Practical communication skills for finance professionals to become strategic business partners

A Foundational Mindset Shift: From Gatekeeper to Strategic Enabler

For many founders of early-stage startups, the finance function feels like a source of friction. Complex financial data arrives in dense spreadsheets, derailing strategic conversations with investors or department heads. Weak stakeholder management from the finance team can erode trust, leading to budget conflicts and bottlenecks that slow down execution. This lack of genuine business partnering leaves founders without the cross-functional insight needed to control burn and extend their runway.

The solution isn't more data; it's better communication. Improving finance team communication skills transforms the function from a perceived blocker into a strategic enabler, helping the entire company make smarter, faster decisions.

The first step in improving finance team collaboration is a fundamental mindset shift. Traditionally, finance is seen as a scorekeeper reporting on what already happened and a gatekeeper policing budgets. This creates an adversarial relationship with other teams. To become a true partner, you must actively transition from a gatekeeper to an enabler.

Gatekeeper vs. Enabler

The distinction is crucial for building trust. A gatekeeper focuses on enforcing rules and limitations, often leading with "no." An enabler, by contrast, focuses on achieving shared business goals. This changes the entire dynamic of your conversations.

• A gatekeeper says, “You can’t spend that; it’s not in the budget.”
• An enabler says, “That’s over budget, but let’s explore how we can reallocate funds or find a lower-cost alternative to achieve your objective.”

The enabler's approach acknowledges the department's goal and reframes the problem as a collaborative puzzle to be solved. This simple change turns a potential conflict into a productive planning session.

Scorekeeper vs. Strategic Partner

Similarly, finance must evolve from simply reporting history to shaping the future. A scorekeeper provides rearview-mirror reports, exporting data from accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero. A strategic partner uses that same data to build forward-looking models and help leaders understand the financial implications of their decisions.

• A scorekeeper delivers a historical profit and loss statement.
• A strategic partner asks, "Based on these numbers, what are the three most likely scenarios for our cash position in six months, and what actions can we take today to influence the outcome?"

How do you stop being seen as the “no” person? Start by changing the questions you ask. Instead of leading with compliance, lead with curiosity. Ask department heads what they are trying to accomplish and what challenges they face. The pattern across early-stage companies is consistent: when finance shows a genuine interest in helping other teams succeed, trust is built, and collaboration improves dramatically.

How to Improve Finance Team Communication Skills by Translating Numbers into Narrative

Presenting financial information to non-finance teams requires moving beyond data-dumping. You must learn to translate raw numbers into a clear, compelling story that drives action. A raw profit and loss statement is data; an insight is the story that data tells. The most effective way to build this narrative is by using the 'What, So What, Now What' framework.

This simple structure forces you to curate your most important insights rather than overwhelming your audience with numbers. It provides context and a clear path forward, making your communication instantly more valuable.

The 'What, So What, Now What' Framework

Here is how to apply this model to your financial reporting:

1. What: State a single, clear data point. This should be a factual observation from your financial analysis.
2. So What: Explain why this data point matters to the business and to your specific audience. This is where you add context and demonstrate business acumen.
3. Now What: Propose a specific, actionable next step. This transforms your analysis from a report into a recommendation.

Consider a SaaS company analyzing customer acquisition cost (CAC). Instead of just showing a spreadsheet, the communication becomes a focused, strategic recommendation:

• What: “Our average Customer Acquisition Cost last month was $1,800.”
• So What: “This is 30% higher than our target of $1,400. At this rate, our payback period extends to 14 months, putting a strain on our cash flow and shortening our runway by an estimated two months.”
• Now What: “I recommend we work with marketing to analyze channel performance. Let’s identify the highest-cost channels and test reallocating 20% of that budget to our best-performing ones for the next 30 days.”

This approach works for any business model. For an e-commerce startup analyzing inventory in Shopify and Xero:

• What: “Our inventory turnover rate is currently 2.8x.”
• So What: “This is below the industry benchmark of 4x, meaning our cash is tied up in slow-moving products. This limits our ability to invest in new product lines that customers are asking for.”
• Now What: “Let’s identify the bottom 15% of SKUs by sales velocity and create a flash sale to liquidate them. This should free up an estimated $25,000 in cash for reinvestment.”

Choosing the Right Visuals for Your Story

In practice, we see that simple, focused visuals are far more effective than comprehensive data tables for non-finance audiences. The goal of a visual is not to show all the data, but to illuminate the single most important insight. A simple chart showing ‘Marketing Spend vs. New ARR Generated’ will get more engagement from a non-finance leader than a full P&L statement. When creating charts for effective finance presentations, choose the format that tells the story most clearly, such as a bar chart for comparison, a line chart for trends over time, or a waterfall chart to show changes in a key metric.

Proactive Business Partnering: A Framework for Stakeholder Engagement

True business partnering in early-stage companies is not a formal title; it is a set of proactive behaviors. These actions build influence and embed finance into the operational fabric of the company. It’s the difference between reactive reporting on what happened and proactive modeling of what could happen. Strong stakeholder engagement for startups is built on predictability and trust.

What founders find actually works is establishing a consistent communication rhythm. This makes finance a predictable and reliable source of insight, not a sporadic bearer of bad news. A structured cadence ensures that financial conversations happen regularly, which prevents surprises and fosters alignment.

Establish a Communication Rhythm

A multi-layered rhythm allows you to discuss both immediate tactical issues and long-term strategic plans.

• Weekly Rhythm: Focus on one or two critical, forward-looking metrics. For a SaaS startup, it’s cash in the bank and weekly new bookings. For a pre-revenue Deeptech or Biotech startup, it’s the weekly R&D burn rate against the project budget. Keep this update brief and focused on near-term cash flow and operational drivers.
• Monthly Rhythm: This is the primary forum for the ‘What, So What, Now What’ narrative. Go beyond sending a PDF from QuickBooks. Schedule a brief 30-minute meeting to discuss the financial story of the past month, review budget versus actuals with department heads, and align on priorities for the next month.
• Quarterly Rhythm: Look further ahead. Use this time for re-forecasting and scenario planning. This is where you partner with the leadership team to answer critical strategic questions. What happens to our runway if we hire two engineers? What is the cash impact if a major client pays 30 days late?

A scenario we repeatedly see is the 'cloud spend' conversation. A finance lead notices rising AWS costs. Instead of just sending a warning, they approach the Head of Engineering. They don't say, “You must cut costs.” They say, “Our cloud spend is trending to be $60,000 over budget for the year. That's the equivalent of the new senior developer you want to hire. Can we explore options like reserved instances to free up that budget for the headcount?” This reframes the problem from a cost to be cut into a resource allocation choice, making the engineering lead a partner in the solution.

Your Action Plan for Effective Finance Presentations and Collaboration

Improving your finance team’s communication skills is one of the highest-leverage activities a founder can focus on. It unlocks faster decision-making, reduces internal friction, and gives you better control over your runway. Here are the key actions to implement.

1. Shift Your Mindset from Gatekeeper to Enabler. The single most important change is to start every conversation with, “How can I help you achieve your goals?” This reframes finance as a supportive partner, not a police officer, and is the foundation of improving finance team collaboration.
2. Master the ‘What, So What, Now What’ Framework. Make it a rule: never present a number without its business context (So What) and a clear, proposed action (Now What). This is the core of effective financial storytelling and is essential for presenting financial information to non-finance teams.
3. Get Out of the Spreadsheet. Proactive business partnering happens in conversations, not email attachments. Schedule brief, regular check-ins with department heads. Use this time to ask them what decisions they are struggling with and how financial insight could help them succeed.
4. Speak Their Language. Translate financial data into operational impact. Your colleagues care about how financial metrics affect their world. Link marketing spend to pipeline generated, link R&D costs in a Biotech startup to the number of experiments they can fund, and link project profitability in a professional services firm to team bonuses.
5. Establish a Predictable Rhythm. Consistency builds trust. A reliable cadence of weekly, monthly, and quarterly financial communication makes the finance function a dependable part of the company’s operating system, rather than an unpredictable source of stress.
6. Build Credibility on a Foundation of Accuracy. Your narrative is only as good as your data. Ensure your underlying bookkeeping is sound. For US companies, your reporting should align with US GAAP, often managed in tools like QuickBooks. In the UK, early-stage companies typically use Xero and follow FRS 102. While your accountant manages compliance, your role is to translate that compliant data into a clear story everyone understands. You can find more resources at the finance team upskilling hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can a solo founder with no finance team apply these principles?

A: Even without a team, a founder can adopt the enabler mindset. When reviewing your own financials, use the 'What, So What, Now What' framework to guide your decisions. Establish a personal rhythm for reviewing key metrics weekly and the full picture monthly to stay on top of your runway and key business drivers.

Q: What's the single most important skill for a finance professional to develop for better communication?

A: The most critical skill is active listening. Before you can provide valuable insight, you must understand the goals and challenges of your colleagues. By asking curious questions and listening carefully, you can connect financial data directly to the operational issues that matter most to other teams, making your advice relevant and actionable.

Q: How do you communicate bad news, like a shortened runway, without causing panic?

A: When delivering bad news, pair the 'So What' (the impact) directly with a credible 'Now What' (the plan). Frame the situation as a challenge the company will solve together. Present data clearly and calmly, propose specific actions to mitigate the issue, and focus the conversation on the solutions you can control.