After spending 20+ years in FP&A, I have learnt a lot about what to do or not do as a finance business partner. There are probably a lot of tips and learnings you have picked up as you went on your journey as a finance business partner, but you may still be up for some surprises from my list here.

在FP&A领域工作了20多年，我学到了很多关于作为财务BP应该做什么或不应该做什么。在你成为一名财务BP的过程中，你可能会学到很多技巧和知识，但你仍然能从我的列举中看到一些惊喜。

1

The Dos

要做的

1. Take your time – A lot of times finance business partners are eager to prove their value add so they tend to jump right into the issues and hope to solve them. Sometimes it is worth the wait just to be on the sidelines and observe. Play the newbie card if you need to but you are better off observing the culture of the team you support and understand the mandate before suggesting solutions.

1. 慢慢来——很多时候，财务BP急于证明他们的增值，所以他们会倾向于直接了解并解决问题。但有的时候，站在一边观察是值得的。如果有必要，你可以打新手光环，但在提出解决方案之前，最好观察团队的文化，并理解其使命。

2. Take sides – As a business partner, do take sides. If you support the sales team, take the side of a salesperson and think as they do. Once you start framing an issue from the lens of your customer, you can better find a solution that is more appropriate for the business. However, you need to frame it within acceptable finance parameters, which means it should be in the best financial interest of the company, in compliance with internal controls and most importantly, ethically and legally sound.

2. 会站队——作为BP，一定要跟他们站一队。如果你支持销售团队，就站在销售人员的角度思考问题。如果从客户的角度出发，你能更好地找到更适合业务的解决方案。然而，你需要在财务参数范围内构建它，这意味着要符合公司的财务利益，受内部控制，且符合道德和法律。

3. Engage in politics – As a finance business partner, you need to navigate across the organisation to support the initiative the business is driving. Stay alert on all the discussions across functions to make sure you understand different concerns from different functions, and then engage the functions and provide your insights. As discussed in my other article “How finance can frame better strategy for the business”, FP&A can be strategic and drive actions across functions so your ability to navigate through the politics and organisational challenges will be critical to your success.

3. 参与政策——作为一名财务BP，你需要带领整个组织支持业务推动的计划。对所有跨职能部门的讨论保持敏感，以确保了解不同职能部门的关注点，然后参与职能部门并提供您的见解。正如我在另一篇文章“财务如何为企业制定更好的战略”(点击蓝字阅读)中所讨论的那样，FP&A可以是战略性的，可以推动跨职能部门的行动，所以驾驭政治和组织的能力对成功至关重要。

2

The Don't s

不要做的

1. Don’t believe in the numbers – Many times finance business partners rely on data and numbers to make decisions. However, numbers actually do lie. How you interpret and present numbers can bring about very different conclusions. Therefore, as a finance business partner, don’t believe in the numbers you see without understanding how the numbers come about. Challenge the assumptions, challenge the analysis and challenge the conclusion. You may have two sides of the same coin, but you get multiple conclusions when you look at a business situation.

1. 不要相信数字——很多时候，财务BP依赖数据和数字来做决定。然而，数字会说谎。你对数字的解释和呈现方式可能会带来截然不同的结论。因此，作为一个财务BP，在不了解这些数字是如何产生的情况下，不要相信你看到的数字。要挑战假设，挑战分析，挑战结论。一枚硬币有两面，但当你观察一个业务情况时，会得到多个结论。

2. Don’t always think strategically – Although being strategic is a key objective for being a successful business partner, there are times when you shouldn’t think strategically. For example, when looking at what can be impacting business results, a finance business partner may be better off looking at the basic and mundane processes. Fixing some of these foundational issues can bring better business results than just looking at strategic initiatives.

2. 不要总是战略性地思考——尽管战略性是成为成功BP的关键目标，但有时不应该战略性地思考。例如，在查看影响业务结果的因素时，财务业务合作伙伴最好查看最基础的流程。解决一些基础性问题比着眼于战略计划能带来更好的业务结果。

3. Don’t focus on finance acumen – As a finance business partner, you deploy a lot of your financial analysis skills to solve problems. If you look at the steps of resolving issues, the first step is to understand the problems. Unless a finance business partner has a good understanding of the business, he or she might frame the problem inaccurately. Therefore, you need to focus more on developing your business acumen, and not just focus on your financial acumen.

3. 不要专注于财务的敏锐——作为一个财务BP，你需要运用大量的财务分析技能来解决问题。解决问题的步骤的第一步是理解问题。除非财务BP对业务有很好的理解，否则他或她可能会不准确地描述问题。因此，你需要更多地专注于发展你的业务头脑，而不仅仅是你的财务头脑。

3

Summary总结

These dos and don’ts are really about getting a finance business partner to transform himself or herself into a business manager with strong financial acumen and not a professional providing financial advice to the business.

这些应该做什么和不应该做什么实际上是让财务BP把自己变成一个拥有敏锐财务头脑的业务经理，而不是一个为业务提供财务建议的专业人士。