Finance Business Partnering is not a new concept to the many who have been doing it for years. What is new is that it has recently been given a new exciting title, and with that comes the fear that accountants and finance professionals need to be doing something new and in addition to their current duties. And that they need to find time for it.

Do you believe cross-functional projects help in improving FP&A Business Partners’ interpersonal skills, strengthening their relationships with stakeholders and increasing their business acumen? To answer these questions, I would like to share the below business case from my experience in working at a global FMCG company.

The essence of the FP&A role is about helping to enhance the decision quality of the organisation. It measures this by reporting on, analysing and planning for the financial performance of the organisation. And it does this by partnering effectively with the business. This article focuses on the HOW FP&A practitioners could approach their work.

Setting targets and defining KPIs is one of the key tasks of FP&A professionals. Defining KPIs is tricky. When properly done they can really drive performance, but sometimes it is the other way around. We see this in the following practical example of the application of the Logical Thinking Process methodology for problem solving. 

Today’s world is characterized by information overload and attention deficit. The amount of data being created, processed, and hence available is exploding. More data was created in the last 2 years than was created since the beginning of humankind. 

Matthias Thurner, Chief Technology Officer, Unit4 Prevero, shares his vision about how AI influences FP&A.