Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) refers to the processes designed to help organizations accurately plan, forecast, and budget to support the company’s major business decisions and future financial health.
FP&A assists all groups, including finance, operations, marketing, sales, and product development. FP&A are closely involved in any strategic planning initiatives to ensure the best data is leveraged and the best decisions are made.
Accordingly an FP&A analyst needs to
– Have a wholistic view of the company, and understand how each dept. interacts with others, and constraints one dept may impose on others i.e. a lack of sales personnel may mean marketing for next FY doesn’t have to be so aggressive. Or the Operations department may be reporting defects in a tractor, which causes the procurement dept to decrease orders from a certain supplier, which then triggers a lower discount across all items from that supplier (due to less bought).
– Be able to work with and source data from various departments
– Perform sensitivity analysis on various business plans and ask questions of different departments : Why wont this work? Why cant we do it that way? i.e.be curious
– Report findings concisely to the CFO and leadership
Rock has helped many clients with financial planning and analysis- call us today to see how we can assist your firm as well.
