🔁 FP&A, Accounting and the Benefits of Harmony

Out of all the finance function teams, FP&A and Accounting are the two most likely to work in silos –– but both teams deal in company figures, so surely collaborative opportunities abound…right?

That isn’t always the case, largely due to how disparate the functions may seem to those working within them. 

Accountants work within certainties; they record and report on past financial transactions with the aim of ensuring accuracy and compliance. Meanwhile, FP&A professionals think about the what-ifs; they look toward the future through strategy and forecasting.

For finance leaders, the challenge is meeting both teams in the middle –– marrying what they can do alone with what they can accomplish together. Building that collaboration takes a bit of time and some strategy, starting with…

Three Steps to Ensure Better Collaboration

It’s not always easy to bring teams into harmony with one another –– and when one team is so focused on the past while another has its sights set on the future, it can feel especially daunting. 

That’s why breaking down the silos is so important: doing so will help your company optimize financial roles and overall performance.

Break down the “why.” FP&A may share its budgets and forecasts, but just doing that doesn’t close the gap between teams. Be intentional about bringing in the controllership teams and having their FP&A counterparts break down their annual plan: what’s changing, why, what’s currently happening and what’s happened in the past.

Establish monthly feedback loops. Have accounting lead FP&A through a monthly walkthrough of exactly what occurred throughout the previous month. This gives FP&A better insight into the history they need to optimize their strategy.

Schedule regular wrap-ups. When the FP&A and Accounting teams work together, you’d be surprised how many systemic issues can be revealed. Regular collaboration will help solve the problems holding your team and your company back.

Collaboration + Processes = Growth

Another benefit of collaboration between the FP&A and Accounting teams? An increase in the controls needed to establish everything from AMA policy approvals to debt transactions and terms and conditions. Even the most basic controls –– such as fraud prevention –– are fundamental to the accounting department, while guidelines around policies and contracts work wonders for the FP&A team.

At first, all of these things are seen as guidelines or rules within an organization…but over time, they become a vital growth accelerant. It’s up to finance leaders and their teams to shape how those controls fit into the broader organization and how their essential nature is communicated.Prediction 4: Efficiency Focus

Cash may always reign as king, but Finance is the trusty advisor. This year we’ll see finance teams step to the forefront as leaders, company decision-makers and critical advisors to drive efficiency and optimize operations using what your organization already has.

To dig deeper into the relationship between FP&A and accounting, explore more of what collaboration can do for your organization, understand the strategic benefits of connecting the two, and tune into the latest episode of The CFO Show. Our guests –– David Cornfield of World Wildlife Fund Canada and Tom Seegmiller of Texada Software –– share everything you need to know and more.

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What’s next…

A job description that is 40% controller, 20% bookkeeper, and 20% FP&A is going to be nearly impossible to fill. But for many businesses, this is exactly the sort of hybrid role they need. Learn how to leverage outsourced accounting and fractional models to reduce costs and improve processes and accuracy from Dani Sandler, VP of Accounting Services at ScaleNorth.