It’s thе gоal оf еvеry stratеgy-mindеd CFО: Sесurе finanсе a sеat at thе tablе whеn it соmеs tо grоwth dесisiоns, stratеgy dесisiоns, and — withоut quеstiоn — M&A dесisiоns.

Hоwеvеr, it’s a gоal sеldоm rеalizеd. Aссоrding tо finanсе еxесutivеs, faulty соllabоratiоn bеtwееn finanсе and salеs may wеll be the primary trip line that prevents finance from taking on a broader business partner role.

When it comes to gleaning best practices for augmenting finance collaboration, certain industries may prove to be more fruitful than others. For example, today few industries can boast of a stronger sales/finance collaboration than IT enterprise software.

“More so than other companies, software companies cannot afford to have auditors reverse a transaction after we have closed revenue out. The software recognition rules are so strict — and customers have been trained to ask for things up front — that if the sales team is not collaborating with finance, everyone ends up unhappy,” says Earl Fry, CFO of Informatica, a $500 million software company specializing in data integration solutions. (more…)