Nowadays cash flow is a trending topic and especially in FP&A where we are generally focused on P&L forecast and management. When we talk about cash flow there are three main pillars: liquidity, valuation, and performance.

In my day-to-day job, I interact with many Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) organisations implementing predictive planning to improve their budgeting and forecasting processes. 

At the end of the day, FP&A isn’t a technical department. Its role is to develop the operating and financial plan and help the organisation to achieve set goals. It is therefore very important to receive technical support and advice from qualified professionals. This support will be much more helpful if it considers finance and planning specifics. In other words, the technology specialist should be a part of Finance or, even better, the Planning department itself. This role can be called a “Finance Technology Officer” or FTO.

Fortunately, an increasing number of organisations have come to embrace what IFP&A can offer. These people ‘step outside the box' and create solutions that are both innovative and that help management to improve organisational performance.