3 ways forward-thinking finance teams use data to drive strategy

For decades, finance sat behind the scenes, keeping the books balanced and operations running smoothly. But today, as companies race to adopt AI, finance holds one of the most valuable assets in the business: clean, comprehensive data. As a result, CEOs are now turning to finance leaders to be strategic drivers of smarter, faster decisions across all aspects of the organization — not just finance.

Ramp VP of Customer Success Megan Yen spoke with General Catalyst Controller Jackie Jadrosich, Barry’s Chief Accounting Officer Arinn Cavey, and Crumbl AP Manager Brianne Creer on how their teams are growing influence within their companies by providing better data-driven insights.

Leverage data to drive impact in new areas

Finance teams often serve as data hubs. Panelists noted that this unlocks their ability to reshape how companies operate.

At Crumbl, Creer calls finance "the extensive data point" that collects information from teams like procurement, supply chain, and marketing. This unique position enabled finance to transform how Crumbl approached strategic marketing partnerships. When Kylie Jenner first approached Crumbl for her makeup launch, for example, finance worked with marketing to structure and measure the experimental partnership across the New York and Los Angeles markets. The collaboration required no upfront payment and was a success, validating celebrity partnerships as a growth strategy for the cookie company.

Finance subsequently analyzed performance data across different partnership structures to systematize what worked. They've since tested tour-based collaborations with Olivia Rodrigo, album launches with Benson Boone, and broader themed partnerships like a "Kardashian Takeover Week." They now use data to guide each partnership's structure and measure ROI through revenue sales and brand impact.

Barry's used location-level financial data to restructure the organization and align individual and company incentives. The corporate office created a model where general managers of individual studios act as small business owners of their locations, getting to know their communities and employees to understand the needs of their particular market. Since these general managers are compensated based on their location's results, this model leads to greater accountability.

​​”The end result of being able to capture data at the location level is we’re able to hold people accountable. That has been a big part of our strategy,” Cavey explains.

Capture granular data for better business insights

Panelists emphasized moving beyond basic revenue and cost tracking and capturing more granular data that reveals which activities are driving profitability.

As General Catalyst expanded beyond the traditional VC model and into businesses like HATCo and Percepta, Jadosich said it became important to evaluate what each business line was doing. Her team seeks to develop a multi-dimensional expense tracking system with two key dimensions: horizontal tracking that captures what departments are procuring the spend and have vendor relationships, and vertical tracking to identify the business line that the spend supports.

The intention is to avoid using arbitrary percentages to split shared costs across business units and instead tie expenses directly to the business line that incurred them.

Similarly, fitness chain Barry’s focused on capturing data through studio-level P&Ls. The company previously relied on revenue data from its point-of-sale system, but it was hard to tell if a product line or location was profitable — a problem common to a lot of midmarket, multi-location businesses.

Using a P&L with information filtered by location and class time, Barry’s can today answer specific questions like, “Are we making money on a 2 p.m. class in Chelsea?” and “How are we allocating our top instructors who cost us more?” This data also allows finance to share relevant insights to operations that shape companywide strategic decisions.

Equip finance teams to steer operations

Another theme panelists discussed was that finance teams today are redefining their role by taking on broader responsibilities that might not traditionally fall under their function.

Crumbl gave a strong example of this, moving the supply chain and procurement teams from the COO to the CFO. The logic was straightforward: finance already controlled the profit metrics and handled purchase orders and payments, so the move felt natural. This structural change reflects a broader trend Creer observes: "We're seeing this across some other companies where IT, legal, supply chain, or procurement are all within finance."

General Catalyst illustrates a modern hybrid approach, where centralized operational resources coexist with functional teams. Each team is empowered to drive technology and operational enhancements forward through close collaboration and shared infrastructure to drive continuous improvements across the company.

In that context, finance developed what she calls an "operational and tech mindset," recently managing General Catalyst’s implementation of Ramp from start to finish. She harnessed her knowledge of accounting and financial control processes while keeping the operational aspect and AI-embedded tech at the forefront of the implementation. "My team knows what accounting rules and control processes should be within the system," she explained, "but it's really the user-friendliness and visibility that employees will get using features like Bill Pay and the cards that's more operational driven."

This combination drives better adoption both for her team and the entire organization.

As Creer put it, “Crumbl can’t make business decisions moving forward without the financial data. And so we are being included in conversations more and more, whether they’re on go-to-market, partnerships, or even menu decisions.”