Tableau as a tool for convincing data visualization
The core business of controlling is to manage a company's processes and tasks. Every day, managers spend a lot of time preparing financial data and key figures in such a way that they provide the CFO with information and support decision-making. As these reports have a direct influence on the profitability and strategic direction of a company, they should provide answers to questions on various levels at a glance. Tableau helps with this .
A good CFO or CFO always wants to be up to date with all of the company's processes. The operating business must be checked for profitability and efficiency, and the company's liquidity and budget must be managed. They also want to keep an eye on the market so that they can adapt the company's strategic direction to changing conditions at any time. In addition to Tableau, this is where the need for strategy consulting comes into play in order to optimize the overarching corporate strategy. Controlling, which manages all these planning, coordination and control tasks, is therefore faced with particular challenges when it comes to reporting.
Clear and explorative data analysis
Controlling employees need the right tool to cope with this. Because many in the industry use Microsoft Excel for their reports, Tableau is a useful addition. It connects all data pools with each other, despite heterogeneous data structures and interfaces, and also accesses live data. Unlike Excel, it therefore enables a prompt report and a direct assessment of the current business situation.
Tableau also offers the advantage of being able to visualize a report so clearly that even non-financial experts can understand the results presented. Being able to create calculations in diagrams and visualize geodata makes every presentation of a controlling report a success. And what's more, it also invites you to try things out. In terms of exploratory data analysis, this also means linking previously unrelated data in such a way that new insights can be gained.
Example visualization: How quickly does the customer receive his delivery?
The live visualization shows how long it takes for a customer to receive a delivery. It compares these figures with the customer-specific sales figures and prioritizes the results according to urgency.
With just a click of the mouse, employees in controlling can get an overview of the pipeline and the sales situation. KPIs, for example, do not have to be queried in a time-consuming process. Tableau simply does this automatically. If data needs to be modified "on the fly", the controller simply uses the intuitive drag-and-drop user interface.
In order to be able to map and support the five major task areas of controlling - planning, information and services, management, coordination and rationality assurance - with Tableau, foresight and vision are required first and foremost. Together with top management, controlling brings together the sub-goals of the individual departments to form a holistic corporate goal. This forms the basis for budgeting, in which measures and resources are defined to achieve the objectives.
With Tableau, controlling has a particularly effective tool at hand: current target figures can be easily combined with historical values - even if their data sources have different data formats, as is usually the case. Controlling can decide whether changes in the key figures are due to short-term market situations or long-term trends. Filter and drill-down functions that can be set quickly enable both the big picture and individual areas of the company to be displayed at any time.
Transparent presentation of key figures
The central task of controlling is that of an information and data service provider. It organizes cross-divisional reporting and expands this into a comprehensive management information system. Information relevant to business management, such as profit, profitability or contribution margins, must be communicated to decision-makers regularly and in a structured or condensed form. This is because, as mentioned above, it is crucial for monitoring profitability and assessing business development.
For example, Tableau takes data from financial and operational accounting and uses it to create an actual value analysis. This in turn can be compared with predefined planning targets and incorporated into a user-friendly management dashboard. Controlling is not only provided with a transparent presentation of the key figures, and thus the company targets achieved, but also a meaningful review of the course of business at any conceivable point in time.
Existential tool in controlling
If deviations in business performance are identified, controlling can counteract these by using data to influence the behavior and understanding of management roles. Above all, however, Tableau's forward-looking "what-if" analyses are an important controlling tool. They enable problems to be identified in advance and undesirable developments to be avoided.
Controllers play an existential role as decision-makers in companies. They therefore need the appropriate tools to keep an eye on complex interrelationships themselves and to convince others with (visual) arguments if necessary.
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