Skip to main content
Home
The Online Resource for Modern FP&A Professionals
Please register to receive the latest FP&A news, updates and tips Login

Main menu

  • Home
  • FP&A Insights
    • FP&A Trends Digest
    • FP&A Trends Research
    • FP&A Trends Insight Paper
    • FP&A Trends Survey
    • Short Videos
    • Our Contributors
  • FP&A Events
    • International FP&A Board
    • FP&A Trends Webinars
    • Digital FP&A Circles
  • AI/ML Committee
    • Introduction
    • Members
    • Resources
    • Meetings
  • FP&A Tools
    • FP&A Trends Maturity Model
  • About Us
    • Company Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Our Ambassadors
    • Our Sponsors & Partners
    • Contact Us
image
Why is the ROI of Your FP&A Team So Hard to Measure?
October 22, 2016

​By James Myers, Global Finance Executive and FInance Transformation Consultant

FP&A Tags
Financial Planning and Analysis

Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), play a pivotal role between Strategy, Business and Data: a business partner advisor, helping to form a pathway that navigates an uncertain future, but in reality, the value created is very difficult to measure. It’s critical to the health of the organization, much the way supplements build up the immune system for a healthier life.

Supplements and Vitamins are an essential part of our daily life, giving us the ability to get up and go - but how do we measure these benefit?

Most of the benefits are long term: living healthier, happier, more successful lives. That has been the fundamental issue with FP&A, it’s often difficult for a company to invest in building future capabilities as the ROI is not obvious or difficult to calculate (footnote 1).

That is changing with the advent of FP&A Strategy. Our approach makes the FP&A element of an organization more than long term strategy; it makes it an immediate navigation tool for negotiating the turbulent waters of today’s global economies. With uncertainty everywhere and unplanned events like Brexit, companies need immediate data analysis. 

While the benefits of FP&A are hard to put a monetary value on, they are critical. In 2012 CEB found the “insight” deficit in finance had very discouraging results in terms of company performance. They concluded that analytic capabilities are central to FP&A ability to establish influence with business partners and this influence can play a critical role in driving business outcomes and impacted annual total shareholder return (TSR). Those who invested in FP&A received an astounding 5.9% average annual TSR premium across five years vs. their peers.

How should we look at measuring the success of FP&A?

Similar to our vitamin example, we need to look at some of the short term drivers. For FP&A it can be broken down into 3 main areas:

  1. Measure Improved Partnership Value: The proportion of time spent on high-value business partner activities.
  2. Measure Improved Partnership Satisfaction: The Quality of these interactions.
  3. Participating in the Financial Empowerment Index ©: The willingness of management to listen and empower the FP&A solution and opportunities for improvement.

The first two are the easier ones to measure - Time x Quality i.e. how much time are you spending with business partners and what is the quality of that time. If you think of FP&A as a consulting function, then this makes sense. Too often FP&A is considered a branch of accounting, which is very back-office focused vs. the business partner advisor role. FP&A is not mandated like the accounting function, so the only reason for their existence is to add value to the business.

The final area of FP&A empowerment is a lot harder to measure - i.e. how empowered is your FP&A teams within your organisation to have an impact? Much like the revered “360 Reviews” and 6 SIGMA methodologies, resistance is currently a challenge. Although this is difficult to measure, and influence or change currently, the process has begun. Nationally, FP&A Strategy is promoting the Finance Empowerment Index, to selected Fortune 75 corporations.

As the role of the CFO moves away from spending their time on backwards-looking accounting data to being tech-savvy innovators, FP&A Strategy is the team supporting this transition (footnote 2). Be certain your FP&A team is up for the challenge: It’s time to take the big step and invest now to be able to survive in the future.

 

Footnotes

  1. The results of the APQC survey were staggering - the survey drew responses from 130 executives currently working in financial management at large, global organizations - they found 62% admitted that the reason their company was lacking the necessary competencies was due to lack of time as staff buried on basic duties. The survey also found that many companies are not culturally prepared to deploy stronger FP&A talent.
  2. 2016 AFP Financial Planning & Analysis Benchmark Survey: FP&A, a Function in Transition demonstrates return on investment in technology: FP&A teams investing less than 10% of their budget on technology required an average of 60 Full-time employee (FTE) days to collect and manipulate budget data vs. companies that invested 20%-49% only required 14 FTE days

James Myers is the founder and CEO of FP&A Strategy Consulting, helping to accelerate finance transformation resulting in smarter organizations that focus their talent on issues that matter.

James is a thought leader in FP&A and has presented at many Finance summits.  He has also held various finance and operations leadership roles in multinationals such as Dell and Nokia and has clients such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise.  James holds advanced degrees in finance and accounting and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.  In his spare time he is also a Co-Program lead for the Silicon Valley Startup Leadership Program and runs the Silicon Valley Power BI User Group.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmyersw

 

The full text is available for registered users. Please register to view the rest of the article.
  • Log In
  • or
  • Register

Related articles

Modern FP&A: Some Important Techniques, Methods and Concepts
April 5, 2018

The world of financial planning and analysis has observed changes of such magnitude that they cannot...

Read more
4 Steps to Becoming a More Valued FP&A Professional
October 17, 2018

Within any organisation you’ll find some groups of people who are the most well-known and highly...

Read more
Ability to Learn, Unlearn and Relearn - Do You Need This to Be Successful in FP&A?
June 4, 2019

As financial professionals we Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) professionals spend a lot of timing learning...

Read more
+

Subscribe to
FP&A Trends Digest

We will regularly update you on the latest trends and developments in FP&A. Take the opportunity to have articles written by finance thought leaders delivered directly to your inbox; watch compelling webinars; connect with like-minded professionals; and become a part of our global community.

Create new account

image

Event Calendar

Pagination

  • Previous
  • June 2025
  • Next
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
The Unseen Cultural Shifts
 
Mastering Data in FP&A: Smarter Analytics, Better Decisions
 
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Making FP&A Teams Fit for the Future
 
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
From Insight to Impact: FP&A Business Partnering in Action
 
Unlocking FP&A Analytical Transformation
 
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Transforming FP&A with AI: Maturity, Impact, and Future Roles
 
Modern Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A): Latest Trends and Developments
 
29
30
1
2
3
4
5
 
 
 
 
 
All events for the year

Future Meetings

The Face-to-Face London FP&A Board: Data Management & Analytics: Unlocking FP&A Value
The Face-to-Face London FP&A Board Mastering Data in FP&A: Smarter Analytics, Better Decisions

June 5, 2025

FP&A Trends Webinar The Evolving Role of FP&A: From Number Cruncher to Strategic Advisor
The FP&A Trends Webinar Making FP&A Teams Fit for the Future

June 11, 2025

The Face-to-Face New York FP&A Board
The Face-to-Face New York FP&A Board From Insight to Impact: FP&A Business Partnering in Action

June 17, 2025

FP&A Trends Webinar Practical Steps for FP&A Analytical Transformation.
The FP&A Trends Webinar Unlocking FP&A Analytical Transformation

June 18, 2025

The FP&A Trends Webinar How AI is shaping the future of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
The FP&A Trends Webinar Transforming FP&A with AI: Maturity, Impact, and Future Roles

June 25, 2025

The Face-to-Face Sydney FP&A Board
The Face-to-Face Sydney FP&A Board Modern Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A): Latest Trends and Developments

June 26, 2025

The Face-to-Face Singapore FP&A Board: Modern Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A): Latest Trends and Developments
The Face-to-Face Singapore FP&A Board Modern Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A): Latest Trends and Developments

July 8, 2025

Webinar: FP&A Trends Survey 2025
The FP&A Trends Webinar 2025 FP&A Trends Survey: Benchmarks, Priorities, and Best Practices

July 9, 2025

AI/ML FP&A
AI/ML FP&A
Data and Analytics
Data & Analytics
FP&A Case Studies
FP&A Case Studies
FP&A Research
FP&A Research
General
General
Integrated FP&A
Integrated FP&A
People and Culture
People and Culture
Process
Process
Technology
Technology

Please register to receive the latest FP&A news, updates and tips.

info@fpa-trends.com​

              

Foot menu

  • FP&A Insights
  • FP&A Board
  • FP&A Videos

Footer countries

  • Amsterdam
  • Austin
  • Boston
  • Brisbane
  • Brussels
  • Chicago
  • Copenhagen
  • Dubai
  • Frankfurt
  • Geneva
  • Helsinki
  • Hong Kong
  • Houston
  • Kuala Lumpur
  • London Board
  • London (Circle)
  • Melbourne
  • Miami
  • Milan
  • Munich
  • New York
  • Paris
  • Perth
  • Riyadh
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Shanghai
  • Singapore
  • Stockholm
  • Sydney
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Washington D.C.
  • Zurich

Copyright © 2025 fpa-trends.com. All rights reserved.

0