What role should FP&A teams play when it comes to making decisions on finance technology?
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FP&A should always be involved in discussions because we understand how to use data for analysis and planning purposes. When FP&A is excluded from these conversations, we’re left with a technology solution that addresses the immediate need of specific functional areas, such as getting your accounts payable closed faster. To do further analysis into the root causes and have high-quality inputs, you need to incorporate FP&A early on. If you haven't thought about the potential outcome, you end up with garbage because you've just focused on the process.
Depends on the technology.
If it's a core finance system / ERP implementation, you might just need to know that you can access the data / integrate an FP&A tool, if all you're doing is data analysis.
But this is becoming less and less as more finance professionals are working to become more strategic business partners.
FP&A will need to be actively involved in tech decisions, if the technology is transformative, and is likely to improve the quantity and quality of data.
A wrong tech decision, that then disables FP&A from providing the insight they need to deliver to the business, is something you want to avoid.
Are there any particular technologies that you're referring to?
When it comes to making decisions on finance technology, FP&A teams should play a crucial role. FP&A teams are uniquely positioned to understand the needs and challenges of both finance and business operations. FP&A teams can provide valuable insights on the specific requirements, functionalities, and integration capabilities necessary to streamline financial operations and commercial business operations to enhance decision-making. By actively engaging FP&A teams, we can leverage their expertise to select and implement the most suitable finance technology solutions that align with the organization's goals and drive efficiency, accuracy, and productivity across the finance function and organisation as a whole.
As the economy evolves and macro-events of epic proportions spin up around us, your ability to pivot quickly is what will separate you from others.
1)Modern technology, a
2)data-first strategy,
3)bottom-up budgeting, and
4)continuous planning
with all stakeholders are important tools for success
Finance should play a primary role when it comes to finance technology, providing IT with their needs. If business partners are expected to be viewers of say a dashboard, they should also be consulted on what will be useful for them.