Throughout my two-decade career in finance within the FMCG sector, the FP&A function has evolved. Long gone are the days when FP&A could be judged solely by the quality and timeliness of reporting. With the pace of changes increasing, quick access to reliable performance insights has become a non-negotiable factor. For modern FP&A, besides being proficient in core finance skills, it is vital to possess strong leadership abilities that allow one to influence various groups of stakeholders and lead and inspire colleagues. Those soft skills are a key differentiation between someone who plays a support role and a true business partner. 

Key Aspects of Modern FP&A

In the current business landscape, FP&A is expected to take full ownership of data and analytics, integrating inputs from across the organisation to craft a cohesive performance narrative that reflects past insights while highlighting future risks and opportunities. One key way FP&A professionals drive a company’s success is by integrating non-financial data and input KPIs, uncovering their relationships with output financial metrics. FP&A plays a key role both in regular and strategic performance management, analysing short-term indicators (e.g., current year vs last year) and long-term trends (5-10 years horizon).

Another crucial aspect of FP&A is storytelling. Facts communicated in a clear, concise and compelling manner, tailored to the specific stakeholder or audience needs, can have a disproportionate impact. In the era of information overload and short attention spans, it is critical to present information in a structured and visually appealing way. A layered approach to reviews can be applied. The initial focus falls on key findings and recommendations. Each specific area can then be unpacked further. This method directs stakeholders to key takeaways that need to be examined before a decision is made.

Leading Information Management

One practical example of FP&A business partnering, where FP&A leads an important initiative for the whole company, lies in the information management area. It’s probably impossible to accurately assess how much time is spent pulling data, sending requests to each other and aligning numbers. These seem like basic problems, but they actually influence the speed and quality of decision-making. One of the tasks of the FP&A function is to democratise data, empowering colleagues to make data-driven decisions faster. After providing access to the data, it is crucial to guide stakeholders on the key angles that need to be examined.

Cross-Functional Performance Management Solution

At the end of 2023 at Unilever, in the Ice Cream business group of the company, we began implementing a holistic performance management solution. It aimed to resolve the aforementioned routine issues and enhance analytics. By leveraging the latest technological advancements, we ultimately elevated performance management to a new level. The solution, called Performance Cockpit, helped address several pain points. It provided faster access to data and eliminated the need to look for insights in various separate tools.

Additionally, it reduced information overload by serving as a one-stop shop for all key performance metrics. Furthermore, it helps identify performance insights in a user-friendly, dynamic, visually appealing way and leverages AI. While designing the tool, the emphasis was on making it scalable, not a static solution. The platform can be continuously enhanced and upgraded to cater to the organisation’s evolving needs.

It is a cross-functional information management solution available for markets, corporate teams and different functions. While working on the launch, close collaboration with key functional leads (HR, SC, Sales, Marketing) to capture their inputs and those of their functions is critical. Considering the builds from other teams early in the process, including inputs about the format and granularity of information, is a key aspect in making the tool a genuine cross-functional single source of truth in the company.

Performance Cockpit consists of 6 modules, each with a distinctive role:

• Hotspots: provides a concise summary of key P&L metrics, such as sales, marketing investments and profitability metrics, broken down by geographies, product categories and brands. It promotes a self-service approach, allowing colleagues to access the information themselves (not via the FP&A team).
• Information Packs: acts as a repository of key regular static reports, decks or Excel models.
• My Business Questions: serves as an FAQ. The most popular business questions raised by colleagues can be seen in that section.
• Smart Search: a Google-like function where a business question can be typed (e.g., about the sales in a particular geography in a specific period), and the tool gives a relevant answer.
• My KPIs: contains key financial and non-financial (functional) metrics that help steer the business. For example, trends in inventory levels, market share evolution or distribution gains can be unpacked by time periods and geographical units.
• Cognitive Insights: an AI-powered module that generates a performance narrative (in text format) based on financial results.

After the solution goes live, the job isn’t done. It is important to stay close to business partners, understand the company's evolving needs and keep enhancing the tool. Various tactics (organising training sessions, explaining the benefits and enhancements through email communication, senior leaders’ endorsements, etc.) need to be deployed to spur faster adoption among various groups of stakeholders.

Conclusion

Looking back, after Performance Cockpit went live, it quickly became evident that the level of FP&A business partnering had significantly improved. Performance discussions have become more data-driven. The time saved on routine tasks allows more effort to be spent on finding new insights and business opportunities rather than trying to deliver information on time and in full.

As AI continues to offer more opportunities for application in business, FP&A professionals must stay close to developments in this field. However, despite the notable role of technology in the FP&A area, state-of-the-art tools will remain important enablers. Finance leaders will need to be a driving force in defining the strategic course of their organisations, and business partnering skills will become even more essential in that journey.