Financial Planning & Analysis

FP&A Newsletter

FP&A newsletter – now offered monthly – provides thought leadership, best practices and news for financial planning and analysis professionals. With more than 4,400 subscribers from over 100 countries and all 50 states at companies as large as $20+ billion in over a dozen sectors, shouldn’t you subscribe today? Recent headlines include:

• The Real Value of Driver Based Forecasting - Summer 2011
• Making Time for FP&A – Summer 2011
• Why You Should Consider Risk Adjusted Planning – Summer 2011
• Analytics for Dynamic Planning and Forecasting – Summer 2011
• What’s the Point of Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting – Fall 2011
• 7 Prerequisites for Best in Class Financial Planning – Winter 2011

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The FP&A Credential

Serving professionals who perform FP&A work on behalf of organizations, the new certification will follow the model of AFP’s successful Certified Treasury Professional^TM designation     (CTP ^TM), which has been earned by more than 23,000 people worldwide.  As with the CTP ^TM credential, the new FP&A credential will be based upon a comprehensive, multi-source body of knowledge compiled by top corporate practitioners and updated when necessary.  AFP will serve as sponsor and facilitator on behalf of the profession. 

• Read the full Press Release

FP&A Presentations from the 2011 AFP Annual Conference

Curious about the FP&A track from last year's Annual Conference? You can now download the presentations from last year and take a look at what's in store for 2012.  

Cost of Capital Survey

The recently released "Current Trends in Estimating and Applying the Cost of Capital" study confirms the belief that the finance profession is far from agreement on the proper techniques to accurately model and forecast their organizations’ actual cost of capital. 

AFP believes that this survey is the first step in moving cost of capital analysis from the art that it is today to the science that it needs to become. 

• Executive Summary
• Full Report

• Forward Thinking: Modern FP&A Must be Flexible, Dynamic In this age of frequent Black Swan events, the traditional business approach to operate on an annual budget and forecast is no longer effective. In order to deliver a competitive advantage to company, modern FP&A function needs to be flexible and dynamic, be based on sophisticated analytics, examine life-time values of the products, and encourage business partnering.

  May 09, 2012

• May 2012 FP&A Newsletter The issue kicks off with thought leadership on driver-based forecasting and a profile of Kristin Castille, CTP, Director of Finance with SPT Inc. Two international authors provide foreign perspectives on FP&A—Niels van Hove in Australia and Rupert Wright in United Arab Emirates. In addition, we are proud to include a posting from the blog of FP&A editorial advisory board member Tom Smith, Director, FP&A (Home Systems Division), Legrand North America.

  May 04, 2012

• CFO Challenge: FP&A in a Globally Decentralized Environment Providing timely and targeted analysis for management is a challenge, especially in a decentralized multinational organization. Many organizations deal with this complexity by creating equally complex structures and systems. But mirroring that approach for the FP&A function leads to even more complex reporting, hindering timely analysis and delaying management decisions.

  Apr 20, 2012

• Meeting with the BoD: An Essential Task for Treasury The current business environment has forced treasurers to expand beyond their traditional duties. Despite the added workload, treasurers’ core responsibilities must remain the top priority so they can adequately prepare for the one group whose focus is squarely on the bottom line: the board of directors.

  Apr 13, 2012

• April 2012 FP&A Newsletter April 2012 FP&A Newsletter Staff Writers 2012-04-12 FP&A grew by almost 1,000 subscribers in March, which helped us to cross the 6,000 subscriber threshold, representing a growth rate of 300 percent over the past nine months. Thank you! The April issue features thought leadership on lumpy

  Apr 12, 2012