Why are the KPIs an important component in FP&A? What can organisations do to design and build a robust KPI framework and deliver improved business performance?

For many organisations, the Strategy Gap is a major obstacle that systematically prevents businesses from truly maximizing their Strategic Planning efforts and sustainably creating value for their organization. 

The organisation used to spend over 52 weeks on planning, but with an accuracy of only 92% -- low when compared with the resources allocated.

There is no hiding that companies had to look hard and rely on deep financial analysis to weather a storm like most of us witnessed in 2020. One of the key components was the growing focus on the Profitability of their services and products line. Profitability became front and center, whether it was via cost management or revenue or investment management or ALL of the above.

In this issue, we have collected articles that explore the ZBB concept, its benefits and challenges; an in-depth guide to implementing this process. You will also find a short video with an insightful case study of ZBB delivered by Capita Portfolio FD.

Unlike traditional management methods, Financial Planning and Analysis solutions are a new way to manage your business rationally. With the FP&A systems in place, business processes become more accurate and agile, preparing your company for the challenges and uncertainties of today's economic climate.

In this short video, Tom Vanoverschelde, Finance Director at Capita, shares his practical experience in implementing ZBB.

A key function of effective FP&A is to create a data-driven decision-making culture throughout the enterprise. Data management is, therefore, a crucial part of FP&A's agenda. 

I hope to show the analytical power that is now available to the FP&A practitioner and how it can drive business change in a structured manner; a method that involves considerably less effort than I had to apply all those years ago.

Storytelling is a vital part of FP&A, helping practitioners to extract value from the data.