A core aspect of financial planning & analysis (FP&A) is forecasting and budgeting. In this article, exposed are some of the more common myths so frequently accepted as truth within FP&A groups around the globe.
 

I would like to share my experience on my company’s journey towards a better budgeting process. I hope this will provide a starting point for fellow finance professionals to explore better ways to improve your own budget planning process.

One day in November, a worried operations manager for a transport company was preparing for a meeting with the group’s financial director. He’d been ordered to explain the overspending on his region’s fuel account for the first 10 months of the financial year. The variance was huge and the MD had hit the roof! There were many reasons for the variance.

The title of my LinkedIn profile is “Finance Influencer.”  My LinkedIn profile summary contains the titles of accountant, lecturer, and writer.  One could conclude that I do not need another title however a situation has arisen in which another title is necessary.  The situation is the criticism of budgets.  The criticism has presented an opportunity to assume the title of defender and as a defender I would like to defend budgets.

In this blog I take a broader view of new products and talk about how best to monitor progress post-launch when information is still a little sketchy, volumes are still very low and reporting mechanisms may not yet be fully in place.

During 2019 I have contributed articles to FP&A Trends that have addressed financial planning.  The articles have addressed financial planning from the perspectives of financial statements, fields of study, and business functions.  The purpose of addressing financial planning from these perspectives is to provide insights into usage. Usage of financial planning is important because it begins a process of improving financial health.  Improving financial health can be achieved when finance professionals use financial planning.