It goes without saying that every successful business needs to be in full control of their finances - both income and expenses. To thrive in the current economic climate, businesses must make effective use of all the data their business produces.

‘Business Analytics’ is often portrayed as the latest miracle cure for managers wanting to improve corporate performance. But like most IT-based capabilities, the hype is often in the realms of fantasy, which can never be realised. However, analytics is a capability that can bring tremendous value to those organisations who understand how and when it can be applied.

‘Let’s speak the same language’, was once said at the Amsterdam FP&A Board. Do you know what your FP&A Colleagues meant with this expression? And do you also find it challenging finding a common language within various departments of your company?

One of the more important qualities of FP&A practitioners is curiosity. Curiosity, a strong desire to know or learn something, is affected by the types of questions asked. It is the types of questions that determine how much FP&A practitioners want to know or learn. One type of question is “what.”  The purpose of asking “what” is to acquire information. Acquiring information can be in the form of financial numbers like revenues, expenses, and cash flows. Acquiring information can be in the form of non-financial numbers like the amount of time companies receive or make payments. Acquiring information can be in the form of qualitative data like comments from customers, names of products, or types of services provided. Asking “what” helps FP&A practitioners know about the environments where they work but knowing is not enough. FP&A practitioners need to ask questions that help them learn about the environments where they work.