Findings

Many FP&A teams are still stuck in the role of data reporters. And what it’s costing them is the trust and confidence of the C-suite.

Sixty-one percent of finance teams say their executive leaders view their FP&A function as either a “transactional/reporting function” or “reliable advisors on financials.” Only 31% said executives view FP&A as “strategic business partners,” and 9% said “critical drivers of growth.”

A big reason why many FP&A teams haven’t been able to ascend to this higher level of impact is that producing the essential reporting they need is still too much of a slog. As we uncovered in our survey, data quality and availability were seen as the biggest bottlenecks to FP&A processes.

But fixing this problem involves more than just data delivery. It means bringing people and processes together to ensure financials are understood in the context of the operational realities of the business.