How do you, as CFO, foster a culture of innovation within your finance team? Share one specific practice or initiative that has encouraged creative problem-solving.

Question

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, innovation is key to staying ahead of the curve. This article explores practical strategies for fostering creativity and forward-thinking within finance teams. Drawing on insights from industry experts, these approaches offer a blueprint for transforming traditional finance roles into dynamic, problem-solving powerhouses.

Brian Chasin · Answer

My approach to innovation is rooted in deal structuring and feasibility analysis, so I encourage my finance team to think like developers. We run quarterly "opportunity sprints," where analysts review underperforming assets or reimbursement bottlenecks and pitch a restructured solution, as if they were sourcing a new site. One pitch led to reclassifying a property zone to allow transitional housing, unlocking a new revenue stream. These sprints shift the team's mindset from reactive to opportunistic. It's not about balance sheets; it's about building. I've found that when finance professionals are treated as strategists, they start thinking like entrepreneurs.

Karen Sampolski · Answer

In a business setting, innovation starts with resourcefulness. At Viking Roofing, I initiated "Financial Fridays," where every team member, from bookkeeper to junior analyst, brings one operational inefficiency they've observed and proposes a fix. No idea is dismissed for being too small. One of our biggest wins came from an apprentice who spotted a pattern in supplier overcharges, leading to a renegotiated contract and 12% savings. Giving the team ownership over improvements transforms routine number crunching into problem-solving. This initiative doesn't just boost margins; it strengthens pride and accountability. In a small company, innovation isn't flashy; it's practical and constant.

Jonathan Orze · Answer

At InGenius Prep, innovation isn't a buzzword; it's a survival skill. To embed that mindset in finance, I started a monthly rotation called "walk-a-mile." Each finance team member spends half a day shadowing another department: admissions, tech, or marketing. They return with a short proposal for one change we can make on our side to ease a bottleneck or enhance collaboration. It's been a game-changer. One staffer helped admissions reduce refund lag by flagging a system loophole we wouldn't have caught from a spreadsheet. Innovation happens when context expands. These short immersions sharpen empathy, and with it, foresight.

Peter Lai · Answer

At Engage Wellness, innovation isn't siloed within tech upgrades; it emerges at the crossroads of departments. One initiative I launched was embedding financial analysts directly into cross-functional care teams during key strategic reviews. Their role wasn't to audit, but to absorb context: why certain treatments were prioritized, how patient flow influenced staffing, and where delays formed. From this exposure, our team built a predictive modeling tool that aligned reimbursement projections with clinical complexity. It didn't just enhance accuracy; it reshaped how we think about risk. By placing finance where care decisions are made, we turned our team into interpreters of both numbers and nuance.

Jonathan Stern · Answer

At Momenta Finance, one of the most effective ways we've fostered innovation within the finance team is by focusing on improving the accuracy and timeliness of borrowing base reporting, which is critical to managing group liquidity.
We made it a priority for the finance team to work closely with credit and operations to tighten how we track and report eligible, qualified, and defaulted assets. This collaboration helped identify gaps, such as delays in updating asset performance data and inconsistencies in eligibility criteria across products. By standardizing inputs and integrating live data feeds into our borrowing base calculations, we've reduced manual adjustments and improved the reliability of our liquidity forecasts.
The knock-on effect has been significant: improved borrowing base visibility has allowed us to draw more confidently against facilities, avoid idle cash buffers, and plan group funding needs with greater precision. This initiative has also encouraged the team to challenge old processes and suggest further automation opportunities, embedding a mindset of continuous improvement.

5 Ways to Foster Innovation in Your Finance Team

5 Ways to Foster Innovation in Your Finance Team

Quarterly Opportunity Sprints Foster Entrepreneurial Thinking

Financial Fridays Empower Team Problem-Solving

Walk-a-Mile Rotations Expand Finance Team Perspective

Embedding Analysts in Care Teams Enhances

Collaborative Borrowing Base Reporting Drives Improvement