Most finance platforms keep the numbers locked inside spreadsheets.
Finance sees one version. Sales and marketing wait for updates. Everyone else builds plans based on outdated assumptions.
But what if your finance platform worked like a shared workspace where every team sees the same live numbers, and can act on them right away?
Runway is built for that. It’s collaborative from day one. Finance, marketing, and sales all work from the same platform, and the same real-time data.
No more version control issues.
No more chasing numbers across teams.
Just one model, and a single source of truth.
Why a shared finance platform actually matters
Traditional tools slow teams down. When only finance has the numbers, every decision stalls.
Marketing plans campaigns but can’t see the return on ad spend in real time, so budgets sit on hold. Sales hits quota but can’t tie wins to pipeline health. Operations scopes headcount without a clear view of run rate.
Modern finance platforms such as Runway change the story. Everyone gets real-time visibility. Marketing checks budget instantly. Sales tracks pipeline effects on forecasts. Every department uses the same, always-updated numbers.
With live integrations across 750+ systems—including NetSuite, Salesforce, QuickBooks, HubSpot, and Google Sheets—every team sees what’s happening, as it happens.
The right interface keeps teams engaged. When financial tools are easy and enjoyable, more people use the data. That builds a culture where financial clarity shapes every decision.
Let’s look at what that means for each team.
Finance team: owning the big picture
Finance needs the full view and the details. Runway gives finance teams the ability to build, test, and share forecasts as fast as the business moves.
Runway's forecasting tools make collaboration feel like Google Docs: teammates edit models together, add notes, and keep track of every change—all while controlling access.
Meet Sarah. She's a finance manager at a fast-growing SaaS startup. She used to spend hours updating forecasts, then more time explaining them. Now, her models update automatically as data streams in from Salesforce, QuickBooks, and HR.
When marketing wants to double its budget, she runs the cash impact in seconds. When sales updates their pipeline, her forecast adjusts automatically. No fire drills. No manual cleanup. Just a live model of the business.
Revenue forecasting and budget oversight
Revenue forecasting gets better when everyone contributes. Sarah's sales team updates the pipeline in Salesforce, which updates her models. Marketing shares campaign data, and customer acquisition cost projections adjust themselves.
No more quarterly-only reviews. Sarah runs live forecasts. When a client churns or a big deal closes, the entire financial view updates at once. She can test scenarios:
- Hiring two more engineers
- Series A delayed by three months
- Spending more on marketing
The impact is visible right away—across runway, burn, and margin.
Expense management and cost control
Expense tracking in context is key. Sarah creates alerts when marketing spend nears its limit. The marketing team sees these in their dashboard—no waiting for a separate report.
Sales wants to attend a pricey conference? Sarah models it instantly. She shows how it fits the budget, and which expenses may need to move. Instead of asking “can we afford this?” the discussion becomes “here’s how we make it happen.”
Marketing team: spending smarter
Marketing makes spending decisions daily. Should you increase Facebook spend? Launch a new campaign? Hire a designer? With real-time impact insights, these choices get easier.
Meet Mike, a marketing manager. He used to chase finance for every update. Now, he opens Runway and sees:
- Budget remaining
- Campaign performance vs. cost-per-acquisition targets
- Forecast impact if he reallocates spend
When a Google Ads campaign beats expectations, Mike doesn’t wait till next month. He models a 50% budget increase and sends the projection to Sarah in finance. Together, they can see how conversion rates affect customer lifetime value and profitability.
Aligning campaign spend with forecasts
Marketing moves fast, but spending needs to fit reality. Mike’s team launches campaigns based on budget, but also knows what’s coming up.
If finance spots a possible cash flow issue in Q3, Mike gets notified immediately. He shifts spend, moves campaigns, or finds new channels. The entire team stays in sync, and avoids surprises.
Collaborative reporting for sharper insights
Marketing insights work best when connected to outcomes. Mike tracks cost-per-lead. Sarah tracks lifetime value. Together, they spot the most profitable channels.
Marketing reviews now include real impact—not just top-level stats. They see how brand campaigns affect big deals and how content drives retention. That means better strategy and smarter spending.
Sales team: moving faster with real-time insight
Sales needs to hit the number. They also need to see how today’s deals shape tomorrow’s business. Real-time financial visibility helps them prioritize and act fast.
Lisa runs sales. She used to wait for monthly rollups. Now she gets:
- Live pipeline health
- Conversion rates by stage
- How current deals impact cash flow
When a prospect asks for a big discount, Lisa models the revenue and commission impact in minutes. She partners with finance to lock a price that works across teams.
Real-time pipeline tracking
Pipeline visibility goes beyond single deals. Lisa tracks how her team's pipeline feeds forecasts. If enterprise deals slow down but mid-market is ahead, she can reassign resources on the spot.
The CRM feeds into financial projections. When a deal moves, finance sees it right away. Hiring plans and expense budgets can shift in real time.
Up-to-date targets and commission structures
Sales comp is most effective when it matches company goals. Lisa's team sees commissions change with profitability and cash flow needs.
If cash flow is key, annual contracts get priority—and commissions reflect it right away. Sales reps see new targets and plans immediately.
Beyond finance, sales, and marketing
A modern finance platform doesn’t stop at the core teams.
- HR uses headcount data to plan roles against runway
- Ops models vendor scenarios
- Founders generate board-ready reports in seconds
Everyone works from the same set of numbers. That’s what makes the whole system faster and smarter.
Building a finance-first culture where every team plans from the same playbook
The real power? All teams working from the same source of truth:
- Marketing finds a campaign that can scale
- Sales sees the same pipeline growth
- Finance models the cash flow and profitability impact
Teams move fast together. Marketing increases spend, sales adjusts focus, and finance updates forecasts. Decisions take hours, not weeks.
"It’s about more than just saving time. With Runway, spotting trends is easier. Now we can more efficiently tell stakeholders what number a metric’s going to be and why." — Derek Ou-Ponticelli, CFO at AngelList.
Collaboration drives strategic planning. Expanding to new markets? Every team brings the data.
- Marketing estimates customer acquisition cost
- Sales projects pipeline growth and win rates
- Operations scopes support and resourcing
- Finance integrates the model and flags tradeoffs
Kit’s success story shows what happens when everyone sees how their work moves the numbers:
"I dropped a link to our open books page in Runway. I had ten questions, and I grouped the company into small teams. They had to answer things like, ‘what was the net income for October?’ and ‘which team was responsible for the most variance?’. There was one team that missed just one question. It was pretty cool." - Anthony Wakim, Kit Head of Finance.
That’s how you build a finance-first culture.
Frequently asked questions
Which finance platform helps the whole company work together?
Runway is built for collaboration. Unlike traditional tools, anyone can use it. Marketing, sales, ops—the whole team gets the info they need, no finance degree needed.
How do marketing, sales, and finance get live financial data?
Runway connects with over 750+ systems, from CRMs to accounting, HRIS, and data warehouses. Every team gets a real-time dashboard, showing the most relevant metrics. No manual exports or delays.
What's the best way to get every team (marketing, sales, finance, HR) aligned?
Shared financial data brings teams together. Marketing sees budget limits. Sales tracks revenue impact. Operations models cost needs. With Runway, everyone works together on plans—just like editing a shared doc.
See how Runway brings teams together in real time
Great business decisions happen when every team knows the numbers behind their work. Runway makes this easy—with a finance platform that’s simple to use, whether you’re in finance, marketing, sales, or anywhere else.
Give every department the visibility they need to move faster and smarter.
Book a demo and see how Runway brings everyone together, on the same page.