In this article, Niels van Hove argues that while effective integrated FP&A can thrive in the right company culture, the FP&A process itself can influence and shape that culture. He calls for FP&A leaders to articulate goals that include clear expectations on behaviours. Doing so will not only improve effectiveness but also enable FP&A to play an active role in improving employee attitudes and satisfaction.

There are three critical roles in every balanced FP&A Team: the Architect, the Analyst, the Story Teller.  How balanced is your FP&A organisation? 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics that represent how various drivers of the business are performing. These drivers are often both financial and operational in nature. And while there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to choosing the "right" metrics for your business it is critical that the data used be consistent and accurate.

FP&A establishes the foundation for thinking and learning about how processes affect outcomes.  These actions can be guided by broad and narrow framing.  In order for FP&A to add value toward these actions, it must take an active role in establishing a framework through the chart of accounts. 

There is evidence that FP&A interest is growing fast. Each and every day, CFOs feel the pressure building on the finance function to contribute more to business success. Within the CFO’s organization, the responsibility for tracking, assessing and reporting corporate performance normally falls to the Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) group.

As most forecasting methods require data, a forecaster analyzes the availability of data from both external and internal sources. The availability of external data is improving rapidly. With the explosion of Internet websites, potential sources of valuable data are becoming limitless. With unstructured data, the need for data mining tools has become a necessity for exploring potential sources of data for consumer analyses and predictive modelling purposes.