This series of articles focuses on blowing up this stereotype by demonstrating how Finance in general and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) in particular can change its language, use the right part of the brain to throw light on the most important business drivers, revive figures and make them tell a story that is easy to perceive and take action on. 

Knowing your numbers is a good starting point for an FP&A professional. But it is also required to know how to present the findings to others.

We are all storytellers in a sense but FP&A stories need particular skills to be great. In an era led by technology, data and automation, where do the stories fit? How will the FP&A stories of the future be told? What are the skills needed to be a great FP&A storyteller? 

On 28th January 2020, more than 35 senior finance professionals gathered in the heart of Geneva to discuss “Best Practices in FP&A Storytelling”. This was followed two days later by a similar event by the Zurich FP&A Board.
 

Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard is a familiar concept, still widely used today, often falling to FP&A or Strategic Planning teams to create and then monitor. This process can be very challenging and problematic to deliver. This blog focuses on some practical observations and tips regarding the implementation of a scorecard, designed to help you get buy-in from the rest of the organisation.

The 25th London FP&A Board Meeting was brought together 25 Financial Planning and Analytics specialists to discuss some of the biggest trends in the industry.