The process and tools designed with good intent many many years ago when the world was much simpler, the competitive landscape was more stable and where the scarce resource was financial capital, end up favouring the present to too high a degree at the expense of the future. In other words, it is likely to lead to incrementalism rather than boldness.

To most FP&A professionals and accountants there is confusion and a lack of consensus on how to allocate costs to products and service lines. I refer to this as “a mystery in a box to accountants”. To solve this mystery here are three lectures to accounting students from a skilled and experienced accountant – me – that explains the problem and how to solve it. For those who have already graduated from college and may even have a CPA, I encourage you to sit in the back of the lecture hall and audit these classes.

On 28th January 2020, more than 35 senior finance professionals gathered in the heart of Geneva to discuss “Best Practices in FP&A Storytelling”. This was followed two days later by a similar event by the Zurich FP&A Board.
 

Excel is still a popular tool when it comes to preparing financials or analysis. However, we often hear financial professionals complaining about how inadequate Excel can be. So why have we not “rid” ourselves of this seemingly “inadequate” tool. This article explores the pros and cons of using spreadsheets. There are a few best practice tips that may be helpful to the vast majority of spreadsheet users.
 

The UK emerged from its teens into a new decade this month, on a wave of optimism about the future. The removal of the political turmoil and the alleviation of Brexit uncertainty have added to the feel good factor at the start of a new year. Sentiment is up and there is a widespread view that Britain is at a turning point.

The 8th Amsterdam FP&A Board discussed the power of Integrated FP&A. In the video, Asif Khan, Global FP&A Lead at Prosus Fintech and Amsterdam FP&A Board member, talked about the meeting.

The title of my LinkedIn profile is “Finance Influencer.”  My LinkedIn profile summary contains the titles of accountant, lecturer, and writer.  One could conclude that I do not need another title however a situation has arisen in which another title is necessary.  The situation is the criticism of budgets.  The criticism has presented an opportunity to assume the title of defender and as a defender I would like to defend budgets.

University of Pennsylvania researchers report that the human retina processes data at approximately 10 million bits per second. That’s awfully fast compared to a typical adult reading rate of about 400 to 600 words per minute. There are many advantages to visualising data, aside from speed.

In this blog I take a broader view of new products and talk about how best to monitor progress post-launch when information is still a little sketchy, volumes are still very low and reporting mechanisms may not yet be fully in place.

As the saying goes, “new year, new me”, so we would like to offer you the chance to have a look at your FP&A function and the ways in which you might improve your processes. In this issue, we will delve into finance transformation, the skill set needed to be a successful FP&A professional and a case study on performance management.