According to a McKinsey study, during the pandemic, about 50 percent of the companies in their research, "the outperformers", took advantage of the crisis, significantly increasing performance. At the same time, 50 percent saw no meaningful change. This article discusses what factors lead companies to outperformance and how Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) can help.

FP&A is expected to be more agile, more insight-oriented, and more data-driven. How can FP&A become a trusted business advisor and help organisations navigate through uncertainty? There are five things to keep in mind.

Many companies are getting back to the office (or never left), some have already decided to remain fully remote, yet others are trying out a hybrid mode. The only thing in common between them is no one is sure of the best set-up yet. 

Are we missing the opportunity to think broader and bolder? Could we use the learnings we gained so far with remote work to address a well-known problem: the lack of FP&A professionals in the job market?

Traditionally, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) teams were made of analysts. Today, in this incredible environment of constant change and uncertainties, the synergistic teams have to be multi-skilled. What are those emerging roles that we have to play in order to be successful in planning and forecasting?

FP&A is getting more and more relevant in the organisations as a key role to support the strategy and decision making. This article covers the main skills FP&A professionals should develop to succeed in the context of 2030s, highlighting the mix of technical skills such as data analytics and data architecture with soft skills such as influencing and storytelling.

In a world in which increasingly little can ever be taken for granted, the core capabilities needed for thriving FP&A teams are continuously developing.

In the video, Abbie Obomighie, Group FP&A Director at Spectris, shares her experience on the skills that help FP&A Teams succeed in uncertain times.