FP&A Trends Digest: Issue #144
Issue #144 - 19 July 2025 |
| | Dear colleagues, How do you align plans when your structure prevents it? According to the 2025 FP&A Trends Survey, 42% of FP&A professionals say the biggest barrier to integration is not tools, but the lack of integrated processes and cross-functional support. Planning fails not in models, but in meetings. We are continuing our journey through the pillars of best-in-class FP&A, and now we come to a capability that is often praised yet poorly practiced: integration. Unless you fix the logic and ownership behind your planning, no tool will make your business more agile. Below, you will find three perspectives on what it really takes to break down silos and build integrated FP&A - from foundational principles to planning architecture. We are pleased to share the newly released 2025 FP&A Trends Survey Report - a sharp snapshot of where finance teams are making progress, and where the real friction still lies. Download it now and share with your team. Enjoy the read! Best regards, Larysa Melnychuk, CEO and Founder
FP&A Trends Group & International FP&A Board |
| | | From Ambition to Execution: How Leading FP&A Teams Turn Insights into Impact | Progress in FP&A is not linear — it is layered. The 2025 FP&A Trends Survey captures a telling paradox: while tools and capabilities have advanced — integration, partnering and agility remain elusive for most. Based on responses from over 450 senior finance professionals worldwide, this year’s report reveals where the gaps are widening and where high-performing teams are quietly pulling ahead. Read this report to benchmark your current reality against global practices and to examine what’s really moving the needle in strategy execution, decision support and planning integration across leading finance teams. | | |
| Top-Down vs Bottom-Up: Comparative Analysis of Two Planning Approaches | By Diana Groschupp, Vice President FP&A Europe at TD Synnex There’s a perennial tug-of-war between speed and accuracy in planning. Top-down promises alignment but often lacks buy-in. Bottom-up offers detail but risks inconsistency and delay. Which works better? That’s the wrong question. The real issue is when and how to use each. Read this article to unpack the trade-offs and see when hybrid planning models can actually solve the stalemate. Instead of taking sides, it reframes the debate around business readiness, planning purpose, and the role of FP&A in translating between strategy and execution. | | | | Integrated Financial Planning & Analysis: the End of Siloed Planning | By Marcia Williams, Founder and Managing Partner at USM Supply Chain Most finance teams don’t suffer from a lack of planning — they suffer from too much of it. Every function has its own models, metrics and timelines, leaving FP&A to play translator in a room full of conflicting forecasts. What if the real problem isn’t siloed data, but siloed thinking? Read this article to see how one company went beyond dashboard integration and tackled cross-functional alignment where it really matters: accountability, ownership and trade-off decisions. | |
| | | FP&A Trends Insights Paper: Seven Pillars for Integrated FP&A Excellence | Too many integration efforts fail because they focus on systems, not structure. But real integration is more than syncing data — it is about aligning logic, roles and influence across the entire planning architecture. Read this paper to unpack a comprehensive framework for Integrated FP&A. It identifies the hidden dependencies between governance, culture and execution — and helps finance leaders assess whether their “integration” is truly end-to-end, or just cosmetic. | | |
| | FP&A Trends Digital Events |
FP&A Trends digital events are vendor-agnostic and complimentary. If you are not able to join the live session, you can register to receive the recording later. | | | Five Roles Every High-Performing FP&A Team Needs | In high-stakes meetings, facts alone don’t win. Stories do. But too often, FP&A professionals default to dashboards, not narratives — even when the goal is influence, not explanation. This webinar explores how the most effective FP&A teams craft clear, strategic stories that shape decisions at the top. Join this session to rethink the role of storytelling in FP&A — not as a soft skill, but as a core leadership capability. | | | FP&A Storytelling: Craft Stories That Influence and Impact | Most FP&A teams are built for analysis, not for influence. But as expectations shift from reporting to insight, the traditional org chart no longer fits. This webinar breaks down the five distinct roles that leading FP&A teams are adopting to deliver speed, strategy and stronger business partnership. Register for this webinar to challenge your current team model and explore how modern FP&A is evolving. |
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