Breaking down silos between finance and operations

Pouline Wagtberg at Deltek Nordic argue that the finance and operations functions must collaborate for project success

 

“That’s a question for finance.”

 

Across the course of your career, how many times have you heard those five little words? It’s a reflexive response which points to a persistent divide in many organisations (big or small), reducing an essential department to a mythical land of payslips, receipts and invoices.

 

But in 2025’s project-based industries, where costs and timelines shift constantly, this separation can be particularly damaging. Every operational decision carries financial implications, just as financial constraints shape operational possibilities. Successful companies share a common characteristic: they’ve reimagined finance not as a separate function, but as an essential operational partner with shared objectives, integrated systems and mutual accountability.

 

 

Tearing down the wall between finance and operations

For decades, project-based businesses have operated with an artificial – or sometimes physical – wall between finance and operations. One team is focussed squarely on numbers, the other on execution. The stereotype of finance teams sequestered away in basements while operations personnel are on-site is the persistent reality for many organisations.

 

This physical separation creates more than distance. When finance speaks of variance analysis and accruals while operations discusses workflows and resource allocation, conversations quickly devolve into mutual incomprehension. The technology used reinforces the divide, with finance teams working in accounting platforms while operations manage projects in specialised tools, creating parallel but separate realities.

 

These mixed realities arrive at a time when cost pressures on project-based industries have increased. Our Deltek Clarity research found that over one third (36%) of professionals are extremely worried about the impacts of a recession and rise in interest rates on their organisation this year. Couple this with other challenges – including surging energy and material costs, labour shortages, regulatory demands and global instability – and the scale of the challenge ahead becomes apparent.

 

In this context, a lag between financial insight and action is no longer an option. By the time finance identifies a cost which has overrun, the operational decisions that caused it are already weeks or months in the past.

 

As Nick Lakhani, Chief Financial Officer at calfordseaden, puts it: "The days of finance being stuck in the back office with the doors closed are long gone. It’s really important that we’re a visible team and are seen as advisors to all parts of the business." To this effect, there are, businesses which have cracked the code, producing finance functions that are forward-looking and visible day to day. They participate in commercial discussions and don’t adhere to the cliche of simply documenting outcomes. But with tight margins and abundant risks, this must become the norm. 

 

 

What true partnership looks like

If finance is to evolve beyond its reactive role to proactive business partner, a shift in its approach and capabilities is required.

 

Firstly, understanding operations can’t be done remotely. Finance professionals benefit from experiencing firsthand the challenges that they’re financially modelling. This means visiting construction sites, attending engineering planning sessions, or observing project delivery in action. This real-world context ensures the numbers they produce accurately represent operational realities.

 

Secondly, businesses must facilitate finance teams building forward-looking scenarios that help operational colleagues visualise the financial implications of different courses of action. Finance professionals can serve as translators, converting complex financial concepts into practical insights that operational teams can immediately apply to project decisions.

 

This forward-looking approach is gaining traction in the industry. Claire Burden, Partner at S&W Group, notes: "Firms are adding new KPIs for a very short time to monitor things that are being focused on in that moment, such as cash flow. There’s a push towards having a few KPIs that people are actually influencing day-to-day to try to solve a problem or achieve growth."

 

Of course, collaboration must work both ways, and operations teams have equally important responsibilities in this partnership. Rather than viewing finance as an administrative function or obstacle to progress, operations teams must recognise the strategic potential of the finance department.

 

As David Pestell, Finance Director at QODA Consulting, advises: "The question you should always ask of the business is, ’What KPIs do you need to run an effective portfolio of projects?’ If the data is structured and available, finance can deliver every KPI under the sun. But as to which is the best for your business to operate on, that must be left to the non-finance people to decide." This means involving finance early – before decisions are made – and being transparent about project challenges and resourcing needs.

 

As with finance leaders, operational heads who take the time to explain technical requirements and supplement it with real-world context will help finance professionals refine and enhance their forecasting, driving further success.

 

In short, when both teams combine effectively, there’s opportunity to create a powerful synergy that neither department could achieve independently. But as project complexity rises and working models shift, doing so requires taking advantage of innovative emerging solutions.

 

 

Technology as the bridge

Traditional technology has often reinforced the divide between departments. Operations teams typically use one system to track project progress, while finance uses another to monitor costs. Reconciling these different versions of reality becomes a time-consuming exercise in frustration for both teams. Over half (51%) of professionals in project-delivery industries believe that their organisation could improve how client profitability is tracked, and it’s likely that this starts with technology. Common language and shared software systems are essential in the modern workplace.

 

Integrated business systems create a single source of truth that eliminates disputes about whose data is correct and allows both finance and operations to make decisions based on the same information. Real-time data sharing enables better decision-making across departments.

 

For instance, real-time data sharing enables advanced forecasting tools, granting finance and operations the ability to collaborate on "what-if" analyses, testing different approaches before committing resources. This proactive capability shifts conversations from reactive problem-solving to strategic planning.

 

The most effective systems incorporate role-based dashboards that present information relevant to each user’s responsibilities while maintaining a unified data foundation. An operations manager might see resource utilisation and schedule adherence metrics, while a finance director views the same project through cash flow and margin perspectives – yet both are working from identical underlying data.

 

Embedding such a technology is not without its challenges. User experience matters enormously. Even the most sophisticated system will fail to bridge departmental divides if it’s difficult to use or requires extensive training. Mobile accessibility is increasingly important for on-site teams who need to input data or access financial information while away from their desks.

 

Della Hudson, Chief Executive Officer at Minerva Accountants, emphasises that people are central to this technological integration: "It’s the people that integrate. If you’ve got a joint culture that works well together, you can work out the rest as you go. So, put the culture before the numbers – people are more important."

 

As project-based industries face mounting complexities, that reflexive phrase - “that’s a question for finance” - becomes increasingly problematic and archaic. The artificial divide between finance and operations belongs to a bygone time.

 

Today’s leading organisations recognise that resilience stems from collaboration, not separation. Finance professionals who step beyond spreadsheets to experience operational realities, alongside operations teams who embrace financial insights early in decision-making processes, create a powerful synergy, supercharged by technology that transform disparate data into unified intelligence.

 

So next time the familiar “that’s a question for finance" enters the discussion, remember the best results come not when finance and operations take turns – but when they speak with one voice. The future of project delivery depends on it.

 

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Pouline Wagtberg is Managing Director at Deltek Nordic. The insights in this article draw upon findings from a recent industry webinar on building financial resilience in AEC firms, featuring finance leaders from QODA Consulting, calfordseaden, S&W Group, and Minerva Accountants. Find out more about the findings of the webinar here

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and islander11