John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, famously said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

Like Kennedy, this digest finds us looking to the future as we confront change and uncertainty. This time, the issue is thematic. It explores a single subject, namely Digital FP&A: using AI/ML/Predictive Analytics for planning and forecasting.

Many companies measure their progress against annual objectives through profit and loss (P&L) reporting and a business performance measurement (BPM) tool. In many cases, this tool is a scorecard summarising the key P&L and balance sheet numbers. Is this enough?

Through the adoption of technology, FP&A teams are able to achieve complete visibility and help guide the company as a whole while assisting each team to optimise performance.

The volume of data is so large and complex that forecasts are often unpredictable: the world is changing faster than managers can anticipate. Managers can no longer rely on traditional monthly reporting of internally generated data to navigate the future. This is where iFP&A comes in.

In this digest, we reveal how to deal with the rise in expectations for FP&A practitioners, the three crucial aspects of FP&A storytelling, and the transformation journey of the Coca-Cola Company’s McDonald’s Division.

At the bottom of this digest, you will find invitations to two webinars that will help you stay on top of the latest trends and developments in FP&A. We would be delighted if you would join us as we explore the path to agile FP&A, and discover how to manage profitability in difficult times.

Building an analytically led organisation, focused on bending the cost curve and reinvesting those savings into opportunities that are earlier on the product lifecycle are key steps to growing and sustaining shareholder value.  No company will continue to grow forever.  In order to stick around, you’ll need to one day start to bend the cost curve. 

When your financial planning and analysis (FP&A) becomes data-driven using automation and an intuitive platform with the right tools, then there's a fundamental shift. The data flows freely, it's trustworthy, and it starts to work for you. In fact, it can lead to a transformation, especially with decision-making around your organisation's finances and business strategy. But how can you reach this point? 

With a constant flow of urgent demands leaving little time to make changes, finance teams need practical advice on how to digitally transform FP&A. Join this upcoming event to discover the subject of the Roadmap for the Analytical Transformation of Controlling and FP&A Function.

The Digital European FP&A Board will be held on the 14th of October at 4:00 PM CEST.

Maintaining or increasing profit margins is key to the development of a company, but in many cases, it represents quite a challenge. I can see two main reasons for this: price pressure on the revenue side and inflation on the cost side. This blog explores 5 ways finance can support a company’s revenue maintenance.

Data today is being created and consumed at an unprecedented scale. Data science is progressing even faster, further speeding up the rate of data creation and consumption. The companies that are the first to adopt the best practices will gain a significant advantage. The rest might just perish.