Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) is the finance function that helps an organization plan, measure, and steer its financial performance through budgeting, forecasting, modeling, and performance reporting.
FP&A work is commonly grouped into four activities. Planning and budgeting sets financial targets for the coming period. Integrated financial planning ties those targets together across departments so that operating plans, headcount, and capital needs reconcile to a single view. Management and performance reporting compares actual results against the plan and explains the gaps. Forecasting and modeling projects future results under different assumptions so leaders can weigh decisions before committing to them.
FP&A is distinct from accounting, which records and reports what has already happened; FP&A uses those records to look forward. In smaller companies the function often sits with a 📝Fractional CFO, whose work typically centers on an 📝Integrated Financial Model (IFM).