Organisations are finding it increasingly hard to plan or predict future performance due to the fast pace and complexity engendered by today's global, online business environment. And yet, within the vast quantities of data. available to management, there are tell-tale trends and correlations that reveal valuable insights to the direction they should take to maximise results.
The Physics of Wall Street by James Owen Weatherall is an interesting story about the influence of physics in finance. FP&A practitioners can find material in this book to help them improve their work. For me three areas of the book serve as meaningful reference material.
For quite some time CFOs and the finance community have been talking about transforming the finance function, becoming better business partners and focusing on the value-add, strategic activities. At the core of that transformation is FP&A, as activities like business planning, business unit strategy, investment allocation and predictive analytics become important to fulfil finance’s new, expanded position within the company.
A couple of weeks ago I joined the meeting of the Amsterdam FP&A Board where we discussed the subject of the FP&A analytical transformation. In the course of the meeting the participants mentioned their current main concerns, some of which such as Data ownership, Data quality, and Business Glossary (‘Speaking the same language’). This surprised me.
For progressive and competitive organizations of all sizes, accessing smarter, leaner and faster information to drive a successful business strategy can only be achieved with real-time insights into their customer’s needs and buying behaviours.
The inaugural London FP&A Circle meeting took place less than two weeks following the UK vote for Brexit. In this dramatically transformed business environment the role of FP&A is more important than ever in helping to manage the value of the company. In undertaking this task, the analytical maturity of the company is very important.