The CFO
The role of the CFO dictates a vital interest in Data Management. The meaning, accuracy, currency and precision of the data that flows across your desk—in short, the quality of the data—must be a known quantity. Compliance regulations (as well as GAP dictate that process and data quality controls be in place to assure the reliability of the company's financial data.
From a management and decision-making perspective, it
is useful to envision your data (and dollar) environment as a set of
tributaries collecting and feeding data or dollars into a reservoir
(accounting).
The overall "drainage" can be quite complex but it is
mappable
and measurable. You know you will see floods associated with
tax
season and audit season. Think of Data Management as a set of
check dams and floodgates that can be used to control the flow and
guarantee that you get only the information from the tributary you're
interested in and only in the right form.
I addition, you want to know about the outflow from the reservoir. Data and dollars flow out in an equally complex way to managers, vendors. The outflow looks much like the inflow in terms of branching. You have built structure for the dollar flow (purchase orders, approvals, procedures and forms). Can you afford to ignore the data that accompanies the dollars?
Cash flow and information flow are inseparable. While Finance typically creates and maintains processes for the dollars and holds the organization accountable for them, the information/data side is just as typically treated as an afterthought. When a sub account is required before a purchase order is issued or before a reimbursement is paid, that's a start. When the choice of a sub account is left to the requester withoutadequate guidance or verification, the chosen sub account is meaningless and accountability is lost.
The best information for the best decision.