Bringing Financial Information to Life with Data Visualization By Jonah Balfour Traditionally, finance teams have been relied upon as record keepers. They are responsible for the accurate recording, tracking, and reporting of the business’s financial health. However, finance professionals have another role that is becoming increasingly important in light of today’s challenging economic climate and volatility. That new role is to support the decision-making process of the company’s leaders and executives. Analysis and presentation of financial data are the storytelling tools of finance. Essentially, taking the numbers behind the company’s financials and using them to tell a story about the business — where it stands and where it’s going. In our recent webinar, Mesh Director of Finance, Asaf Hanegby, explained the ways finance professionals should leverage modeling and data visualization to help them explain and narrate their company’s financial story. Additionally, he gave a tutorial on how finance pros can use modern analytical platforms to accelerate the process of extracting financial data and focus more time on analysis leading to more actionable insights. Data Modeling and Data Visualization – Working Together In the webinar, Hanegby explained the way data modeling and data visualization are two parts of the storytelling process for finance teams: The modeling process involves building a dynamically updated representation of the data that combines accounting, finance, and business metrics. Visualization draws upon that data to present the information in an easy to digest format that helps decision makers identify trends and act on them. Power BI Tutorial The centerpiece of Hanegby’s presentation was a Power BI tutorial that walked participants through the modeling process and built a visual dashboard that presented the information in a helpful way. One of the primary goals of the tutorial was to help finance professionals understand how they can accelerate the data extraction process, freeing up more time to analyze and understand the picture the data presents. You can watch the tutorial on-demand here. To understand how Mesh can help you take control of spending and gain greater insights into your expenses, sign up for a demo today. Get the latest blogs from Mesh by subscribing to our newsletter Manage Your Payments With Full Control & Visibility Get Started Jonah Balfour Jonah Balfour is a Content Manager at Mesh Payments. He has experience creating content for multiple tech companies, and previous experience managing PR campaigns for emerging startups. Originally from Los Angeles, Jonah chose to leave the ample sunshine of Southern California to study at the University of Wisconsin. He is an avid fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek, and spends most of his time chasing after his two young daughters.
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