"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY

Want to reduce the time it takes to do your profit and cash forecast?

Learn how two FP&A veterans got their forecast time down to 2 days.

While increasing quality and minimizing late-night hours.

Show Notes

00:40 - We turned around a profit forecast in 2 days (for real)

01:30 - What a first-time forecaster in a F100 FMP program looks like

03:59 - Efficient profit forecasts take into account data, people, and process

04:55 - Don’t let too many people edit the forecast, sh#t gets confusing

05:29 - Use your accounts to assign ownership of spending drivers

06:48 - Marketing spend is the Wild West, but it can be tamed

08:09 - Having a globally distributed team is a BIG advantage to save time

09:35 - Give people the roadmap of the forecast process, it’s empowering

11:15 - Ask “why” you do things, will help remove wasteful time

12:45 - Mind mapping is INSANELY useful to visualize a profit forecast process

14:25 - Ultimately the stakeholder is your CFO and CEO, help them help you

15:35 - Big finish summarizing how to shorten the time it takes to forecast

What is a Profit and Cash Forecast?

Is your business going to achieve its revenue, profit, and cash goals?

The only way to know is by doing a monthly (or quarterly) profit and cash forecast.

It’s the process of adding up all your financial results.

And figuring out where your financial results will likely land in the future.

🔥TIP: Learn how to set your company’s KPIs and metrics

Why Does a Profit and Cash Forecast Matter?

Making business decisions is tough when you have no idea how much money your company will make.

Is revenue and profit going to be higher than expected next quarter?

If yes, what can you do with the surplus of cash?

FP&A is front and center helping businesses make timely investment decisions.

Ways to Reduce the Time It Takes to Forecast

A forecast is super stressful because it can take weeks to complete.

It can have way too many cooks in the kitchen.

And requires too many people to get relevant info.

Do these three things to reduce your profit forecast time (and stress levels):

Do NOT let dozens of people input forecast assumptions directly in your forecasting system, keep it to your FP&A team only

Minimize the number of department owners you work with to review forecast assumptions

Assign an FP&A team member to each major account group (like people costs, marketing)

This will help make you a faster forecaster and standout finance business partner.

Read our articles below to help you crush business partnering:

🔥How to business partner with Marketing successfully

🔥How to impress executives with quarterly sales performance reviews

🔥How to use bubble charts as the ultimate customer renewals tool

Conclusion: You Just Leveled-up Your Forecast Game

You can make your right-of-passage forecasting role way better.

And reduce the time it takes to do it.

By improving the process, assigning ownership, and simplifying things.

Keep learning and having fun.

Resources

▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey

▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com