Normally, integrating actuals into the planning cycle is not an easy task. Often financial and operating results are spread across multiple databases and actual results and plan detail are at different levels. All of this makes meaningful Performance Evaluation difficult.
How do leading organisations in Australia and globally address the changing needs of Financial Planning and Analysis professionals? This article summarises key takeaways from the inaugural Brisbane FP&A Board.
Spreadsheets are a great tool to build and maintain ad-hoc calculations, quickly draft a business plan and create good-looking reports. But when it comes to planning and budgeting in a complex business environment the flexibility of spreadsheets is often quick to become an obstacle instead of an asset in your planning process.
There’s a lot of buzz nowadays with regards to digitalization and how we all need to be ready for significant changes in our working environment and businesses.
When preparing the implementation of a planning and forecasting system I am often asked if we can just take the existing spreadsheet solution and squeeze this into the new system. Invariably my answer is: Yes, we can do this, but we should not. Why?
Many believe that one of the future roles of Finance, and FP&A, specifically, will be to provide real-time, data-driven decision support for the business. This will transform Finance from a mere ‘cost center’ to a ‘profit center’ function, raising its importance within the organization.