In this uncertain environment, FP&A professionals need to reconsider their approaches to forecasting and revenue management. It is very important to incorporate Machine Learning into these finance processes.

This paper covers the findings of our sixth annual FP&A Trends Survey, where we share the trends and challenges facing FP&A departments around the world. The survey was performed at a time where organisations were looking to recover from the pandemic when many were trying to figure out how to operate in a changed business world.

Fortunately, an increasing number of organisations have come to embrace what IFP&A can offer. These people ‘step outside the box' and create solutions that are both innovative and that help management to improve organisational performance.

The benefits of measuring seasonality of accuracy are that users can plan high/low scenarios for each prediction based on the season-specific range of possibilities.  Departments can adjust how much capacity, safety stock, or cash reserves are needed based on their own worst case.  And it's easier to determine missing factors for model improvement when you focus on adding predictors to the high noise areas of the model.

As Einstein said, “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”  This survey we believe offers hope, insight, and a much-needed reality check on where FP&A is today.  It also forecasts what needs to happen for FP&A teams to develop their best practices from theory into reality. 

A recent FP&A Trends Webinar focused on how to master rolling forecasts and how they can revamp the way an organisation works. This article summarises this insightful meeting, interactive polling questions and compelling discussions.