On the 9th of October, the International FP&A Board launched a new chapter in Washington, D.C. It was our 27th chapter globally.

Artificial intelligence is currently disrupting your job – whether you know it or not. For financial planning and analysis professionals, artificial intelligence is an opportunity to improve business models and offer better strategic insights.

FP&A Trends E-Books is a series of publications consisting of articles on FP&A-related subjects. The issues are regularly published on the FP&A Trends website and are available only to the website subscribers. The first issue is devoted to the rolling forecast philosophy and contains articles from Larysa Melnychuk, Steve Morldige, Richard Reinderhoff, Elena Kiristova and Thorstein Siglaugsson. 

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.