Breaking Down Silos for Smarter Finance | Ep. 7

Olivia

Welcome back to FP&A Done Right! I’m Olivia, joined as always by my partner-in-finance, Ryan. Today we’re diving into something that sounds simple but, honestly, is one of the toughest nuts to crack—breaking down those stubborn departmental silos, especially between finance and operations. If you’ve ever been in a meeting where finance comes in with one set of numbers and ops stands their ground with a totally different story, you know exactly what I mean.

Ryan

Oh for sure—I mean, I still get flashbacks to those old reporting days at my first job. We’d spend days just trying to figure out which spreadsheet had the “true” numbers. And by the time we did, any decision based on them was basically stale. You’re right, Olivia—it’s not just about data, it’s about how teams talk to each other, or sometimes, don’t.

Olivia

Absolutely. The classic silo problem is finance doing monthly reporting buried in their corner, while operations are over there making entirely different plans. When you keep these processes separate, decision-making slows to a crawl, and trust? Out the window. But when you get real collaboration—shared FP&A platforms, people looking at the same data—magic happens: real-time insights, adaptability, and people actualy own the outcomes. Suddenly finance becomes a partner, not a hall monitor.

Ryan

Yeah, and look, I learned this the hard way. Back at that Fortune 500 gig—I was tasked with digitizing our finance processes. At first, I’m not gonna lie, the accountants and ops folks barely talked. But when we finally got everyone working off the same digital tools, building bridges between accounting and ops, it was a real game changer. We caught errors faster, but more importantly, people actually started trusting each other’s numbers. Suddenly, it felt like we were all on the same team, not just “operations” vs. “finance.” It’s not just about saving time, it’s about making better—smarter—decisions. You know, kind of like swapping a rained-out football game for one of those super-efficient, indoor fantasy drafts. The action keeps moving.

Olivia

That’s a pretty good analogy, actually! The benefits go way beyond saving a few hours. With collaborative FP&A, you get visibility—you can catch risks sooner, spot opportunities hiding in the numbers, and adapt plans quickly. And the more integrated your tech and processes, the easier it is for everyone to understand the “why” behind decisions. Less time spent reconciling numbers, more time moving the business forward.

Ryan

Exactly. And—and another thing, when you break down silos, you also tackle some of those “soft” issues. People aren’t just following orders—they actually contribute ideas and take pride in outcomes. That’s huge. All right, I think we should jump into some real-world proof of how this plays out…

Olivia

Let’s start with a REIT, or a real estate investment trust. They’re massive—owning and managing millions of acres of timberland. Until recently they, like so many, juggled multiple budgeting and reporting systems, often unique to different divisions. Which… well, you can imagine, it’s a recipe for confusion and a lot of late nights reconciling data. So, they wanted to unify all that onto a single platform—not just for finance, but pulling HR data and operations data into one model. Meaning everyone from HR to finance to operations was planning headcount and budgets with the same assumptions and data points.

Ryan

And it’s not just about having a shiny new system for its own sake. When you bring all your data together—finance, HR, ops—you create that “single source of truth” everyone’s always talking about. That’s the foundation for building real trust between departments. If HR and finance both see the same staffing data, for example, they can actually have a productive conversation instead of debating which spreadsheet is right. Plus, it totally streamlines things—those activities that used to take days? Now they run in less than a day. People are looped into the process, from analysts up to senior managers. There’s way more visibility and ownership at every level.

Olivia

And the results are tangible—not just “soft” collaboration. When the company collapsed their data silos, closing the books was faster, there was true cross-functional participation, and the business saw both “hard” savings—less time spent, lower costs—and “soft” benefits like boosting morale and productivity. It’s such a visible shift: before, finance was just the after-the-fact scorekeeper; now, they’re driving operational planning alongside HR and ops. That’s exactly the sort of cultural change that leads to sustained growth.

Ryan

Yep, and if I remember right, they also built custom models to fit those weird, unique aspects of their business—like accounting properly for timber harvests and land sales. It wasn’t just buying software off the shelf; it was about making the system fit the business, not the other way around. When you’ve got everyone from HR to finance to managers using the same unified data, you massively reduce all that legacy “translation” work where people are always trying to make things fit together. I mean, sometimes the business gets so used to fighting to reconcile numbers, they don’t realize how much progress can happen once you get rid of those battles.

Olivia

Exactly—and you end up with more accurate forecasting, planning that’s always up to date, and honestly, more time to work on real strategy, not just paperwork. Sort of like spending less time moving chess pieces and more time shaping the entire game plan. And this isn’t just for massive REITs; any organization, big or small, gets benefits from unifying their data and processes. All right, let’s see what happens when other sectors, like non-profits or manufacturing, take this collaborative approach to the next level…

Ryan

Okay, so we’ve seen how unifying data helps a complex organization like the REIT, but let’s talk about a non-profit with a huge mission and a ton of moving parts. They used to struggle with slow, inconsistent reporting—imagine trying to forecast blood supplies and manage expenses when you can’t even get timely numbers. But once they adopted strategic planning and built custom models, their finance team could actually perform complex scenario modeling. Now, finance is seen as a real partner—helping departments make better strategic decisions, not just reporting after the fact. And they’re supporting things like mergers and strategic investments with fast, detailed insights, not just gut feel.

Olivia

That’s a real shift, isn’t it? Finance deeply involved in operational decisions, not just management reporting. And I think it’s worth noting that easy integration made it possible—they pulled in data from disparate systems and, suddenly, monthly reporting had more detail, more visibility, everyone from line managers up to the board could see what was happening. That’s what makes scenario modeling actually useful—it’s not building castles in the air; it’s directly supporting smart choices at crunch time.

Ryan

And then there's a manufacturer. These folks make premium lighting and home accessories, but their planning system was kind of a mess. Once they refined their Workday Adaptive Planning implementation, everything sped up. Their model performance went through the roof, people could collaborate across finance and operations way more efficiently, and planning cycles got faster. Now there’s this deep, ongoing partnership—finance isn’t a bottleneck, it’s more like grease on the gears.

Olivia

It’s so motivating when organizations see the benefits of collaboration at every level. I remember one particularly turbulent board meeting early in my career—I was leading a project that was floundering. I felt tempted to double down in my silo, just power through alone, but my mentor challenged me to embrace feedback from outside the finance bubble. The turnaround was wild. By inviting operations in, and iterating based on their input—you know, not just financially optimizing but actually solving operational pain points—the project became a major win, not just for the numbers but for the whole company. Sometimes, letting go of your data “silo” is the bravest, most strategic move you can make.

Ryan

It’s all about that growth mindset, right? Letting teams take risks, ask questions, and—sometimes—challenge your perfect spreadsheet because, maybe, the real world just changed a bit. If you want sustained growth, collaboration and adaptability are the name of the game—not just for massive enterprises, but for everyone.

Olivia

So, whether you’re a non-profit, a global manufacturer, or something in between, tearing down silos and investing in unified platforms and planning approaches transforms finance from a back-office function into a true driver of value and partnership. The biggest lesson? Don’t let “business as usual” stop collaboration. The future of FP&A belongs to those willing to change, listen, and adapt. Ryan, any final thoughts before we wrap?

Ryan

Just—don’t be afraid to reach across the aisle. The best breakthroughs happen when finance, operations, HR, and IT team up. There’s so much power in unified data and open planning. You want to move fast? Move together.

Olivia

Brilliantly said. We’ll dig even deeper into technology platforms and practical tips in future episodes. Ryan, always a pleasure—and thanks to all of you for listening. Until next time on FP&A Done Right!

Ryan

Thanks Olivia—see ya next time. Take care, everyone.