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In a recent webinar, industry leaders gathered to explore the crucial role of FP&A in the consumer goods sector. The discussion focused on overcoming challenges and leveraging trends to drive strategic initiatives and support decision-making.
Pigment’s own Drew Brieman was joined by Swati Bagri, a seasoned FP&A Manager bringing experience from Mars, Nestlé and KraftHeinz, and Christian Wattig - an FP&A expert with 12+ years of leadership experience at multinational companies such as Unilever and P&G and fast-growing tech start-ups.
Macroscopic challenges in consumer goods
Large consumer packaged goods (CPG) organizations face significant macroeconomic challenges, including supply chain constraints and consumer resistance to price increases. These challenges demand innovative strategies and robust financial planning.
Two primary issues contributing to planning chaos were identified:
- The limitations of legacy planning and forecasting applications in keeping up with rapid industry changes.
- The collaborative challenges and siloed nature of different functions within organizations.
A strong FP&A practice is critical for accurately forecasting and analyzing the financial impact of various activities.
Agility and Collaboration: Key Imperatives for FP&A Success
Our speakers emphasized the importance of agility and adaptability in FP&A - things are changing fast, which means your plans need to as well. Key trends reshaping the industry include:
- Digital transformation and automation
- Data-driven decision-making
- Sustainability and ESG reporting
- Cost optimization and zero-based budgeting
FP&A must simplify complex financial data for non-financial teams and foster cross-functional collaboration. Clear and actionable insights derived from robust data enable the entire organization to align on common objectives.
Becoming better business partners
Those of us working in FP&A must continually deepen their understanding of the business and become genuine business partners. Improved efficiency in reporting and processes allows FP&A to provide more valuable insights, equipping business leaders with the information needed to make better decisions. Identifying underperforming products or activities and advocating for reduced complexity should be a focus.
The skills necessary to succeed in FP&A
Both technical competencies, such as expertise in Excel and modern tech tools like Tableau and Power BI, and softer skills like stakeholder management and empathy are crucial. While technical skills are vital in the early career stages, interpersonal skills become increasingly important for leadership roles. Building strong relationships and effective communication are key to successful finance business partnering.
The impact of remote work
While remote work is effective for tasks like consolidation, reporting, and financial modeling, face-to-face interactions remain crucial for building trust and cultivating relationships in business partnering roles.
Regular check-ins and creating connections beyond work-related discussions help maintain strong relationships in a remote or hybrid work environment.
Top-down vs bottom-up budgeting
There’s debate in FP&A surrounding top-down and bottom-up budgeting approaches. Our panel’s advice was to implement both approaches, with bottom-up inputs from business teams and top-down driver-based models.
Doing so bridges the gap for more accurate forecasting and planning, and ensures effective budgeting and planning, aligning the perspectives of everyone in the business.
Next steps
To view the webinar on demand, click here.
