SF Magazine: Forecasting the Future

5 ways to use predictive analytics:

1. Expand the data available
2. Tools: Start small and add on
3. Use scenario planning
4. Address the knowing-doing gap
5. Model building: Think causality

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CFO Dive: 5 CFO Tips for Rebuilding FP&A from Pandemic Ruin

““COVID-19 changed the future direction for most companies and so FP&A — and especially forecasting the future — became much more important””.

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CFO Dive: Forecasting Cash Flow Under Volatile Conditions

““I think it’s important to forecast cash flows by estimated revenue by product, by customer, by currency, and by breaking down operating costs between fixed and variable and other categories. If there are certain variables, like key input prices that could fluctuate dramatically, having a proper sensitivity analysis can help.””

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Accounting Today: Data Analysis and Forecasting Software: Taking a Look Into the Future

“But in some practices, there’s been a degree of hesitation in adopting one of the excellent software applications targeted at this need. As with many applications, building and using an Excel spreadsheet model is still a popular approach. And some practices are hesitant to adopt and apply an analytical application that uses techniques they may not have been exposed to — essentially a “black box.” But in today’s world, many of the apps and software solutions in use employ techniques that you may not be able to detail step by step, but that produce results that are probably a quantum level above those that could be achieved a decade ago. And that’s a very good and profitable development.”

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Forbes: Accounting For The Future: Why CFOs Need Predictive Powers

“While hindsight and oversight were the activities we felt most comfortable performing, today our roles have shifted to include the additional “lines of sight” of insight and foresight. Some have gone as far as referring to the “CFO” as “Chief Futures Officer.” In any case, as our world grows more complex and volatile, the CFO can evolve to become both a strategist and a futurist.”

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Industry Week: Evolve Your Supply Chain Management to Be More Strategic

“Accuracy in forecasting can be as much of an art as a science in many industries. But it is hard to make strategic decisions if your forecasting is at 50 percent accuracy.”

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Accounting Today: Now What? Bridge the Gap in Financial Planning and Analysis

“Transformation is no longer just “nice to have.” Business leaders must be able to rely on the validity, trustworthiness and relevance of the data used to analyze and report on end-to-end planning, budgeting and forecasting processes. The cost of continuing business as usual is duplication of the efforts, fragmented systems that take lots of people and time to reconcile, challenges to meeting regulatory compliance, an inability to determine where to prioritize resources, and lower stakeholder confidence.”

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CFO Dive: Making FP&A More Business Relevant

“..The goal is simple: to arm CFOs with more relevant and actionable analyses so they can be better partners to the other executives.”

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CFO Dive: Data Is a Differentiator, But Much of it Is Wrong

“The good news is the growing recognition that fast access to real-time and accurate financial data is a strategic imperative. More than one-third of the executives (34%) are considering implementing or scaling automation solutions to increase the reliability and accuracy of their data, while 42% are becoming more focused on scenario planning and stress testing.”

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