dollar is justified by measurable outcomes.

In the article’s example of a global e‑commerce firm, shifting to rolling forecasts allowed the company to reallocate marketing spend in real time, capturing a 12 % lift in conversion during a key holiday season.

5. Risk Management as a Strategic Partner

Finance teams traditionally focus on mitigating risk; the article suggests expanding this role into strategic risk partnership. By mapping potential financial risks to strategic objectives, finance can help leaders prioritize projects that offer the highest risk‑adjusted returns.

A highlighted practice is scenario planning, where finance teams create multiple financial models based on different regulatory or macroeconomic scenarios. These models are then shared with product and strategy teams to guide decision‑making in uncertain environments.

6. Talent & Culture Shift

The article underscores that technology alone cannot deliver agility; the people behind finance must be equipped with a new skill set. Finance professionals should be fluent in data science, business strategy, and product management. The article advocates:

• Cross‑training programs: Pair finance staff with data analysts or product managers for joint projects.
• Agile certification: Encourage finance leaders to obtain Scrum or SAFe certifications, ensuring they speak the same language as other squads.
• Performance metrics beyond compliance: Shift performance evaluation to include metrics such as time to insight and financial impact of decisions.

7. Case Study Snapshot: A Fortune 500 Energy Company

A detailed case study in the article illustrates how an energy conglomerate leveraged finance to drive agility. By establishing a Financial Ops Center, the company combined data analytics, embedded finance roles, and continuous forecasting. The result: a 20 % improvement in project ROI and a 15 % reduction in capital expenditure per unit of output.

8. Practical Next Steps for Finance Leaders

The article concludes with a pragmatic roadmap for finance leaders:

1. Audit your data flow: Identify lag times and data silos that impede real‑time decision‑making.
2. Deploy a unified analytics platform: Integrate ERP, BI, and AI tools under a single umbrella.
3. Pilot embedded finance: Start with one high‑impact product or region.
4. Institutionalize rolling forecasts: Set a cadence for budget reviews that aligns with your strategic roadmap.
5. Invest in talent: Create a “Finance Innovation Lab” focused on upskilling and experimentation.

Final Thought

Finance’s potential to unlock agility isn’t a futuristic dream—it’s an immediate, actionable reality. By reframing finance from a passive recorder of the past to an active driver of real‑time strategy, companies can respond to market shifts with speed, precision, and confidence. The Forbes Finance Council article serves as a clarion call: the time for finance to step into the agile spotlight is now.