FP&ANeuGroup News
May 18, 2023

NeuGroup for Heads of FP&A 2023 H1 Meeting Takeaways

A huge thank you to the FP&A team at General Mills for hosting the May 16-17th meeting of NeuGroup for Heads of FP&A at their Minneapolis headquarters. Thank you to all the peer group members who joined us for dinner and a day full of fascinating discussions, as well as NeuGroup’s very own Andrew Podolsky, Nilly Essaides, and Courtney Royer for making this an exciting and successful event. The #1 topic arising from the session on our projects and priorities was how to transition from a pure P&L focus to building a cash culture, as margins tighten across industries. The challenge for many members is instilling cash…
FP&ATechnology
January 5, 2023

Outside In: FP&A’s Role in Leading Finance Transformation

After completing finance transformation initiatives at two companies, one NeuGroup member shares keys to success. Accelerating the finance function’s digital transformation is one of the leading priorities for NeuGroup members heading into 2023, as many corporates seek to overhaul outdated, tactical finance organizations and embrace a more strategic, forward-thinking mindset. But where do you start? For Aaron Bloomer, vice president of global FP&A at Baxter International, the answer was simple: FP&A. “I’m a huge advocate of outside-in thinking,” Mr. Bloomer…
Technology
December 1, 2022

Mastering Your Data

Data accessibility and availability is at the core of all finance technology transformation. By Nilly Essaides Many finance organizations are fast-tracking automation initiatives, aiming to improve process efficiency and build new capabilities to support an increasingly strategic role. The pressure to reduce process cost and head count is intensifying alongside concerns about a global recession. “We are speeding up our digital transformation,” said a member of NeuGroup for Tech Treasurers at the annual meeting at Carmel Valley Ranch. “I just received my…
Cash & Working CapitalFP&AThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
September 22, 2022

Keys to Cash Flow Sustainability: Fresh FP&A’s Chris Ortega

An expert’s take on why managing cash burn and liquidity today is more critical than ever for finance organizations. In a video clip you can watch by clicking here or hitting the play button below, recognized FP&A authority and influencer Chris Ortega shares valuable insights on why treasurers, leaders of FP&A and CFOs managing risk in this time of economic and market volatility need to be “laser-focused” on building paths to cash flow sustainability and optimization. Mr. Ortega today is leveraging his extensive background…
Financial Planning and AnalysisTechnologyTreasury Management
August 25, 2022

Transformation and the IT/Finance Partnership

Collaborating with IT is essential for transformation success, and new tech solutions may precede process redesign. Finance transformation goes way beyond automation and the implementation of new tech solutions, to include process redesign and talent development. Its goal is to build new finance capabilities, by optimizing processes and reducing the time it takes to collect, compile and cleanse data. The upshot is that staff can focus on higher level activities, such as business partnering and strategic planning. But the modernization…
FP&ASenior Executive
August 11, 2022

Business Partnering Must Be a Full-Time Job

To prepare for increasing demand for business decision-making support, FP&A needs to review its business partnering model. When the business landscape is foggy, FP&A shines. Facing a period of economic and market volatility, FP&A leaders are preparing to provide more hands-on support to the business: A recent survey of NeuGroup’s Mega-Cap and Large-Cap FP&A peer groups showed that 100% of members anticipate (or are already sensing) a rise in demand for help from business leaders. Operational leaders are going to ask a lot more…
Cash & Working CapitalFP&AThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
July 28, 2022

How the FP&A Team at WM Is Preparing for Recession

Looking back, looking forward: WM’s Eric Davis on how data and analysis guides planning as the economy weakens. How do the best financial planning and analysis (FP&A) teams rise to the current, critical challenge of planning, budgeting and guiding corporate leaders in periods of high uncertainty and volatility as recession fears mount? To answer that question, we turned to Eric Davis, vice president of finance at WM, formerly known as Waste Management. Listen to his response by hitting the play button…
FP&ATechnology
April 28, 2022

Technology as the Backbone of Change

The importance of harnessing big data and implementing a holistic solution to drive finance transformation and process optimization. The pandemic exposed the deficiencies in many companies’ planning processes and technology infrastructures. As events unfolded at a breakneck pace, FP&A leaders were expected to deliver quick insight to support critical strategic decisions. However, many were hampered by a lack of data visibility and inflexible and suboptimized forecasting and planning processes. According to members of NeuGroup for Large-Cap Heads of FP&A, which met in Atlanta…
FP&ATechnology
March 3, 2022

Crunch Time: Extreme Uncertainty Raises the Stakes for FP&A

To become strategic business partners, FP&A leaders must provide data-driven insight to support critical decisions.Like the pandemic, the crisis in Ukraine is forcing companies to rethink their business and financial plans. While the worst financial repercussions of the sanctions are within Russia, the impact of the crisis goes far beyond. Spikes in oil prices and inflation are throwing into question companies’ annual budgets, changing forecasting assumptions and making it imperative that FP&A realizes its potential as a strategic advisor to the…
FP&ATreasury Management
December 1, 2021

Bridging the Gap Between Treasury and FP&A 

By Nilly EssaidesTechnological advances are fueling the convergence of once-disparate finance processes, as they increasingly rely on the same tools to execute critical processes. In addition, faced with continued disruption in business, economic and financial conditions, CFOs expect finance organizations to contribute greater value through faster and more insightful decision-support. To do so effectively, legacy silos among different areas of finance must be dismantled. Going Beyond Best Practice to Process Innovation Nowhere is the need to bridge barriers more urgent than…