Survey: FP&A and Business and Operations Teams in APAC Have High Collaboration in Forecasting and Planning

The 2021 Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) xP&A Survey, underwritten by Jedox, finds that the ability of FP&A teams to create an out-of-cycle forecast in Asia Pacific (APAC) is below teams in other geographies, hindering finance professionals from reacting quickly to shifting circumstances.

SINGAPORE, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Collaboration between financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and business and operations teams when forecasting and planning is greater in organizations within APAC than those in North America and those with a global presence (MNCs), according to the 2021 AFP xP&A Survey, underwritten by Jedox. This finding is encouraging and signals that FP&A is actively and effectively collaborating with its business and operations counterparts, and higher collaboration scores correlate to higher overall extended planning and analysis (xP&A) scores in the survey. The survey scored responses to each question based on levels of xP&A attainment; xP&A scores were then calculated for the FP&A profession overall and for the three geographies. The vision of xP&A is to increase the frequency and accuracy of forecasting by unifying, integrating, and aligning the planning and forecasting activities throughout the entire value chain.

Additionally, business and operations teams in APAC are able to understand or make decisions independently based on the finance and operations connection, representing the successful use of xP&A as it provides business insight into the financial impact of operating decisions.

Other notable highlights of the 2021 AFP xP&A Survey include:

• Multinationals (organizations with a global presence) have the highest overall xP&A score, while organizations based in APAC and North America (U.S. and Canada) tied.
• All geographies struggle equally with the effort to obtain data from nonfinancial sources. Compiling disparate operational data and relating them to the general ledger is key to unlocking the value of xP&A.
• The ability of business and operations teams in APAC to understand or make decisions independently is on par with those in North America. Further implementation of xP&A tools and methods is expected to raise this score.

"xP&A enables organizations to unify, integrate, and align planning and forecasting activities throughout the entire value chain, minimizing the time and effort required to assemble and share forecasts and plans," said Himashi Soriano, AFP's managing director of APAC. "There is high collaboration between FP&A and business and operations teams within APAC, and an opportunity for finance to extend this integration to become a more strategic business partner through data-driven insights and decisions."

Mark Velthuis, President at Jedox Asia Pacific, added, "The findings of the survey signal that finance teams are moving up the maturity curve. This is promising and reflects a deepening knowledge of how operational metrics drive financial performance, and technology that supports xP&A is key to continue progressing through this journey. Organizations in APAC are in a good position to leverage modern technology to increase agility and emerge ahead of competition."

AFP conducted this survey in April 2021. It generated 300 responses from corporate finance practitioners. For more information about the survey, click here. For press queries, contact Melissa Rawak at mrawak@afponline.org.

About AFP®
Headquartered outside of Washington, D.C. and located regionally in Singapore, the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) is the professional society committed to advancing the success of treasury and finance members and their organizations. AFP established and administers the Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Corporate FP&A Professional credentials, which set standards of excellence in treasury and finance.