Transformation and new ways of working – the buzzwords that you hear a lot these days applied to business or IT functions. Are these concepts also suitable for finance, and especially finance in a stock listed large corporation? This article will describe this transformation and also outline the main success factors.

By gaining a deep understanding of the key performance drivers outside of finance, and by expanding its field of prescriptive action into all functions across the enterprise, FP&A can move the next level up and transform itself into an extended Finance & Analysis (xP&A) organisation. This article explores why many of us still think in silos and reasons why traditional business controlling should evolve into extended planning and analysis (xP&A).

Successful implementation of an FP&A software requires clarity on the selected tools, delivery methodology and business benefits that the solution aims to deliver. The six considerations set out below aim to improve success for FP&A implementation.

In the last years, the digital transformation had an accelerated impact not only on improving customer experience but also on financial planning and analysis (FP&A) processes. This article gives insights into an innovative finance investment controlling project recently created at Zalando. The project is a digital platform and process called internally “Investment App” developed in an agile approach, to supervise large capital expenditures across Zalando business units.

Irrespective of the industry you work in, I am sure all of you would have noticed a huge change in the way your business operates in the last decade. You may have seen competition from previously unforeseen competitors, your CIOs talking about new digital ways of doing business and the utter lack of ready talent in your teams to manage this new challenge.

Improving financial planning and analysis (FP&A) means investing in people and systems. It only takes three pages to design a process and identify new roles and responsibilities. This method is described in this article and has been used to introduce new financial processes and operational reports.