9 OKR examples for Finance Department

What are Finance Department OKRs?

The Objective and Key Results (OKR) framework is a simple goal-setting methodology that was introduced at Intel by Andy Grove in the 70s. It became popular after John Doerr introduced it to Google in the 90s, and it's now used by teams of all sizes to set and track ambitious goals at scale.

Crafting effective OKRs can be challenging, particularly for beginners. Emphasizing outcomes rather than projects should be the core of your planning.

We've tailored a list of OKRs examples for Finance Department to help you. You can look at any of the templates below to get some inspiration for your own goals.

If you want to learn more about the framework, you can read more about the OKR meaning online.

Best practices for managing your Finance Department OKRs

Generally speaking, your objectives should be ambitious yet achievable, and your key results should be measurable and time-bound (using the SMART framework can be helpful). It is also recommended to list strategic initiatives under your key results, as it'll help you avoid the common mistake of listing projects in your KRs.

Here are a couple of best practices extracted from our OKR implementation guide 👇

Tip #1: Limit the number of key results

The #1 role of OKRs is to help you and your team focus on what really matters. Business-as-usual activities will still be happening, but you do not need to track your entire roadmap in the OKRs.

We recommend having 3-4 objectives, and 3-4 key results per objective. A platform like Tability can run audits on your data to help you identify the plans that have too many goals.

Tability's audit dashboard will highlight opportunities to improve OKRs

Tip #2: Commit to the weekly check-ins

Don't fall into the set-and-forget trap. It is important to adopt a weekly check-in process to get the full value of your OKRs and make your strategy agile – otherwise this is nothing more than a reporting exercise.

Being able to see trends for your key results will also keep yourself honest.

Tability's check-ins will save you hours and increase transparency

Tip #3: No more than 2 yellow statuses in a row

Yes, this is another tip for goal-tracking instead of goal-setting (but you'll get plenty of OKR examples below). But, once you have your goals defined, it will be your ability to keep the right sense of urgency that will make the difference.

As a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid having more than 2 yellow/at risk statuses in a row.

Make a call on the 3rd update. You should be either back on track, or off track. This sounds harsh but it's the best way to signal risks early enough to fix things.

Building your own Finance Department OKRs with AI

While we have some examples below, it's likely that you'll have specific scenarios that aren't covered here. There are 2 options available to you.

Use our free OKRs generator
Use Tability, a complete platform to set and track OKRs and initiatives
including a GPT-4 powered goal generator

Best way to track your Finance Department OKRs

The rules of OKRs are simple. Quarterly OKRs should be tracked weekly, and yearly OKRs should be tracked monthly. Reviewing progress periodically has several advantages:

It brings the goals back to the top of the mind
It will highlight poorly set OKRs
It will surface execution risks
It improves transparency and accountability

We recommend using a spreadsheet for your first OKRs cycle. You'll need to get familiar with the scoring and tracking first. Then, you can scale your OKRs process by using a proper OKR-tracking tool for it.

Tability's Strategy Map makes it easy to see all your org's OKRs

If you're not yet set on a tool, you can check out the 5 best OKR tracking templates guide to find the best way to monitor progress during the quarter.

Finance Department OKRs templates

We've covered most of the things that you need to know about setting good OKRs and tracking them effectively. It's now time to give you a series of templates that you can use for inspiration!

You will find in the next section many different Finance Department Objectives and Key Results. We've included strategic initiatives in our templates to give you a better idea of the different between the key results (how we measure progress), and the initiatives (what we do to achieve the results).

Hope you'll find this helpful!

OKRs to enhance leadership skills in the finance department

Enhance leadership skills in the finance department
Achieve a 20% increase in leadership competency scores in finance team evaluations
Implement regular feedback sessions to identify improvements
Arrange weekly leadership development workshops for the finance team
Incorporate mentorship programs with experienced leaders
Implement a weekly finance-focused leadership workshop for potential leaders
Schedule a consistent time for the weekly meetings
Invite potential leaders to participate in workshops
Identify relevant finance topics for weekly workshops
Identify and mentor 3 high-potential employees for leadership roles
Begin one-on-one mentoring sessions regularly
Identify three employees showing leadership potential
Develop personalized mentorship plans for each

Track these OKRs

OKRs to enhance finance department's risk management initiatives

Enhance finance department's risk management initiatives
Implement a comprehensive risk monitoring system by end of quarter
Select appropriate risk monitoring software
Train staff on system usage and reporting
Identify key risk factors for ongoing review
Achieve a 20% increase in risk management staff competency through targeted training programs
Develop targeted training programs addressing identified skill gaps
Implement training programs and assess staff competency improvements
Identify specific areas requiring competency improvement in risk management staff
Reduce operational errors by 25% through improved controls and processes
Evaluate and upgrade existing tools and systems
Implement stricter quality control measures
Conduct regular staff training on operational procedures

risk-management staff-competency risk-management-staff finance-department-manager finance-department quality-control-team

Track these OKRs

OKRs to enhance risk management in the finance department

Enhance risk management in the finance department
Decrease risk-related financial losses by 15%
Strengthen internal audit procedures
Provide staff training on risk management
Implement regular financial risk assessment strategies
Develop and train staff on 3 new risk mitigation strategies
Identify and outline 3 new risk mitigation strategies
Prepare a comprehensive training program around these strategies
Schedule and conduct training sessions for staff
Implement risk assessment tools to identify 20% more financial risks
Choose appropriate risk assessment tools
Train staff on proper tool usage
Monitor and measure effectiveness regularly

risk-management financial-risks finance-manager risk-management-officer finance-department risk-management-team

Track these OKRs

OKRs to reinforce innovation within the finance department operations

Reinforce innovation within the finance department operations
Implement 2 process improvement technologies enhancing efficiency by 25%
Research the best technologies for enhancing processes
Identify areas that need improvement for better efficiency
Implement selected technologies and monitor results
Achieve a 15% increase in departmental productivity from continuous improvement initiatives
Launch team-building exercises for improved collaboration
Implement workflow software to optimize daily operations
Conduct regular employee training sessions
Conduct 5 innovative idea sharing workshops leading to 10 actionable strategies
Identify topics and structure for 5 idea sharing workshops
Plan and conduct each workshop targeting innovative idea generation
Select and finalized 10 actionable strategies from generated ideas

process-improvements innovation financial-manager operations-manager finance-department operations-department

Track these OKRs

OKRs to optimize IT costs by reducing expenses by 20%

Reduce IT expenses by 20%
Analyze previous quarter expenses and identify areas for cost reduction
Determine cost-saving opportunities
Identify spending patterns
Review expenses
Implement cost reduction measures
Educate employees on cost-saving practices and enforce IT policies
Regularly remind staff of cost-cutting policies
Contain training sessions for IT policy adoption
Monitor employee compliance with IT policies and address non-compliance
Hold information sessions about cost-saving practices
Negotiate with vendors for better pricing
Research vendor's competitors and their rates
Highlight your previous purchasing history with them
Offer to sign a long-term contract for a discount
Ask for a volume discount based on the forecasted quantity
Implement solutions and track savings
Identify opportunities for cost reduction
Implement cost-saving solutions
Track and report realized savings
Prioritize solutions based on potential savings

it-costs expenses-reduction it-manager finance-director it-department finance-department

Track these OKRs

OKRs to ensure compliance and adaptability of Finance department for long-term success

Ensure compliance and adaptability of Finance department for long-term success
Identify and prioritize areas for automation and digitization within the Finance department
Implement updated financial policies and procedures to meet regulatory requirements
Revise and update financial policies and procedures to align with regulatory standards
Conduct a comprehensive review of existing financial policies and procedures
Identify gaps between existing policies and regulatory requirements
Communicate and train employees on the updated financial policies and procedures
Train all Finance department staff on new compliance protocols and best practices
Schedule a training session for all Finance department staff
Conduct role-playing exercises to practice implementing the best practices
Assess the knowledge and understanding of staff through a post-training evaluation
Develop training materials and resources for the new compliance protocols
Develop a roadmap for integrating emerging technologies to future-proof Finance operations

compliance digitization finance-manager regulatory-compliance-officer finance-department compliance-team

Track these OKRs

OKRs to bolster Finance Department's role in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drives

Bolster Finance Department's role in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drives
Implement a department-led CSR training program for 90% staff participation
Schedule and execute department-wide training sessions
Develop engaging, comprehensive training materials
Identify department leaders to oversee the CSR training program
Reduce paper usage in the finance department by 30% through digitization
Implement a digital document management system
Train staff on digital record-keeping methods
Replace paper invoices with e-billing systems
Allocate 15% of department fund towards supporting local charity organizations
Distribute calculated amount among local charities
Determine total amount of department fund
Calculate 15% of the total fund

corporate-social-responsibility digitization finance-department-staff department-leaders training-team digital-transition-team

Track these OKRs

OKRs to enhance financial operations for continuous improvement

Enhance financial operations for continuous improvement
Minimize financial waste by identifying and reducing unnecessary expenses by 5%
Implement strategies to cut identified expenses by 5%
Identify non-essential expenses across all categories
Analyze all financial statements for last one year
Implement at least two efficiency-improving process changes in the finance department
Research industry standards for efficient practices
Introduce technology to automate financial processes
Identify inefficiencies in current financial operations
Increase quarterly profits by at least 10%
Implement cost-saving measures throughout all departments
Develop and execute an aggressive sales strategy
Expand product or service offerings to generate revenue

financial-efficiency profit-increase financial-manager sales-strategist finance-department sales-department

Track these OKRs

OKRs to boost customer loyalty and satisfaction in finance department

Boost customer loyalty and satisfaction in finance department
Improve retention of high-value customers by 10%
Develop loyalty programs offering exclusive benefits to high-value customers
Provide regular personalized communication and top-tier customer service
Implement feedback sessions to understand and address their specific needs
Increase our customer satisfaction survey results by 20%
Enhance customer service training for better client interaction
Introduce loyalty programs or customer rewards
Implement customer feedback for improved product/service quality
Decrease customer complaint cases by 15%
Implement improved product/service quality checks
Introduce more effective communication systems for customers
Develop customer complaint response training for staff

customer-loyalty customer-satisfaction customer-service-manager quality-assurance-manager customer-service-team quality-assurance-team

Track these OKRs

More Finance Department OKR templates

We have more templates to help you draft your team goals and OKRs.

OKRs resources

Here are a list of resources to help you adopt the Objectives and Key Results framework.

To learn: Complete 2024 OKR cheat sheet
Blog posts: ODT Blog
Success metrics: KPIs examples