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.

Uncertainty can take many forms. It can manifest in a natural disaster, the merger or acquisition of a competitor, geopolitical changes, or a global pandemic. 

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.

Two years after the arrival of COVID-19, the pandemic is still disrupting our lives. Little by little, we have begun returning to normality. So now is the time to ask: what have we learned about FP&A? And what does the future hold?

“Telling the story” is one of the most important parts of the FP&A role, and data visualisation can help immensely. This makes the FP&A dashboard a very powerful tool, but 80% of dashboards are seldom or never used.

Nowadays cash flow is a trending topic and especially in FP&A where we are generally focused on P&L forecast and management. When we talk about cash flow there are three main pillars: liquidity, valuation, and performance.

In an uncertain world, plans with a single focus are no longer sufficient. Management needs to constantly scan the business environment, assess what lies beyond the ‘span of predictability’, and be prepared for a multitude of realities.

In my day-to-day job, I interact with many Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) organisations implementing predictive planning to improve their budgeting and forecasting processes. 

Only 30% of change programs are successful. How to drive Analytical Transformation? Join the Digital North American FP&A Board on the 28th of April to find the answer to this question.

At the end of the day, FP&A isn’t a technical department. Its role is to develop the operating and financial plan and help the organisation to achieve set goals. It is therefore very important to receive technical support and advice from qualified professionals. This support will be much more helpful if it considers finance and planning specifics. In other words, the technology specialist should be a part of Finance or, even better, the Planning department itself. This role can be called a “Finance Technology Officer” or FTO.