Molly Malone’s Post

#givingback #fpa Post 4: As mentioned in my posts earlier, I have been fortunate to have worked with great colleagues in FP&A and brilliant business stakeholders. Basis my 8 years of experience so far, jotting down few pointers in terms what I should have done during early yrs of career to be a better FP&A Professional. 1. Don’t assume your ownership ends once your manger has reviewed. It’s good to have support of manager ( Tag team with him or her is also ok) but own the deliverable end to end. 2. If you join a new business or segment, don’t assume time will help you learn. Invest first 15 days to learn process end to end, important SMEs of that process who can provide and help you with business info. 3. Data supersedes trust. Often job of FP&A professional is to give insights basis interaction and conversation with people. Always apply a filter of logic if any info is provided. Validate it with evidence. Example: if showroom manager requests for vehicles, apart from checking current inventory ask for booking for last month and arrive at a probability of conversion of such booking before approving orders. People should not change your point of view but correct data and analysis should. 4. Staying humble is good but it hurts if you are not bold. Remember you don’t work for anyone but logic. Good, ugly or bad, it’s responsibility of FP&A to highlight red flag to the management, to discuss about tough steps company might need to take, always show correct, true and authentic picture. 5. Always ask for the objective of any analysis request. It will help you to know end audience, purpose and clarity of what needs to go into such analysis. This would help improve quality and reduce TAT to a significant measure. If its tough to ask, you can say “May I know the purpose so that I can assist you better?” Hope above points help you to be a better FP&A professional !! Feel free to add more in comments so that we learn more :) #candidpost

7 Reasons FP&A is a Popular Career Curious why FP&A is the talk of the town among finance professionals? Here's what makes this career a top choice: 1️⃣ Work on Business Strategy 2️⃣ Collaborate with Senior Leadership 3️⃣ Solve Complex Problems Be the go-to expert 4️⃣ Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner with business 5️⃣ Develop Communication Skills Master storytelling and more 6️⃣ Access Global Opportunities Work with diverse teams and cultures 7️⃣ Enjoy Career Growth + Satisfaction driving performance + Your career. Learn more about FP&A careers and membership plans with FP&A Professionals Institute (FPI). 👉 Click the link in the description or scan the QR code to explore!

Need help elevating yourself in your FP&A role? Take something annoying off your boss’ plate. They’ll thank you and you’ll have a chance to prove you can play 1 level up. Just make sure your current job is being done 100%.

Looking to grow your FP&A career to Manager and beyond? 3 things you need to be aware of: 1. Developing next level skills 2. FP&A best practices 3. Be the obvious choice And success usually looks different from what makes you a great analyst.

Navigating the complexities of a matrix organization can be a real challenge, especially when it comes to tracking where revenue and costs are allocated. As FP&A professionals, we often find ourselves untangling webs of data and following complex trails. Here’s a light-hearted take on our daily adventures: Why did the FP&A analyst feel like a detective in a matrix organization? Because finding where the revenue and cost for an associate go always leads to another mystery! 😅 #MatrixMysteries #FPnA #CostClues #finance

Started a new role as Group Finance Manager.

🚀 Heyy FP&A Pros! Ever feel like you’re a data detective in the Middle East’s evolving market scene? 🕵️♂️📊 With recent shifts in oil prices and the rise of digital transformation, it’s never been more exciting to be in FP&A! Whether it’s optimizing costs, spotting trends, or aligning financial strategies with the latest tech—our role is at the heart of every big move. 📈 I’m constantly inspired by the dynamic changes and innovative practices here, and I love diving into these challenges to drive impactful results. 😎 Who else is seeing new opportunities for FP&A to shine in this market? Let’s chat about what’s trending in your world!👇

🤔 FP&A can roles vary significantly between companies. But what about within the same company? I have spent time working in FP&A in Head Office as well as in local Business Units of global businesses. The reality I experienced was that the jobs varied A LOT! Whilst every company is different, I am sure that this is the case in many companies. 👉 3 (of many) areas where I experienced differences: ⏱ FOCUS OF TIME Head Office: On largest business units, as well as poor performing ones. Business Unit: More focus with operational teams within the business unit. 📈 KPI FOCUS Head Office: Financial KPI's - Profit margins and key variances. Business Unit: A mix of operational and financial KPI's. 🤝 KEY STAKEHOLDERS Head Office: FP&A/CFO's of business units; regional management Business Unit: Head office FP&A; all teams within the business unit. This concept of Head Office and Business Unit FP&A maybe applies more to larger companies. 👨🎓 But one key lesson I have learned can carry to any type of business: 💪 Investing time to understand the world of your key stakeholders can really help you develop stronger working relationships with them. 🙌 And you will learn a lot!

5 FP&A mistakes to avoid: 1. Failing to allocate sufficient budget towards high-impact initiatives. 2. Getting stuck in analysis paralysis instead of taking decisive action. 3. Sticking to manual processes rather than automating them for efficiency. 4. Spreading resources thinly and trying to serve all products and customers equally. 5. Focusing on unprofitable business areas instead of the most value-adding segments. That's why Jorge Lluch and I founded Abacum. We want to help FP&A teams avoid those pitfalls and drive efficient growth through better decisions and faster execution. Our vision is to make every finance team the hero in their organization. We are really excited.

FP&A Insights FP&A is a dynamic game of alignment, numbers, driving strategies and business partnership. FP&A team is looked upon as first go to spot to solve for any finance related fire and hence stakes are most of the times high, if not always. Basis my 8+ yrs of experience into FP&A so far and having been fortunate enough to have worked with brilliant minds, FP&A professionals with below qualities seem to have better control of the situations in general: 1) Always have backing for a number: Backing does not always mean creating an excel back up. It’s means an alignment with business person. This is important so that you always have a tag team from a business stakeholder to explain changes in numbers. 2) Be a sniper, not a pistol: My first boss taught me this. A sniper takes time, evaluates all the dimensions and shoots in a way such that probability of missing target goes minimal. In a 30-45 mins meeting, not all problems can be solved with a senior stakeholder. Therefore, it is recommended to go with the big fish with all the data covered and align on it. Taking a laundry list will rather create chaos. Hope above points help in your FP&A journey :) #fpa