Budgeting and planning activities within companies are often time-consuming and quickly outdated in their significance. Methods like driver-based planning or even Beyond Budgeting represent attempts to increase efficiency, but the approach remains old-fashioned. However, the developments in the field of AI/ML are now opening up completely new possibilities. In the near future, it will be possible to calculate and compare a wide variety of planning scenarios within minutes.

In this issue, you will also find the results of FP&A Trends survey 2021 into planning and forecasting methods; an article about successfully implementing agile approaches; a guide to the benefits of FP&A integration; and a video exploring the skills FP&A teams need in uncertain times.

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.