Getting data-driven insights fast can be a significant competitive differentiator you can bring to your organisation. But when it comes to making the actual decisions that drive your forecasting and planning, the author would argue that you would be better served by building in a pause at this point. In this article, the author compares a game of golf with effective planning and decision-making, explaining why it is better to slow down sometimes.

According to FP&A Trends Survey 2022, there are two major problems today: 

When looking at immediate challenges, it can be difficult to justify ROI on FP&A technology against shorter-term sales. 

In some companies, FP&A is not considered to be an area for strategic investment.

How can this possibly be the case when especially cloud-based technology has been considered the saving grace of doing business during the pandemic?

The current debate around Return To Office (RTO) likely heralds the biggest shift in the workplace since the emergence of the assembly line in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Is this relevant for an FP&A audience though? I’d argue it is fundamentally relevant for a number of reasons, not least because it is one of the biggest impacts of Covid-19 on the global business environment. This is a debate that, from a financial planning and analysis perspective, we cannot sit out. 

Although the world remains locked in battle with Covid-19, we are starting to emerge from survival mode and to consider our post-pandemic future. This means figuring out what's here to stay from the past 18 months, and what needs to change. One thing is certain, though: we are not going to continue where we left off in 2019 and 2020.