The following is a guest article by Oreoluwa Onabowale, FP&A Lead at GE Vernova. The views expressed are solely those of the author.

In finance, accuracy is overrated. Impact is what changes outcomes. I haven't always believed this, but experience has taught me so.

I've delivered forecasts precise to the decimal point, yet leadership still moved in a different direction. When results materialized as I had warned, the time for action had passed. Accuracy earned me credibility but failed to change decisions. The lesson is clear: numbers rarely speak for themselves. Translation, timing, and diplomacy often matter more.

Why accuracy alone doesn't drive business

I once warned about margin erosion caused by a discounting strategy. The model was solid, the assumptions tested, the math impeccable. But I raised the issue in a crowded review meeting. Business leaders were focused on closing year-end deals, the CFO was pushing to hit revenue targets, and my point earned polite nods before the meeting moved on. Three months later, margins declined as predicted. I was right, but I didn't influence the outcome.

In contrast, an experience a few years later was completely different. Operations was proud of new throughput gains, but I could see the product mix would erode much of the benefit. Instead of waiting for the meeting, I sat down with the operations lead a week early, walked through the numbers together, and aligned before the issue hit the table. When the review came, I wasn't raising the concern alone—the operations lead reinforced it in their own words, and leadership adjusted course immediately. The numbers didn't change, but the outcome did.

The same principle applies at the board level. I've been in reviews where data clearly showed risk ahead, but the room didn't need another model—it needed finance to frame the issue in actionable terms: "If we stay on the current path, margins will compress by 200 basis points; but if we accelerate procurement negotiations, we can recover half of that within the year." That framing turned a line of numbers into a decision. Impact changed the direction of the conversation.

Impact is the real currency

Soft power in finance doesn't mean distorting the truth—it means ensuring the truth is understood and acted upon. It comes down to three things:

  1. Translation.Every function speaks a different language: sales talks bookings, operations talks throughput, procurement talks inflation, product talks mix.
  2. Timing.Even the best analysis is ignored if delivered at the wrong moment.
  3. Diplomacy.Telling a leader "your plan won't work" triggers defensiveness, while asking "how will this impact procurement savings?" fosters collaboration.

Forecasting is also more political than we like to admit. Sales leans optimistic, operations prefers conservative, marketing pushes for spend. Everyone is negotiating with numbers, and FP&A sits at the intersection. If you rely solely on accuracy, finance becomes the referee—calling fouls but not shaping the game. With impact, finance becomes the coach—guiding assumptions, testing logic, and helping the business balance ambition with reality.

Accuracy is necessary, but it's just the ticket to enter the room. Impact is what makes the seat matter. As AI continues to automate the mechanics of accuracy, impact will become even more important—it will be the currency that defines the next generation of finance leaders.

The multiplier effect of leadership

Looking back, the moments that shaped my career weren't when I had the most precise numbers, but when I shaped the conversation to make the numbers matter. Impact is the multiplier of accuracy. Either alone rarely changes outcomes; together, they drive decisions.

Future finance leaders won't be measured by how fast they build forecasts, but by whether they can turn forecasts into action. This requires more than modeling skills—it requires being a teacher, helping the business see the impact on the P&L; a challenger, asking questions others hesitate to ask; and a diplomat, balancing truth with trust so the message is heard.

When I mentor finance professionals, I tell them: accuracy gets you in the room, but impact keeps you there. Impact compounds—the more you use it, the more naturally people turn to finance for guidance. Over time, it's impact that builds the credibility needed to shape strategy at the highest levels.

Numbers don't speak for themselves—finance does. The future of FP&A will be written by those who use impact to turn accuracy into action.