The Future of Finance: During a recent virtual event, iFD highlighted how tools like Microsoft Power BI and the iFD data cube are enabling finance functions to become more strategic, data-driven, and agile. Hosted by Jade Dixon and led by Dominic Watkin, Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Isosceles Finance, the session also offered valuable insights into how businesses can leverage integrated technologies to streamline reporting, enhance performance monitoring and drive more informed decision-making.
ELEVATING FINANCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The session opened with Dominic framing the evolution of finance roles, from historical reporting to strategic partnership. He highlighted how digital tools, particularly Power BI and the iFD data cube, are enabling finance teams to deliver real-time, actionable insights that directly support business growth and agility.
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Dominic then led a series of live demonstrations. He illustrated in detail how businesses can transition from static reports to dynamic dashboards powered by real-time data. Central to this transformation is the iFD data cube, a flexible, centralised data architecture that integrates seamlessly with Power BI. This combination allows finance teams to pull in, manage, analyse, and extract data from multiple systems with ease. This ensures that insights are timely, consistent and scalable.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SESSION
- Powerful Visualisations for Strategic Insight: Dominic demonstrated how Power BI’s visual capabilities, enhanced by the structured backend of the data cube, allow finance teams and leaders to convert complex datasets into intuitive visuals. These visuals help leadership teams quickly identify trends, risks and opportunities.
- Real-time data via the data cube: The iFD data cube plays a pivotal role in ensuring data accuracy and consistency. By acting as a sole source of truth, the data cube enables live data feeds directly into Power BI dashboards, ensuring that decision-makers are always working with the most up-to-date information.
- Stakeholder-centric Dashboards: With the dimensions included within the data sets and the flexibility offered by Power BI, dashboards can be easily customised for different audiences, whether C-suite executives, operational leads or external partners. Each stakeholder sees only the insights relevant to them, reducing noise and improving clarity.
- Forecasting and Predictive Analytics: The combination of historical data stored in the data cube and Power BI’s advanced analytics allows finance teams to move beyond reporting into forecasting. Dominic highlighted how trend analysis and predictive modelling can help businesses anticipate future challenges and allocate resources effectively and efficiently.
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STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF THE DATA CUBE FOR FINANCE LEADERS
- From reactive to initiative-taking: With the iFD data cube as the foundation, finance teams can move from reactive reporting to proactive performance management.
- Automated, scalable reporting: The integration of Power BI with the data cube ensures that reporting processes are automated, dependable and easily scalable as business needs evolve.
- Strong business partnership: Access to real-time, reliable data allows finance teams to support decision-makers with insight, not just information.
LOOKING FORWARD
While the live demonstration covered a range of areas, the session concluded with a discussion on how tools like Power BI and the iFD data cube will continue to redefine the finance function. As digital transformation accelerates, finance leaders must embrace platforms that unify data, support real-time analysis and enable better business outcomes.
In conclusion, Power BI and the data cube are more than just tools, they also represent a shift in how finance teams deliver value: faster, smarter and more strategically.
NEXT STEPS
iFD provides dedicated support for businesses looking to get more from Power BI and the iFD data cube, helping them better access, understand and leverage the value of their financial data. Whether you are in the initial stages of adoption or refining advanced reporting structures, iFD is here to guide your finance team toward a more intelligent, integrated and strategic approach.
Thank you to everyone who attended the recent iFD Community event.
Finally, we look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you at our next event.
In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about the model, please feel free to book a meeting with our team.