Senior Finance professionals had an invigorating discussion on xP&A at the Dubai FP&A Board on 15 February 2023.
The agenda of the meeting included the following:
- Extended Planning & Analysis (xP&A): key concepts and definitions
- Key success factors of Integrated FP&A
- Integrated FP&A Model - Collaborative FP&A Process
- The best practices and case studies from the field
- Key steps to implement xP&A
- Small groups work
- Conclusions and recommendations
Figure 1: The International FP&A Board Meeting in Dubai (the 15th of February, 2023)
The attendees identified that transformation and mindset change was the key current FP&A challenge. Speed, consistency, integration, complexity and impact of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were among several other factors that emerged across geographies and changing environments.
Larysa Melnychuk presented the xP&A maturity model and highlighted the key objective to manage business value. The forum stressed the importance of influence and the need for cross-functional efforts in improving scenario management with driver-based planning and effective storytelling.
Data Science is leading to new roles in analytics and architects, and reskill is needed. According to Markus Pinter, CFO Middle East & Africa at Novartis), with the development of AI/ML, the FP&A team size would shrink, and the forecast would be machine-driven with analysts looking at outliers and calibrating.
Some large corporations (according to Anand Lakshminarayanan, Senior Vice President, Emirates Airline) are using small teams and AI to improve forecasting with success over 3-12 months. Some mid-sized groups wondered if AI/IT investments were high relative to the size and how effective this was for forecasting (according to Swapna Balasubramanian, Head of Strategic Planning at Damas Jewellery).
Figure 2: Group Work During the Dubai FP&A Board (the 15th of February 2023)
Discussion Groups looked at the following areas:
Data and Models
- Objective and good data quality are essential, among other factors like speed flexibility integration and market intelligence;
Systems and Processes
- Alignment, needs of stakeholders and maturity level are relevant here;
People and Culture
- Trust, competence, and culture can greatly aid.
Figure 3: The Dubai FP&A Board Rounded Up with a Lively Networking
We are grateful to Jedox for sponsoring this event and to Michael Page for their tremendous support with the organisation of this meeting.
