Key Findings
The 2024 FP&A Trends Survey, sponsored by SAP, gathered insights from 383 finance practitioners across diverse industries and regions. The survey highlights how FP&A teams are leveraging advanced technologies and analytics to support organizations in a rapidly changing business environment.
Data-Driven Decisions
- High Data Quality: Organizations with high data quality are 3.4 times more likely to rate their forecasts as great or good compared to those with low data quality. 71% of high data quality organizations rate their forecasts highly compared to only 21% of low data quality organizations.
- Impact on Decision-Making: 79% of organizations with high data quality base a large proportion of their decisions on data, a 15% increase over the average.
Critical FP&A Activities
FP&A teams focus on:
- Analyzing past performance to uncover trends.
- Overseeing planning processes to align strategic, financial, and operational needs.
- Providing data-driven insights for informed decision-making.
Planning Practices
- Driver-Based Models: Organizations using these models are 70% more likely to make data-driven decisions, an 18% premium over those without.
- Cloud Platforms: Usage results in a 65% likelihood of data-driven decisions, a 2% increase over non-users.
- AI/ML: Companies employing AI/ML for forecasting see a 75% likelihood of data-driven decisions, 13% higher than those without.
FP&A Tools and Technologies
- Forecast Accuracy: 61% of organizations using cloud platforms rate their forecasts as great or good, compared to 37% using other applications. AI/ML usage results in 65% rating their forecasts highly, compared to 40% without.
- Performance Impact: Best-in-class FP&A practices significantly enhance forecast quality and decision-making effectiveness.
FP&A Team Performance
- Best-in-Class Systems: FP&A teams using advanced practices show improved performance:
- 35% of optimized teams use best-in-class systems.
- 31% of teams performing well with some areas for improvement use best-in-class systems.
Conclusions and Recommendations
To enhance FP&A practices, organizations should:
- Strengthen business integration to foster a collaborative approach to planning and decision-making.
- Invest in advanced technologies and data management tools.
- Focus on improving data quality to enhance forecast accuracy and decision-making.
This digest captures the essence of the survey's findings and recommendations, providing a comprehensive overview of the current trends and future directions in FP&A.
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