I like to think of the various EPM/CPM methods as an analogy of musical instruments in an orchestra. An orchestra’s conductor seeks balance and guides the symphony composer’s fluctuations in harmony, rhythm and tone. 

You will be considered a great FP&A professional only if you can communicate clearly, effectively, and eloquently. The most basic of those choices is whether a use a table or a graph. To make that choice intelligently, it’s critical that you answer four questions that are described in this article. 

 What does it take to become a good or even great FP&A professional?

The article describes those QUALITIES that I have found in people who I have worked with, worked for and who have worked for me in an FP&A domain that I found to be particularly effective in driving the FP&A agenda forward within their responsibility domain.

The information age is forcing the office of the CFO into a more data-driven, strategic role away from the back-office accounting role of the past. For CFO’s to be successful, they need their FP&A teams to step out of the data collection and validation and play a larger more strategic, customer facing role.