The future of digital business partnering

Traditional Finance roles are changing fast. This eBook, created in collaboration with Anders Liu-Lindberg of the Business Partnering Institute, shows how AI, automation, and digital business partnering are transforming FP&A into a strategic powerhouse.

The role of Finance professionals is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Historically seen as scorekeepers focused on transactions and financial reporting, today’s Finance teams are expected to be strategic advisors, influencing decision-making across the business. Digital business partnering is now the key to maximizing impact in financial planning & analysis (FP&A Software).

With advancements in automation, AI, and real-time analytics, Finance professionals must move beyond historical reporting and embrace predictive insights. This transformation requires not only technical expertise but also strong business acumen, communication skills, and the ability to influence stakeholders effectively.

In this eBook, we’ll dive into topics from the Jedox webinar “Why digital business partnering is the future of FP&A”—which features insights from Anders Liu-Lindberg, an FP&A expert and founder of the Business Partnering Institute.

It will discuss:

Traditionally, Finance has been responsible for tracking and reporting financial performance—essentially acting as a scorekeeper by recording transactions, ensuring compliance, and managing budgets.

However, as businesses demand more forward-looking insights, Finance must become a business partner, actively contributing to strategic decisions.

The evolution of Finance roles:

In Liu-Lindberg’s words, “Some companies have moved so far into business partnering that they don’t even call it that anymore—it’s just what they do.” So how can your Finance function make this move? Let’s discuss.

In the past, Finance was primarily seen as a back-office function, focusing on number-crunching and compliance tasks. Today, Finance teams are expected to engage with business units and provide valuable strategic support. This shift requires Finance professionals to build relationships with other departments, understand business drivers, and anticipate future trends rather than simply reporting past results.

The transition from scorekeeping to business partnering means Finance professionals must develop new capabilities, such as:

Let’s dive into Liu-Lindberg’s Impact Equation™ for effective business partnering:

Impact is about improving decision-making and maximizing value. However, good decisions don’t always guarantee good results due to various influencing factors. Finance teams must track outcomes, refine strategies, and strengthen execution when needed.

In fact, when expected outcomes are met, Finance should push for even better performance. When they fall short, it’s crucial to analyze why and adjust accordingly.

Traditional month-end reporting provides historical insights, but decision-makers need real-time, forward-looking analysis. The problem with backward-looking financial reporting is that it does not enable businesses to make agile, data-driven decisions in the fast-paced market environment of today.

Finance teams must help businesses answer the question: “Now what?” rather than simply “What happened?”. To do this, Finance must shift its focus from explaining past variances to predicting future outcomes, identifying risks, and recommending strategic actions.

Waiting until the end of the month for reports means missed opportunities. Finance must support just-in-time decision-making.

Traditional forecasting and budgeting methods can become outdated quickly. Finance must develop rolling forecasts that adapt to new data as it emerges.

Instead of only tracking KPIs, Finance teams should provide actionable recommendations to drive business success.

Finance professionals should analyze trends, model different scenarios, and advise on potential risks and opportunities before they happen.

Instead of just reporting that sales dropped 5% last quarter, a business partner would:

By making this shift, Finance teams become trusted advisors and partners rather than just financial analysts. They drive the business forward instead of merely explaining where it has been.

Spreadsheets remain widely used, but they come with challenges: version control issues, slow processing times, and a lack of real-time collaboration. That’s why more and more Finance teams are transitioning to integrated financial planning platforms that enable:

Organizations across industries are leveraging hyperautomation tools to optimize financial processes, increase efficiency, and improve strategic decision-making.

Two notable examples are Libra Industries and Boomers Parks, both of which successfully implemented Jedox’s platform to enhance FP&A capabilities.

Libra Industries, specializing in complex system integration for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), faced challenges with error-prone Excel processes that limited scalability and insights. Manual workflows slowed down data consolidation and reporting, making it difficult to provide timely and accurate insights. Furthermore, disjointed data hindered dynamic analysis, affecting decision-making capabilities.

By implementing Jedox and embracing hyperautomation, Libra transformed its financial operations—moving from static Excel files to an integrated, dynamic system. Automated data consolidation and forecasting enabled Finance to streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and focus on strategic decision-making.

This shift allowed the company to compare forecasts and estimates with actual data seamlessly, enhancing the Finance department’s ability to provide actionable insights. The transformation was completed in just three months, positioning Finance as a strategic asset within the organization.

Boomers Parks, a family entertainment center operator, was on a mission to overhaul its financial planning and analysis processes due to the challenges of its previous system. Inflexible and unreliable, the company dealt with slow, manual budgeting workflows and lacked real-time insights into financial performance.

By adopting Jedox, Boomers Parks automated data consolidation and forecasting, reducing manual effort and increasing accuracy. AI-driven analytics allowed the Finance team to quickly identify trends, model scenarios, and provide more strategic recommendations to leadership.

With this transformation, the Finance team optimized resource allocation and helped enhance overall operational efficiency by leveraging AI-powered predictive modeling.

“[It’s] a great tool to show us our best-case/worst-case scenario as far as the amount of people that are going to come in for our season pass redemptions, even basic attendance for FECs and our waterparks.”

Dena Hernandez, Vice President of Finance, Boomers Parks

While hyperautomation offers numerous advantages, implementing it requires careful planning and change management. Some challenges Finance teams may face include:

Looking ahead, hyperautomation will continue to evolve, incorporating machine learning, AI-driven decision engines, and predictive analytics to further enhance business partnering. As Finance functions become more digital, hyperautomation will play a key role in enabling Finance teams to move beyond transactional work and drive greater strategic impact.

Organizations that embrace hyperautomation today will gain a competitive edge, making Finance a key enabler of business growth and agility.

The future of Finance is increasingly driven by AI and digital twins—virtual models that simulate real-world financial and operational scenarios. AI-powered insights allow Finance teams to generate real-time forecasts and respond proactively to market shifts.

In the words of Liu-Lindberg, “Imagine being able to click a button and instantly see an updated forecast based on real-time data. That’s where we’re heading.”

These AI-driven capabilities will revolutionize financial planning by enabling:

The Finance leaders of the future will need to blend technical expertise with strong interpersonal skills.

Key competencies include:

While technology is a game-changer, human skills remain irreplaceable. Business partners must be able to:

To remain relevant, Finance professionals must continuously develop their technical and leadership skills— ensuring they can navigate the complexities of digital transformation while maintaining a human-centric approach to business partnering.

To build their roadmap to digital business partnering success, Finance leaders should prioritize:

Successful digital business partnering requires a combination of technology and human expertise. Organizations should equip their Finance teams with the right analytical tools, foster a culture of continuous learning, and ensure Finance professionals are actively engaged in key business decisions.

In five years, AI-driven insights, hyperautomation, and real-time decision-making will be the norm. As Liu-Lindberg states, “This is the most exciting time to be in Finance.”

Organizations that fully embrace digital business partnering will:

The transformation is already underway—will you lead the change or be left behind?

Finance professionals who fully embrace business partnering will be positioned as key strategic advisors in their organizations. By focusing on collaboration, automation, and communication, Finance teams can unlock new levels of impact and influence

The Business Partnering Institute (BPI) focuses on transforming Finance functions through consulting, tailored learning programs, and research. With expertise in finance business partnering, BPI helps Finance professionals enhance decision-making, create strategic value, and drive sustainable impact.

Learn more at bpidk.org.

Anders is Partner and co-founder of Business Partnering Institute. He’s a leading adviser to senior finance and FP&A leaders on how to create an impactful finance organization. He’s also an internationally recognized thought leader with over 400,000+ followers on LinkedIn.

Prior to founding Business Partnering Institute, Anders worked 13 years in various finance roles at global transport and logistics company Maersk

¹ BARC study. “Unify Performance Management to Boost the Performance of Your Finance Department”. Question: What are your biggest challenges in terms of performance management at the moment? (n = 193)