Finance presentations are an important tool for businesses, investors, and other stakeholders to understand the financial health and performance of an organization.

However, making mistakes during these presentations can lead to misunderstandings and poor decision-making. This can be detrimental to the organization and can even result in financial loss.

In this article, we will discuss some common mistakes that people make in finance presentations and how to avoid them.

By being aware of these mistakes and taking steps to prevent them, you can ensure that your finance presentations are effective and provide the information that your audience needs.

If you want to be a great finance business partner, I am going to show you the mistakes to avoid and how to lead a presentation.

Where did I learn this? Over the last 14 years, I have had many presentations with top executives (CEO and CFO of companies I audited as well as country, BL, and GBU management of a multinational company).

5 Mistakes in Finance Presentations

Here are the five mistakes I learned to avoid and what to do instead.

#1: Come to The Meeting Only with Problems

Instead, propose solutions to discuss in the meeting and use the meeting to decide on which actions to take to remediate the problems.

#2: Not Anticipating Questions Is Also Part of The Mistakes in Finance Presentations

Instead, think about which questions can pop up and have the answer ready in backup, in your working files, or in your head.

#3: Ignoring Actions Which Are Not Finance Related

Instead, be the right hand of management and follow up on all the actions to make sure the teams are working on the topics with the highest priority.

#4: Organize boring and non efficient meetings

Instead, follow this structure:

• Have an agenda and communicate it in advance
• Share the materials 24h in advance
• Moderate the meeting with the goal of progressing through the agenda
• Do timekeeping
• Park questions and topics which need to be taken offline
• Document minutes, decisions, and actions plan
• At the end, ask everybody to debrief about the meeting

#5: Refuse to Change The Format of The Meeting

Instead, challenge the status quo. First, remove unnecessary slides and bring a dynamic file or dashboard for drill-down analysis. Second, reduce the time used for the meeting. Additionally, use the feedback slot at the end of the meeting to improve it for next time. Finally, reduce the frequency of the meeting (sometimes, an update email could be enough).

The Bottom Line – Prevent Mistakes in Finance Presentations

By being aware of these mistakes and taking steps to prevent them, you can ensure that your finance presentations are effective and provide the information that your audience needs.

If you have bad news to announce, don’t wait for the meeting, and call or email directly your trusted point of contact. Nobody likes bad surprises and even less when they are hidden from them.

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The global business community is changing along with the rest of the planet. Although there isn’t a single recipe for a sustainable workforce, several tried-and-true techniques significantly aid in creating and sustaining this culture inside an organization.

As a result, companies must embrace entering new technology eras, gradually create, adapt, and expand – and most importantly, take their staff with them on that trip – in order to not just go forward in this new environment but keep up with their competition.

What Is A Sustainable Workforce?

A workplace that cares about its employees’ health and well-being has a sustainable workforce. It encourages flexibility and provides its workers with an excellent work/life balance. If this method is properly put into practice, it will raise productivity, promote staff retention, and ensure reliable attendance. A sustainable workforce supports a more circular paradigm and looks beyond the one-way talent lifecycle.

How Can You Build A Sustainable Workforce in Your Organization?

Here are four things business leaders can do to build a sustainable workforce.

1. Become advocates for a modernized education system
2. Implement fluid and seamless learning opportunities
3. Instill a top-down approach to learning
4. Take advantage of AI and machine learning to optimize reskilling

Here is an illustration of the four things you need to build a sustainable workforce.

Become Advocates for A Modernized Education System

We can create flexible education systems as an inherent part of the cultural norm. And also equip workers with the diverse skill sets they’ll unavoidably need for sustainable careers by wisely investing in educational frameworks that enable fresh learning paths and skill-gathering.

Moreover, hard tech skills are a top priority in many institutions today, but in this digitally native culture, success depends on various abilities.

Implement Fluid and Seamless Learning Opportunities

We will constantly need to learn new ways to solve problems in the workplace today, and companies that understand and satisfy their employees’ thirst for lifelong learning will succeed. But providing access to education and training is not enough.

Furthermore, we must discover methods to seamlessly incorporate spontaneous reskilling moments at work. This way, through webinars, video games, or in-person mentor programs, you can build a sustainable workforce.

Instill A Top-Down Approach to Learning

To establish a culture of inquiry and constant learning, executives must “walk the walk” when it comes to reskilling workers. Therefore, change from the top down is the most effective approach to do this and to help build a sustainable workforce.

Take Advantage of AI and Machine Learning to Optimize Reskilling

Employee reskilling is no different in the age of AI when company performance will be more closely correlated with the interaction between humans and robots. Therefore, the training methods and tools that can effectively reskill people can be driven by AI and machine learning technologies which are changing the types of employment that workers will have and building a sustainable workforce.

The Bottom Line – Building A Sustainable Workforce Is A Top Priority

In short, we have learned through the pandemic that employees may complete their tasks without a presence of a manager. The pandemic has also increased workers’ need for adaptability, freedom, and self-direction. Currently, there is a chance to rebuild the world of labor and build a sustainable workforce.

If you want to receive more finance tips like this, feel free to sign up for my newsletter. If you subscribe, every two weeks, you will receive an email from where I share best practices, career advice, templates, and insights for Finance Professionals.

This article is based on the World Economic Forum article.