Some time ago, the FP&A Board in London saw members debate whether fancy business intelligence (BI) software tools are a wise or even necessary investment. The general consenus was that boardroom members often don’t want to see complicated graphs, instead preferring to see the numbers in a flat 2D table. “I’ve worked for a chief financial officer [CFO] who hated graphs,” said one senior FP&A professional. “As a finance person, he wanted numbers, not graphs. He even got his PA to print off a dynamic clickable dashboard I produced! A lot of a presentation depends upon who you are presenting to. I’ve certainly adapted my technique and tools depending upon who is listening.”
On 16th May 2017, 35 senior finance practitioners joined the fourth meeting of the Geneva FP&A Board. The representatives from such leading companies as Duracell, DXC, General Mills, Honeywell, Medtronic, Newell Brands, Nissan, PepsiCo, Procter and Gamble, The Economist, Tesco PLC, etc., gathered to discuss the latest trends in FP&A Business Partnering
On 20th April 2017, 20 FP&A professionals from such companies as Barclays, Coats, the Economist Group, Kraft Heinz, NetApp, Starbucks Coffee Company, Visa, etc., participated in the 16th London FP&A Board meeting.
Rolling Forecast can become the path leading to better company’s profitability and improved operating performance. This is a popular process in the FP&A world. Many companies tackle the idea of taking it.
In July 2017, I facilitated 5 meetings of the International FP&A Board in Asia and Australia. It was an amazing journey to 3 countries, 5 cities, and two continents. I was on the road for one month and met so many passionate FP&A professionals in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Every meeting was a great success.
At one of the previous meetings, The London FP&A Board addressed the technological requirements needed for effective FP&A. The well-known Chatham House anonymised rules were deployed to encourage a full and frank debate.