Finance and FP&A communities are regularly traversed by theoretical and generally hot discussions concerning few topics that are at the heart of FP&A processes. Analytics systems, business partnering and budget are currently among of the main one.

Q: What do motorists, composers, musicians, architects, engineers, and builders have, that FP&A professionals don't?

A: Read on...

The Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) function has become more prominent in the decision making process in most large organizations because of the emergence of BIG DATA (large volumes of unstructured and structured data). Today, most companies have access to vast amounts of data (financial and operational) and must figure out how to use it to drive growth and profitability.

Companies large and small spend countless hours every month developing, amending and updating the spreadsheets that measure performance and drive strategic decision-making. So it’s critical the data contained and output generated by these spreadsheets is timely, simple and above all, accurate.  But is it?

What ignited this article? I was talking with some upcoming college graduates from a similar background as myself. They were looking to go into corporate finance/financial planning & analysis (FP&A) after graduating from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. I shared with them lessons I learned from 10 years in the finance game.

A groundbreaking survey designed to benchmark current and emerging trends relative to how companies are leveraging technology and empowering FP&A professionals to unlock the strategic value of FP&A.