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In both sport and finance, data has enhanced and changed performance levels like never before.
For organisations like Triathlon Ireland, The National Governing Body for Triathlon and Multisport in Ireland, data plays a vital role across the entire organisation, from managing financial operations and reporting to understandingparticipation trends and athlete performance.
But purely having access to data isn’t enough. The real value comes from turning this information into clear, actionable insight that help to shape strategy and inform powerful and impactful decisions.
With AccountsIQ as its official Finance and Insights Partner, Triathlon Ireland is strengthening how it captures, visualises and uses data across the organisation. Alongside streamlining financial workflows and reporting, the collaboration also supports initiatives like My Tri Ranking Ireland, giving athletes clearer insight into their performance and progression in the sport.
In this guest Q&A, we speak with Eric Harmon, Financial Controller at Triathlon Ireland, and Roisin MacCarthy, National Events Co-ordinator and International Age Group Manager, about the role better insights play in improving financial visibility, supporting participation initiatives, and helping the organisation make better decisions.
Financial visibility and decision-making
With Eric Harmon, Financial Controller
Q: From a finance perspective, what reporting challenges did Triathlon Ireland face before introducing dashboards?
EH: Before introducing dashboards, a lot of our financial data was spread across multiple systems and spreadsheets. This meant a significant amount of time was spent manually compiling reports, particularly at month-end. It was difficult to get a quick, consolidated view of budgets or programme spend, and responding to queries from leadership or the board often required pulling information together from different sources, which wasn’t always efficient.
Q: How has having a financial dashboard changed the way you access and use information day-to-day?
EH: Having a financial dashboard has completely changed how we access and use information day-to-day. We now have real-time visibility of key financial metrics, which makes it much easier to monitor budgets, funding streams, and programme spend. It has also significantly reduced the time spent compiling reports, allowing the team to focus more on analysing the data and supporting decision-making.
Q: In a national sporting organisation, financial decisions often connect closely with programme performance. How does clearer financial visibility support better planning across the organisation?
EH: In a national sporting organisation, financial visibility is critical to ensuring resources are aligned with strategic priorities. Having clearer, real-time insight into budgets and programme spend allows us to monitor how funding is being allocated across different initiatives and make more informed decisions around where to invest. It also gives leadership greater confidence in the data when planning, ensuring decisions are based on accurate and up-to-date information.
Q: What advice would you give other sporting organisations looking to get more value from their financial data?
EH: My advice would be to focus on getting your financial data structured and consistent first, as that’s the foundation for everything else. Once that’s in place, dashboards can really help simplify what can often be complex reporting and make information far more accessible across the organisation. It’s about moving away from static reports and towards real-time insight that can actually support decision-making.
Using data to support participation and development
With Roisin MacCarthy – National Events Co-ordinator and International Age Group Manager
Q: From a participation and development perspective, how important is access to reliable data?
RM: Access to reliable data is fundamental to how we understand and grow the sport. It gives us a clear picture of how people are engaging, how often they race, where participation is strong, and where there are gaps.
This is essential in supporting a diverse membership across clubs, age groups, and abilities. It also plays an important role in supporting key initiatives such as Women in Sport, youth and junior development programmes, as well as wider inclusion initiatives, where understanding participation trends helps us ensure we are reaching and supporting target groups.
From an organisational perspective, it strengthens how we demonstrate impact, whether that’s to Sport Ireland, funding bodies, or commercial partners. It allows us to clearly evidence where participation is growing, where investment is needed, and what programmes are delivering results—helping to guide long-term planning and investment across the sport.
Q: How can clearer visibility into participation and programme data help shape better decisions?
RM: Clearer visibility allows us to make more targeted decisions that support progression and participation at every level. It gives us a clearer view of where participation is strong and where it’s dropping off, whether that’s by region, club, age group, or type of event. That helps us spot growth opportunities but also address areas where engagement may be lower.
Data also allows us to evaluate what is actually working. Whether it’s a participation initiative, a development programme, or a specific event series, we can track impact in real time and make more informed decisions.
From a planning perspective, it supports more effective allocation of resources and investment, ensuring that we are focusing on the areas that will have the greatest impact.
It also gives us a more complete view of the sport, allowing us to track progress over time and take a more structured, long-term approach to development.
Q: Initiatives like My Tri Ranking give athletes access to their own performance data. How important is visibility like this for engagement within the triathlon community – has it changed in recent years?
RM: In recent years, access to individual performance data has become a key driver of engagement in triathlon.
Through My Tri Ranking, athletes can now track their progress across events, compare performances, and see how they are improving over time. That creates a much stronger connection to the sport, as athletes are not just participating, but actively engaging with their development.
It also broadens engagement beyond traditional competition structures. Athletes can see how they compare across different races, across both domestic events and international championships, and benchmark themselves against higher-level performances, which adds another layer of motivation.
We’ve seen that this visibility supports initiatives like the Triathlon and Duathlon National Series and Irish rankings, while also encouraging more consistent participation. It also drives greater engagement with event and post-event content across our platforms, as athletes actively follow results, rankings, and updates across our website and social channels.
Overall, it strengthens athlete engagement by providing a clear view of progression, positioning within the sport, and connection to the wider triathlon community.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you see data and insights continuing to support the growth of Triathlon Ireland?
RM: Looking ahead, data and insights will be central to how we deliver sustainable growth across the sport.
It gives us a much clearer understanding of how people are engaging - from event participation and membership trends to how clubs are activating their communities and how athletes progress through the sport. That visibility allows us to identify where participation is strong, where there are gaps, and where we can create more opportunities to support growth.
It also ensures that our approach to development, planning, and investment is evidence-based. Whether we are supporting event structures, strengthening clubs, or delivering targeted initiatives such as Women in Sport, youth, and inclusion programmes, we can better understand what is working and where we can drive meaningful growth.
This drives long-term participation, strengthens retention, and supports the continued development of triathlon across Ireland.
Turning data into actionable insight
For Triathlon Ireland, improving visibility across financial and operational data is helping the organisation move beyond simply collecting information to truly understanding it.
From financial dashboards that support better governance and planning, to participation insights that guide the development of the sport, clearer reporting is enabling smarter decisions across the organisation.
By combining strong financial systems with meaningful performance data, Triathlon Ireland is building a stronger foundation for both organisational performance and athlete success.
Read the full Triathlon Ireland case study, and hear from Eric Harmon on the organisation’s financial transformation with AccountsIQ.
