The Amsterdam FP&A Board gathered on the 9th of November, 2017, to discuss the essential of FP&A Business Partnering.

On 12th October 2017, 22 senior finance practitioners from such companies as Ericsson, IDG (International Data Group), Lagardére Sports, MSD, Nutricia, Philips, Pirelli, Regus, Salesforce, Telia, Tieto, etc., gathered in Stockholm to interactively discuss why Driver-Based Planning matters for modern FP&A. The discussion was thought-provoking and interesting: many finance practitioners considering fully driver-based planning model, however, just a few organizations have them. 

The demand for Financial Planning & Analytics (FP&A) thought leadership and best practice establishment is very high. In response to many requests from the UK professional community, the London FP&A Circle was established in July 2016. This is a  vendor-agnostic educational and networking forum for passionate finance practitioners. It is a platform for the International FP&A Board to share its practical insights on the latest trends and developments in financial planning and analytics with the FP&A community of London city. So far the board discussions were held in 15 cities, 11 countries on 4 continents.

This Michael Page interview with Larysa Melnychuk, CEO and the founder of FP&A Trends and International FP&A Board gives an overview on the evolving role of modern Financial Planning and Analytics (FP&A) globally. The interview was given during Larysa's travel to APAC region for the FP&A Board meetings and reveals five factors that changing global FP&A

In this interview,  Larysa Melnychuk, Managing Director at FP&A Trends Group and the Founder of the International FP&A Board, shares her thoughts on Beyond Budgeting Philosophy and reveals insights that were generated by the London FP&A Board during debate on the subject.

Are we ready to change the traditional budgeting culture?

How should the role of chance influence the work of FP&A practitioners?  

Intentions may lead to results that were not intended.  There are times in which good intentions may lead to bad results or an idea that is designed to accomplish one task may succeed by performing a completely different task.  As a result, FP&A practitioners should recognize the role of chance in FP&A.

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that people who are highly sensitive to the lack of flexibility of traditional budgeting often see rolling forecasts as the answer. So, you might think, forecasts are like budgets but done more frequently – right?

Rolling Forecast is an essential tool for financial planning and analysis (FP&A), with a potential to radically transform corporates’ traditional budgeting process. If implementing properly, the Rolling Forecast expands planning horizons, reduces planning cycles, and helps in executing organisational strategies. Companies will realise the Rolling Forecast's full potential only when they are ready to change. If it is not implemented with thought, it can become another non-value adding process, an expensive time-waster without benefit to the organisation.

For quite some time CFOs and the finance community have been talking about transforming the finance function, becoming better business partners and focusing on the value-add, strategic activities. At the core of that transformation is FP&A, as activities like business planning, business unit strategy, investment allocation, and predictive analytics become important to fulfill finance’s new, expanded position within the company. But to do that, FP&A itself must transform and change from its traditional flux analysis and flash reports to a much more modern and cutting edge department within the company. When starting to embark on your own FP&A Transformation journey, there are a couple of principles you need to keep in mind.

On 26 April 2017 the FP&A Board gathered in Stockholm for the third time to interactively discuss one of the biggest challenges of moving Financial Planning and Analysis to the next level and undergoing the transformation that is long overdue. FP&A Analytical Transformation became the main focus of 20 senior finance practitioners’ attention from such companies as Baxter, CGI, Danone, Electrolux, Hitachi Data Systems, MSD, Tele2, Philips, etc.