The Future of Finance Requires Data Access and Autonomy

The line between finance and data has always been blurry.

Finance teams have always worked closely with IT and data teams. As the stewards of business performance, finance depends on data to model the future, track the present, and report on the past.

However, somewhere along the way, the relationship shifted from collaboration to dependency. Finance became a “requestor,” filing tickets and waiting on numbers that may or may not arrive in time. Meanwhile, IT and data teams are overwhelmed—fielding demands from every corner of the business while maintaining systems, pipelines, and governance. Through no fault of their own, they’ve become a bottleneck to the very teams they aim to support.

The result? Finance is often stuck in a queue. Not because their work isn’t important, but because the current model treats them as consumers of data, rather than producers of insight.

Finance is a data team (it just doesn’t look like one)

Finance teams aren’t just reporting on the numbers, they’re generating insight from them.

Modern finance teams are building forecasts, modeling pricing strategies, and advising on business direction. They’re pulling data from multiple systems, shaping it for analysis, and making high-stakes decisions based on what it tells them.

That’s data work.

But unlike traditional data teams, finance often lacks direct access to the tools and infrastructure that make this work scalable. Instead of querying a central source of truth, they’re working across spreadsheets, dashboards, and exports—manually stitching together information just to answer foundational questions. Even simple requests can be delayed by slow, overburdened processes.

The skillset is there. What’s missing is the autonomy to operate independently.

The price of waiting for data

When finance teams don’t have direct access to their data, momentum slows. And the longer teams wait for data, the more they’re forced to work around it: duplicating effort, questioning accuracy, and relying on manual processes that increase risk and reduce confidence.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

When finance teams lack autonomy and must rely on queued support from centralized data teams, innovation slows and insights suffer.

Gartner predicts that 64% of CFOs expect autonomous finance to be a reality within six years—where finance operates independently, with real-time access to the data it needs. But getting there requires a shift: finance must fully step into its role as a data team, unhindered by silos and legacy processes.

The message is clear: finance already acts like a data team. But without direct access to data, definitions, and the tools to move quickly, it’s held back.

What can finance teams do?

The good news? Finance teams don’t need a reorg or a bigger headcount to work differently. They already have the analytical skills, the business context, and the strategic mindset to lead. What’s missing is the infrastructure to support that leadership.

By taking ownership of how data is accessed, defined, and used, finance teams can:

• Reduce reliance on data teams for everyday reporting and metric definitions
• Increase confidence in the numbers by standardizing core logic across systems
• Spend less time gathering data and more time analyzing it
• Drive faster, more strategic decision-making across the business

And here’s the important part: this isn’t just a win for finance. It’s a win for data teams too.

When finance teams are equipped to operate with more autonomy, data teams are freed from constant ad hoc requests. It’s not about bypassing the data team; it’s about empowering finance to move faster (without creating more work for anyone else).

The Bottom Line: Empowering finance is good for business

Finance teams are already doing the work of a data team. What they need now is the autonomy to operate like one.

Empowering finance with the right tools reduces friction, improves accuracy, and frees up your data teams to focus on what they do best.

The future of finance is autonomous. And it starts by treating finance like the data team it already is.

Preql empowers modern finance teams

Preql is the enterprise data platform built for modern finance teams. We give finance the tools to centralize their data, define key metrics, and power reports, all without relying on engineering or data teams.

Learn more at www.preql.com