Innovation in Unexpected Places: Look to Your Financial and Accounting Teams for Guidance

Published on August 17, 2016 |

Designers, writers, or engineers are often perceived as a company’s top innovators. Yet in crunching numbers, paying bills, and handling proposals, your financial and accounting teams actually work to ensure assets are protected and the company stays in the black—making them valuable assets for innovation. 

They know your books. Not only do they know your sources of capital, but they are also aware of forecasted budgets and expenses, and know what monies can be allocated for growth. Innovation can require funding for employee time, technology, and production equipment that don’t generate immediate revenue. Financial teams know how to best appropriate and insulate these funds. 

They can proactively assess and recommend growth strategies. By understanding company goals and challenges, your financial team can help determine the best ways to implement change, even pinpointing investor opportunities to fund improvements. And finding monetary support can make financial teams feel innovative in their own right, as their guidance contributes to growth. 

In the end, tapping into the expertise of these departments can ensure that the drive toward growth doesn’t overshadow your ability to remain profitable along the way.