SF Magazine: After a Year of COVID

What are your business’ drivers?

How frequently are you measuring the potential impact that external drivers, like inventory constraints and labor disruption, will have?

““We’re increasing the frequency of discussing and evaluating our strategy and goals,” Grinwis said. “Each month we do pulse checks to evaluate if changes are needed to our planning based on a number of drivers, including the overall macro environment—COVID-related shutdowns, competitor trends, market demand—as well as company-specific challenges—inventory constraints, labor disruption.”

We suggest you to navigate here the four common types of remote workers and how to support them.

The pandemic has made it very clear that yearly or quarterly reporting won’t cut it. Planful embraced a continuous-planning approach that allows the finance team to be more agile and adaptable.”

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“As CFOs face the demands of year-end accounting and financial reporting, they’re pondering which issues need to be front and center and how to frame them.”

Here are the 4 issues that CFO’s need to think about:

1. Forecasting and related impairment analyses
2. Going concern analysis
3. Internal controls
4. Stakeholder communications

Forbes: No Time To Recline: La-Z-Boy’s CFO On The Demands Facing Finance Leaders In 2021

“I often say the CFO’s (or any finance leader’s) role is to understand the business as well as the CEO, but then also understand everything behind the numbers! Business partnership and decision support are imperative for a strong finance function and a strong company. Expanding that partnership and structured thinking beyond near-term decisions and into longer-term strategy is even more powerful.”

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CFO Journal: Financial Reporting Trends: Forecasting, Communication, Internal Controls

“While there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing current forecasting challenges, the following strategies have proven to be effective for a number of companies:

• Evaluating recovery and financial forecasts from an outside-in perspective first—specifically, focusing on the factors, issues, and conditions outside of a company’s control that are known and knowable

• Automating components of forecasting to help remove bias and facilitate more real-time and frequent reforecasting as key drivers and trends change, while also analyzing data at a more detailed level

• Considering facts that both support and contradict assumptions regarding the company’s timing and pattern of recovery, sustainability, and growth.”

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SF Magazine: Strategies for Global Operations

“A well-designed, functional, and comprehensive budgeting system is an essential management tool for a multinational business. As we discussed, these companies must forecast the impact of global external variables (like foreign exchange and interest rates) as well as internal variables (transfer prices, supply-sourcing subsidiaries, production sites, etc.). All in all, the budgeting system should be effective not only in monitoring progress compared to plan but also in adjusting to unpredictable events and circumstances.”

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SF Magazine: Looking Toward 2021

“The pandemic has tested the mettle of most CFOs, regardless of what industry they work in, and it has permanently changed their roles. As Judy Munro explains, COVID has underscored the need for FP&A talent in the finance department, spearheaded by access to data. “The CFOs are embracing technology in a big way to gain the insights they need in highly volatile times.””

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CFO Journal: What’s on Your Transformation Risk Checklist? Part 2

In finance transformations, CFOs have a strong chance to effectively identify and manage existing risks.

Here’s part two of the list:

5. Ineffective planning and alignment processes

6. Behavioral resistance to change

7. Black swan and other contextual risks

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CFO Journal: What’s on Your Transformation Risk Checklist? Part 1

In finance transformations, CFOs have a strong chance to effectively identify and manage existing risks:

1. Making the wrong transformation choices

2. Resource risks

3. Leadership commitment and continuity

4. Third-party or agency risks

5. Ineffective planning and alignment processes

6. Behavioral resistance to change

7. Black swan and other contextual risks

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SF Magazine: Change Your Approach to Finance Strategy

“We used to spend a lot of time analyzing historical data to in­form business planning; we’ve now switched to a predictive approach to financial planning, looking at a wider range of key indicators such as sales pipeline data. This allows finance professionals to help senior management project what’s likely to happen and make better decisions through the use of real-time data.”

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FP&A Trends: 3 Ways to Organise FP&A Teams: The Pros and Cons

In general, there are three typical ways FP&A teams are organized – by function, by line of business, or by geography. What’s the best option for your team?

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