This article covers some author's key forecasting learnings from the perspective of an FP&A professional and outlines how to potentially apply them to other online marketplaces.

Installing a planning tool early, regardless of the company's situation, is a good idea despite the investment required. Prioritising the proper criteria based on organisational needs using a checklist of standards will help compare all the different tools on the market to identify what suits the organisation best.

Best practices from mature technology businesses have stable recurring Rolling Forecasts based on momentum, executive buy-in and a solid understanding of the drivers in both revenues and costs. And those forecasts have defined processes to ensure the right level of risk is mitigated with the right action plans to drive success.  However, start-ups have a different focus: getting their product to market and ensuring there is a fit, or there is no business

Providing decision support on product offerings in an online marketplaces environment requires digging deep on the granularity of the key business drivers to evaluate success. Using a method called “A/B testing” allows an FP&A leader to easily build a framework on key criteria to better understand the various behavioural impacts that consumers apply in different scenarios and to analyse their performance.