Dear colleagues,

A forecast can be almost exactly right and still help no one if it arrives after the decision has already moved past it.

I hear this often in International FP&A Board discussions. The number may be reasonable and the logic defensible, yet the teams that cope best have already agreed what they will test, who needs to be in the room, and which assumptions should trigger a different conversation.

That is why this issue focuses on forecasting readiness. Our featured playbook on 6 Tactics for Smarter, Faster Forecasts sets out the practical tactics, from macro triggers to standardised assumptions. The articles continue the story from three angles: when accuracy becomes false comfort, what FP&A should measure when volatility rises, and how often forecasts should change when the business cannot wait for the calendar. Our upcoming webinars help teams build these habits before they are tested.

Accuracy can support the number. Preparedness supports the decision.

Warm regards,

Larysa Melnychuk, CEO and Founder
FP&A Trends Group & International FP&A Board

When assumptions move, finance needs more than a faster forecast. This featured playbook gives six practical tactics for building forecasting readiness, from macro triggers and connected inputs to earlier scenario planning, plan-to-actual alignment and standardised assumptions.

Download the playbook → 

A forecast can be precise and still point the business in the wrong direction. This article challenges FP&A teams to balance numerical accuracy with strategic foresight, so forecasting supports not only the next variance explanation but the next management decision.

Read the article → 

If volatility changes the job of FP&A, it should also change what we measure. This article argues that finance teams need to look beyond forecast accuracy and track the behaviours that make FP&A more useful to the business: time-to-insight, scenario flexibility, decision speed and cross-functional engagement.

Read the article → 

More frequent forecasting is not automatically better. This article shows why FP&A should set its forecasting rhythm around decision value: stable enough to keep strategic direction, agile enough to respond when assumptions move.

Read the article → 

The articles in this issue point to a common challenge: forecasting readiness depends on the rhythm around the model, not the model alone. Our upcoming webinars carry this discussion into 2026 FP&A Trends Survey findings, AI-era operating-model design, and FP&A’s shift from analysis to orchestration.
 

FP&A Trends webinars are complimentary and offer an opportunity to learn from members of the International FP&A Board and see how finance leaders around the world are developing their FP&A capabilities. If you are not able to join live, you can register to receive the recording later.

The 10th edition of the FP&A Trends Survey gives the evidence behind today’s planning reality: where FP&A is advancing, where forecasting still slows down, and which capability gaps may limit AI-enabled finance.

Register for this webinar to review the latest global benchmarks and discuss what they reveal about FP&A readiness.

Better tools and data do not automatically improve how decisions are made. This webinar looks at the operating-model question behind modern FP&A: how ownership, process, collaboration, and decision support need to change as AI becomes part of finance work.

Join us to explore how the new FP&A Trends and EY paper reframes operating-model design for modern finance teams.

As AI accelerates analysis, FP&A’s value increasingly depends on how well finance connects insight, context, and action across the business. The issue is no longer only producing analysis faster, but ensuring it reaches the right decisions at the right time.

Register for the event to examine what orchestration means in practice and how FP&A can stay relevant as decision cycles move faster.