When is finance a connector?
Part of our Finance Forum mini-series
With Donald Ewing, Head of Commercial Finance at National Gas
If you still picture finance as “the team of no,” this episode flips the script. National Gas’s Donald Ewing argues that modern finance is less about gatekeeping and month-end packs and more about connecting the business, reading the room, and helping leaders make sharper decisions in real time.
From “no with a smile” to business connector
Donald acknowledges the old stereotype: finance as controllers who “often say no—with a smile.” That’s changed. Today, the function sits in the senior meetings where decisions get made and sees across silos, giving it a unique vantage point. He calls that vantage point a superpower:
“You see much more of the business than you do working in other departments… that privilege… can be used as a connector… to bring people together.”
A standout story: while working on an acquisition, he sensed the board’s risk appetite had shifted. Finance reframed the deal from growth to income protection, and the pitch cleared the line. That’s the connector role in action—translating mood, risk and numbers into strategy.
Walk in their shoes (literally)
To build credibility, Donald is a fan of leaving the spreadsheet and joining the work. He describes a pre-dawn ride-along with field “gangs” fixing water leaks in winter. Seeing customer pain, tech constraints and process friction firsthand changed his reporting: shorter, on-the-move formats and concrete improvements. The lesson: empathy makes the numbers land.
Storytelling beats “lazy reporting”
Donald’s pet peeve is the classic line: “Costs are 10% over budget.” Technically true; strategically useless. He advocates a journalist’s inverted pyramid for board writing:
Lead with the headline and actions.
Add essential context.
Push the nice-to-haves to the bottom.
Pair that with interactive reviews (think Power BI in the room) so leaders can drill, ask “why,” and co-own the conclusion. Finance knows the numbers; the business should drive the discussion.
AI as the new analyst (and time-giver)
In one of the episode’s most practical moments, Donald drops a real-world AI win. Faced with a dense share purchase agreement, he dumped the document into an AI tool and asked it to flag key risks. It confirmed what he’d seen and surfaced a new wording issue—fast:
“It was phenomenal, really really powerful.”
The point isn’t novelty. It’s time. With grunt work handled, finance can spend more energy connecting dots and shaping decisions.
“Rip up month-end”
Okay, the grenade. Donald would bin traditional month-end packs—static PDFs produced on a lag that report “old news.” Instead, he wants rolling, scenario-based conversations: What just happened? What could happen next? What will we do if it does? Tech (and AI) can automate the mechanics so humans focus on choices and course-corrections.
What makes a great finance partner?
Find the right yes. A CFO once told Donald the job isn’t to say no; it’s to say “yes, if…” That mindset builds trust and unlocks progress.
Coach the room. Guide leaders to their own conclusions with clear framing and interactive data.
Develop the people side. Many in finance are introverted by inclination; they still benefit from mentoring in challenge, storytelling and stakeholder language.
Play the long game on fundamentals. Donald’s advice to his younger self: take risks, innovate—and boringly nail the basics (double-entry, controls). Confidence and credibility start there.
Why this matters now
Volatility is the baseline: geopolitics, supply shocks, regulation, AI. In that noise, finance’s ability to calmly model scenarios, quantify trade-offs and connect functions becomes a competitive advantage. As Donald puts it, numbers are a language everyone speaks—use them to align action.
What he’s sharing at Finance Forum
Expect a “therapy session.” Rather than a tidy A-to-Z, Donald will walk through the mistakes he’s made across the M&A lifecycle—strategy, deal shaping, diligence, integration—what those misses cost, and how he’d run the “perfect” acquisition next time. Warts-and-all, highly applicable.
Memorable lines
“Finance kind of acts a little bit like Reggae, Reggae Sauce… add a bit and it sings.”
“The key to being a good business partner is not saying no—it’s finding the right yes.”
“I would totally rip up the month end process… I wouldn’t have month end anymore.”
“If you want to go far in finance you’ve got to boringly nail the basics.”
Listen for: practical AI use, a better way to write board papers, empathy in the field, and a bold challenge to the month-end ritual.
Perfect for: finance leaders, FP&A and business partners, non-finance execs who want to get more from their numbers—and anyone who’s ever been on the receiving end of a “no… with a smile.”
