As the CEO of Reach Reporting, Justin Hatch has met countless business owners struggling to understand their financial data. However, the pain point of data comprehension has created an opportunity for savvy financial professionals to differentiate their services and compete in the rapidly changing landscape of accounting. In this article, Justin provides tips on how accountants can incorporate data storytelling into their business strategy to significantly impact their clients.

What is Data Storytelling?

Data storytelling is more than just data visualization, analytics, or a handful of stats sitting in a spreadsheet, dashboard, or report. It’s a compelling narrative developed on accurate data, used to provide valuable information to clients, reveal exciting trends, and support positive decision-making.

To effectively incorporate data storytelling, a plan is necessary, including good data, synthesis, a narrative, data visualization, and energy. For accountants, data storytelling enhances the ability to communicate financial insights more effectively, creating a more significant impact on clients while developing their firm’s role as an essential part of their clients’ businesses.

How Can Accountants Use Data Storytelling?

Data storytelling is vital for accountants to differentiate their services, enhance client touch-points, and increase referrals. Accountants can incorporate data storytelling into their reporting strategy to provide meaning and value to clients. By bringing together the human element and complex data, accountants can help businesses navigate their industries and make confident, informed decisions.

To make financial reports essential, accountants need to provide clients with context and help them synthesize complex data effectively. By blending storytelling and data visualization, accountants can appeal to their clients’ analytical and emotional sides, making financial data more accessible, understandable, and engaging. Encouraging engagement can create clients that actively utilize and synthesize the data provided, making them more confident in their financial decision-making.

How Will Storytelling Improve Your Firm?

Data storytelling builds loyalty by providing easily understood reports that focus on growing clients’ businesses rather than leaving them more confused. Data storytelling also demonstrates the value of a firm’s services and provides a unique offering that other firms are not currently providing. By increasing referrals, accountants can gain more clients and become more essential to their clients’ financial strategy.

Data storytelling is the future of accounting, and innovative accounting firms will learn to master this medium. By incorporating data storytelling into their strategy and utilizing the Reach Reporting app, accountants can transform complex data into actionable insights, differentiate their services, and become more essential to their clients’ financial strategy. Start experimenting now with Reach Reporting getting a demo, seeing and sample reports, then creating financial reports that truly tell your clients’ stories.