When finance is focused on being a strategic partner to the business, small wins can create a big shift in culture, credibility, and impact.
In this episode of The Incremental Edge, I spoke with Sarah Wallace, CFO at Team GB, about how her team has transformed finance from a back-office function into a true business partner, using technology, data, and small wins to build big impact.
When Sarah joined Team GB in 2023, the finance system was clunky, slow, and full of workarounds. Getting actuals into a forecast could take days, and purchase order approvals piled up endlessly. The result? A finance team tied to spreadsheets with little time to engage with the rest of the organisation.
Sarah’s approach was refreshingly practical. She listened to her team’s frustrations, chose out-of-the-box tools, and focused on removing everyday bottlenecks. The wins were immediate: purchase orders could be approved on a mobile app during a morning commute, and for the first time in 12 years, the backlog cleared.
With time freed up, her team are spending more energy out in the business, building trust and changing the perception of finance. Data has taken centre stage, tagging sponsorship income and costs so margins could be seen clearly, shaping sharper conversations with partners.
The most striking lesson is that none of this came from one big transformation. It was a series of small, deliberate steps, the kind of incremental edge that creates lasting impact.
Three takeaways that stood out for me:
-
Start small. Fixing daily frustrations, like approvals, creates momentum fast.
-
Be visible. Finance builds trust when it steps out from behind the spreadsheets.
-
Use data as a conversation starter. Clean, timely information brings credibility and influence.
This episode shows that finance isn’t just about numbers - it’s about people, processes, and creating space to add real value.
📺 Watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/Dcw8nmtwusw?si=3XyVgvke96FZtwPa
🎧 Listen here:
Connect with the speakers:
.png)
