I like to think of the various EPM/CPM methods as an analogy of musical instruments in an orchestra. An orchestra’s conductor seeks balance and guides the symphony composer’s fluctuations in harmony, rhythm and tone. 

You will be considered a great FP&A professional only if you can communicate clearly, effectively, and eloquently. The most basic of those choices is whether a use a table or a graph. To make that choice intelligently, it’s critical that you answer four questions that are described in this article. 

 What does it take to become a good or even great FP&A professional?

The article describes those QUALITIES that I have found in people who I have worked with, worked for and who have worked for me in an FP&A domain that I found to be particularly effective in driving the FP&A agenda forward within their responsibility domain.

It is commonly agreed that the traditional budgeting process is time-consuming and costly, rarely focuses on strategy and adds little value. Although traditional budgets have evolved over the years, they can hardly meet the challenges of the modern economic and business environment. Join our global discussion on whether Beyond Budgeting is the best alternative, whether it is realistic to abandon the budget and transform the whole process.

The information age is forcing the office of the CFO into a more data-driven, strategic role away from the back-office accounting role of the past. For CFO’s to be successful, they need their FP&A teams to step out of the data collection and validation and play a larger more strategic, customer facing role.

Nowadays, everyone is talking about being ‘data-driven’. What lies beneath this idea, is the wish to make the decision-making process easier and more effective. But in general, it means delivering the required data of acceptable quality to the relevant decision makers when and where they need it.

What are the FP&A concerns about being ‘data-driven’?

Finance is tasked with delivering better Business Intelligence and more importantly better insights to influence decision-making in the right direction and creating an impact on company performance. At the center of this shifting demand is the FP&A function which needs to deliver better analytics but also needs to partner with business stakeholders.

Financial planning can help financial reporting develop insights into profitability, liquidity, and solvency through a chart of accounts. In other words, it helps to assess financial health.  The foundation in this effort is a chart of accounts.  The effectiveness of a chart of accounts can be achieved by the role of financial planning.