This article addresses technology in FP&A. In his book "THE INNOVATORS" Walter Isaacson describes two ways of utilizing technology. One way is artificial intelligence, machines thinking on their own. Another way is augmented intelligence, people using machines to help organize information.
What are the basic ingredients of advanced FP&A analytics? Getting the discussion underway the Board’s founder and managing director, Larysa Melnychuk, suggested that it should be proactive, forward-looking, agile, available in real-time, multidimensional and integrated – although these elements are no more than the basic essentials. The combination should be enough to provide the business with good quality information that enables better business decision-making in a timely manner, while also providing unique insights that make a difference to that process.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words… “Telling the story” is one of the most important tasks facing the FP&A professional, and data visualization is a powerful tool to reveal this story. Data visualisation is vital for FP&A analytics: it can help to reveal hidden trends and patterns, to filter out the noise and to generate valuable business insights. In other words, there are two types of data visualisation:
Nearly every financial planning and analysis professional understands the need to embrace big data and analytics. But how can firms move beyond basics to advanced analytics? That challenge was on every attendee’s mind at the recent FP&A advisory board meeting in London. There, FP&A and business intelligence professionals gathered to discuss the state of business intelligence (BI) and FP&A analytics with Nigel Geary, BI specialist at power utility British Gas.
The financial planning and analysis (FP&A) board met for the third time in London on 1 May at Hermes Fund Managers’ offices in the City of London. Marc Lloyd, the firm’s head of FP&A, again played host to Ash Sharma, head of FP&A at Alliance Boots Healthcare; Darren Craddock, director of planning and forecasting at insurer Aviva; and Frederik Reynaert, head of financial planning and reporting at travel firm Thomas Cook.