This new white paper, based on the authors’ experiences, is written through the perspective of chief financial officers (CFO). It explains how – and why – Integrated Business Planning (IBP) transforms the role of the CFO.
The authors describe how a transition from finance custodian to trusted advisor occurs, including the skill sets that are developed and the enabling behaviors. They also explain the role of functional copilot in the IBP process.
“The nature of an IBP process requires being approximately right rather than precisely wrong. It also requires focus well beyond the current quarter’s results,” the authors state. “These are big mental hurdles to overcome for people trained to be detailed, exacting, and fact based.”
The authors present a case study that demonstrates, through the CFO’s eyes, the role of the finance team in the IBP process. The case study also describes the role of the finance team in creating scenarios for refining and validating the annual plan.