There is no lack of discussion about the skill sets that FP&A professionals need throughout their careers to be successful; even a cursory search on the Internet would provide a wealth of resources. Broadly speaking, those articles focus on four areas of skills:
By Andrew Codd, Founder and Lead Producer of The Strength In The Numbers Show
The author Andrew Codd is the producer of the Strength in the Numbers Podcast which interviews real finance practitioners to break down their hard-won lessons and deconstruct their practical methods that work on the job and which you won't typically find in textbooks or exams so that we create more influential finance professionals worldwide who solve meaningful problems for their organisations and in return have fun, rewarding and successful careers in finance. Summer, along with the odd rain shower, means that for those of us with lawns, we find ourselves more regularly mowing them, but why do we mow them in the first place, and what can that teach us in FP&A about better influencing others?
I have been thinking long and hard about what I need to do to stay relevant as a finance professional for the next ten, twenty, or thirty years, and after hours of research I want to share my thoughts and views on the skills future finance professionals will need in this ever-changing technology driven era.
“You cannot connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking back”, as Steve Jobs famously quoted. A key challenge to the accountancy profession, well any profession to that matter, is how to look forward and be more proactive, not constantly looking back and reacting.
Working in FP&A is one of the most dynamic & challenging careers in the finance and business world. It appears that FP&A professionals wear multiple hats, performing tasks of a master of communication, a strategic leader, a resource allocator as well as a positive influencer. However, nowadays we experience a lack of mature theories and models facilitating FP&A professionals’ development.
Will You Be a Relevant FP&A Professional 5-10 Years from Now?
Yes, you will stay relevant by keeping your employer relevant. Now work backwards which comes instinctively natural for you — how will you do that?
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