“A spirited mind never stops within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength.” Michel de Montaigne, French Renaissance Philosopher & Writer As finance holds the reins of the 2017 financial plan process, having a great deal of influence how the plan activities are presented and executed, it might be a good…
“BUSINESS IS ALL ABOUT RISK TAKING AND MANAGING UNCERTAINTIES AND TURBULENCE.” BY GAUTAM ADANI, BUSINESS TYCOON Late this September, the movie, Deepwater Horizon will appear in theaters. The high level of interest in this release can be recognized, with over five million movie trailer view from YouTube. What could engage so many viewers in this…
Repeating, predictable patterns in data over a period of time, typically 12-months or more, are commonly characterized as seasonality. It’s certainly not the seasonal Fall or Autumn collection of the Vogue fashion trends which will never be repeated on the runway, but it’s the same predictable pattern every period. Since the oscillating highs and lows…
Periodic variance analysis has got to be one of the hardest jobs in Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A). Every month you go out to the various operations teams and shared services leads and ask them why their forecast is not on budget or most recent forecast. The answers are almost always lacking in detail and…
Most large organization spend a considerable amount of resources performing some type of financial forecasting. Conversely, small and medium-sized businesses spend less time on planning for the future. Larger organizations have more to lose, therefore, the need to actively assess changes in the market to take advantage of opportunities or avoid risks becomes a more…
Various studies show that increasing financial forecast accuracy will lead to higher profits, lower inventory levels and a higher share price. By how much varies by industry, time period forecasted, forecast measure, business model and a myriad of other factors that all play into the financial forecast itself. With the speed of business constantly increasing,…
With a constant focus on the bottom line, many finance professionals have a difficult time understanding why sales and marketing cannot make the numbers they promised. Working in sales is hard work and is not about just taking prospects out to fancy dinners and lunches to build relationships. In addition, customers are fickle, inconsistent and…