This document discusses the relationship between IT departments and finance/accounting departments ("beancounters"). It acknowledges common beliefs that beancounters just want to restrict spending and don't understand technology. However, it argues that the reality is different: most companies are not primarily IT businesses, so business strategy should take precedence; finance has pressure to balance the books; and budgets will always be limited, so the goal is to do the most with available funds. It provides tips for IT departments to work effectively with finance, including having a clear IT strategy aligned with business goals, creating justified budgets and business cases for spending, and negotiating skillfully.

1. Beancounters: Friend or Foe?
Finance & IT
A Sutcliffe
Consultant, APS-IT
(Former IT Manager for several SME operations)
(a.k.a Bottman)

2. Common beliefs
• “… setting a budget means you are forced to overspend most of the
time and are likely unable to leverage strategic opportunity at
others…”
• “The CFO just wants to stop me spending money and doesn’t care
what problems this causes the IT department ”
• “… finance people don’t understand technology, so why should they
control what we do?”
• “I seem to spend a lot time trying to justify spending small amounts of
money, when other departments seem to spend what they like”
• “Our FD knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”

3. The Reality
• Most companies are not “IT businesses”; and IT is about delivering a
service to the rest of the organisation, not about the technology
• The Business Strategy has to take precedence over IT Strategy
• Different departments should actually have the same goals (really!)
• Finance have a lot of pressure on them to make the books balance
• Budgets will always be limited; the trick is to do the most with what
you have

4. The Reality
• If the business people don’t understand the importance of the
technology
• you probably haven’t explained it in terms that they can understand
• If you can’t explain it to them satisfactorily, you should ask if you really
understand the significance of what you are proposing
• It’s not their role to understand; it’s your job to explain

5. IT Strategy
• How to use an IT Strategy (you do have one, right?)
• If you don’t have a clear destination, how will you know when
you reach it?
• The IT Strategy should indicate how IT will help the business
achieve the business goals
• This requires understanding what each department plans to do
• It should be updated each year
• Although the master document should be detailed, there
should also be bullet points that fit on a single A4 sheet of
paper

6. IT Strategy
• To achieve this, you have to talk to the various departments
• You have to know what is going on in the business in the next few years
• You need to know what the various departments are planning
• You have to understand what pressures they are facing

7. IT Strategy
• Detail of Strategy
• Break down by appropriate
sections, departments,
technology
• Then use this to create a bullet
point summary to issue to Senior
Mangers

9. IT Strategy
• Example of bullet point summary
• For 2015
• Replace 20 PCs & 5 printers
• Replace 3 laptops (Sales dept.)
• Obtain 10 new licences for MS Office suite
• Renew the company’s Mobile phone contract
• Review the backup processes; either renew existing software or
replace
• Replace drives on Server
• Conduct training on product XXX
• Replacement of 4 damaged telephone handsets (Logistics)

10. IT Budget
• Create a budget plan
• Show previous years’ expenditure to
justify repeat figures
• Include any project details
• Use a logical separation
• Consider using colours like to show key
items
• Know the difference between Capital
Expenditure (CapEx) and Operational
Expenditure (OpEx)

11. IT Budget
• Use actual expenditure to create a forecast
• Some costs will be repeated (OpEX)
• Some costs will be one-offs (CapEx) or projects
• Don’t forget to allow for over spend

13. IT Budget
• Use 1, 2 & 5 year plans to manage the finances
• You have to plan for next year
• But it makes no sense to spend money next year, only to replace that
same technology the year after
• You can’t predict what challenges you face more than 5 years from now

14. Show Me The Money!
• Persuade the head Bean Counter that you
• Can be trusted to plan
• Know how to accurately forecast expenditure
• Will be careful how you spend the money
• Will treat it as your own!
• They will then open their wallets!

15. Business Case Justification
• Pounds and pence
• Business leaders don’t talk “Tech” – there is no point in trying to explain
things this way
• Cash benefits make more sense to them
• They need to know
• What it will cost
• What it will save

16. Management priorities
• All managers have the same 3 goals
• To increase sales
• To cut costs
• To improve profit margins
• That includes IT Managers!

17. The art of negotiation
• Be honest and upfront
• Don’t be afraid to say “That’s not what I can afford to pay”
• Haggle every time
• Be flexible over key details
• It’s not always about the costs; some times, you can get extra value
• Make use of quarterly / annual sales quotas to get the best deal

18. Thank you for your attention!