Using OKRs for finance and accounting is essential to business management. Money management is the lifeblood of any company, and without it, the company cannot cultivate its resources successfully. Here, we talk about OKR implementation specifically regarding the finance sector and its application of OKRs.
Finance and OKR Integration
Like any other business, financial departments benefit from OKRs. The strategy itself is incredibly versatile and can be tailored to meet the needs of any company goal. The rules are the same for any department. Keep your objectives and key results both specific and measurable. You want to think of your objectives as the overall picture and your key results as the pathway to get there. The variables are up to you.
Given that finance is the topic of this article, we have provided examples that illustrate common financial sector goals to give you an idea of OKR application. As you can see, each example provides a qualitative desire and a quantitative method to achieving that desire. By creating key results that contain numerical indications for success, we are more aware of exactly how well or how poor we are doing in achieving our objective. OKRs are a collection of smaller goals that work to achieve the overall victory. Employees from top to bottom levels are tasked with goals to turn these objectives into realities.
Some OKR Examples
These OKR examples, like all others, go from broad to specific.
Objective: Increase annual revenue by 25%
Key Results:
1). Bring up the quarterly revenue from 1 million to 2 million.
2). Increase pre-order sales for next quarter by 10%.
3). Increase cash flow by lowering expenses from 1.3 million down to 1.1 million.
Objective: Stabilize quarterly budget and financial projections
Key Results:
1). Complete business budget proposals before the new year
2). Approve the proposal before the final term
3). Achieve 50% satisfaction from the new budget plan by staff and suppliers.
Objective: Create and maintain financial strategy for five years
Key Results:
1). Hold a meeting to discuss strategy by end of quarter 1
2). Create milestone projections plan by end of quarter 2
3). Approve budget plan before new year
4). Create opportunities for bonuses via commission sales
Real-life OKR Application
You can take OKRs outside of business for clarification’s sake. If you want to lose ten pounds in three months, your key results would be how you plan to get there. Broken into steps, you could say something like, “lose x pounds every two weeks,” eat x number of calories each day, and burn x number of calories through daily jogging.” You have created key results that are measurable and specific. You can track these goals in a logbook and use your scale to determine if you met your ultimate goal, assuming you know your starting weight.
OKRs are all about setting intentions and making a plan of action broken down into tiny steps. From finance to fitness, it’s applicable for everyone.
