A new perspective on finance

But what happens when everyone in the organization — the very people who create the company’s financial outcomes and value — actually understands how everything connects? What if forward-looking conversations could take place about how to improve both profitability and cash flow?

At its core, it’s actually quite simple: finance is a language — one that clearly reflects the impact of our actions. If the numbers are pointing in the wrong direction, it's likely because we’re either not doing the right things, or we're not doing things the right way.

Either way, we need to identify the source — the activities behind the poor results — because those are the things we can change. The old saying still applies: “If at first you don’t succeed, try again — and do it right.”

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Communication is key

Have you ever sat through a meeting where someone presents a spreadsheet full of percentages and KPIs, and you find your mind drifting off? You’re not alone.

Communicating financial information in a way that everyone can understand requires a new mindset — and a good dose of educational skill.

One challenge we often encounter is what we call “the curse of big numbers.” It can be hard for people to see how their day-to-day work connects to the company’s overall financial picture. How do those millions in sales relate to my job? Isn’t a multi-million-dollar profit already good enough?

What’s needed is a shift in perspective — breaking those big numbers down into what each employee contributes per day, or even per hour. That’s what we call “the blessing of small numbers.” Realizing that your individual contribution may come down to just a few dollars an hour puts things into perspective. And it’s those small, everyday decisions — the details — that collectively build the company’s financial results.

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Keep it simple

To create true alignment around a company’s financial goals and challenges, we need to simplify financial concepts and make the connections easy to understand for everyone — not just the finance team.

When people truly understand how everything fits together, the reports and goals become meaningful. Everyone can see how they contribute, and they become more engaged in driving results. It’s about stripping away the complexity and returning to the common sense and logic that underpins good financial management.

Our way of guiding people through this journey is to complement numbers with color and form — making finance visual.

You've heard it before: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Fortunately, the human brain is wired to quickly and effectively interpret visual information. So why not use that superpower to make finance easier to grasp?

This idea is at the heart of what we call “The Visual Language of Finance®.” It’s about visualizing and simplifying financial concepts, making learning engaging rather than theoretical, and creating an experience that is not just informative — but fun.

And let’s be honest — “fun” and “finance” aren’t words we often see in the same sentence.