Most professionals working in the FP&A discipline have degrees in finance or accounting and previously worked as accountants or auditors. The transition from such backend core finance functions to a highly business focused partnering function is one that requires certain shifts in mind-set as well as skillset. Below is a discussion attempting to highlight some of the key ones.

The 3rd Toronto FP&A Board meeting, with senior FP&A practitioners from industry-leading firms in staid industries — such as financial services, retail, manufacturing, mining, hospitality, consumer products, insurance; and, even, technology companies, took place on the 24th of September.

Most business people are familiar with the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. Simply put, it says that 20% of inputs generate 80% of outputs. It's a very simple concept, but many people struggle to use it. When it comes to communication, the practical application of the 80/20 rule is to listen 80% of the time.

Earlier this month I attended the fourth FP&A Board event in San Francisco focused on trends in driver-based and predictive FP&A. Finance professionals from an array of industries across the Bay Area attended to learn about this timely and important topic.

Both diversity and inclusion are important considerations in the modern finance world. There are clear benefits associated with organisations that are successful in driving this agenda – both in terms of employee satisfaction and also to the bottom line in terms of profit.

The fourth Seattle FP&A Board, which was sponsored by SAP and Robert Half, was devoted to the subject of Driver Based and Predictive FP&A. FP&A as a function has for such a long time been a traditional function relying on drivers.

The most important decision for top management is where the money goes. Capital allocation not only defines the money flow but also who will be spending it. Since many companies are threatened by disruption, intrapreneurship is now more important than ever. FP&A specialists can hold a key-position when it comes to facilitating the process of capital allocation.

The purpose of your company’s administrative function is to support what your company sells. Support consists of departments like finance, human resources, and information technology; future articles will describe these departments in greater detail. The focus of this article is on administration as a whole. 

On September 19, 2019, New York welcomed the 6th FP&A Board conference at the Michael Page office in midtown Manhattan. Thirty senior FP&A professionals attended the event sponsored by SAP and Michael Page to discuss and share their experiences on Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB).

In this video, Stefan Spiegel, CFO at Swiss Railway Freight Logistics (SBB Cargo AG), talks about the program that they used in SBB Cargo to replace management accounting. Instead of using a classical cost-accounting system, SBB Cargo switched to Intelligent business simulation engine.