{"id":999970433,"date":"2024-12-06T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/?p=999970433"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:40:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:40:20","slug":"financial-planning-and-analysis-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/financial-planning-and-analysis-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"How to leverage technology in financial planning and analysis (FP&amp;A)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you ever feel like your financial planning and analysis (FP&amp;A) work cycle just keeps getting bigger? It seems like the more you do it, the more work there is. This is understandable, because every time you achieve a goal, new opportunities and challenges open up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Financial planning teams in particular often feel understaffed because the work simply seems endless, as there is theoretically always a myriad of additional tasks to improve financial forecasting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, technology has changed the way we approach financial analysis and planning. Thanks to technology, we can perform deeper analysis, forecast more accurately and make more effective business decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any FP&amp;A team is at different stages of this journey. Let\u2019s take a look at the four stages of financial planning and analysis:<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Index<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseprofile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/financial-planning-and-analysis-technology\/#Giai_doan_1_Chi_tap_trung_vao_Bao_cao_tai_chinh_hang_thang\" >Phase 1: Focus Only on Monthly Financial Reports<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/financial-planning-and-analysis-technology\/#Giai_doan_2_Ket_hop_so_lieu_bao_cao_tai_chinh_va_cac_chi_so_van_hanh\" >Phase 2: Combine financial reporting data and operational metrics<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/financial-planning-and-analysis-technology\/#Giai_doan_3_Lap_ke_hoach_va_du_bao_tich_hop\" >Phase 3: Integrated planning and forecasting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/financial-planning-and-analysis-technology\/#Giai_doan_4_May_hoc_va_phan_tich_theo_thoi_gian_thuc\" >Phase 4: Machine learning and real-time analytics<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/financial-planning-and-analysis-technology\/#Ket_luan\" >Conclude<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Giai_doan_1_Chi_tap_trung_vao_Bao_cao_tai_chinh_hang_thang\"><\/span>Phase 1: Focus Only on Monthly Financial Reports<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Technology required:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Basic accounting software and Excel<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the early stages, businesses often rely solely on monthly financial reports to assess their business performance. During this time, the finance team is often comprised of just a few people who undertake a variety of tasks, with limited depth of expertise. Therefore, Financial Planning and Analysis is no exception.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Typically, this stage will use forecasts based primarily on past growth trends in financial metrics: monthly financial statements, analysis of historical data, and projections of future trends.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis year&#039;s revenue increased by 20%, so next year it can increase by another 20%.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis month the gross profit margin is 55% so it can be reduced by another 50%\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOperating expenses for this quarter are 500,000,000 VND, so next quarter it could increase to 700,000,000 VND\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The analysis is pretty straightforward: how much did revenue increase, did costs change? This is the traditional approach, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with it. However, it lacks a deep analysis of cause and effect: what happened, why it happened, and what will happen next.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-999970435 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Chi-tap-trung-vao-Bao-cao-tai-chinh-hang-thang.webp\" alt=\"Focus only on Monthly Financial Reports\" width=\"1200\" height=\"626\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Chi-tap-trung-vao-Bao-cao-tai-chinh-hang-thang.webp 1200w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Chi-tap-trung-vao-Bao-cao-tai-chinh-hang-thang-300x157.webp 300w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Chi-tap-trung-vao-Bao-cao-tai-chinh-hang-thang-1024x534.webp 1024w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Chi-tap-trung-vao-Bao-cao-tai-chinh-hang-thang-768x401.webp 768w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Chi-tap-trung-vao-Bao-cao-tai-chinh-hang-thang-18x9.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Giai_doan_2_Ket_hop_so_lieu_bao_cao_tai_chinh_va_cac_chi_so_van_hanh\"><\/span>Phase 2: Combine financial reporting data and operational metrics<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Technology required:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Accounting software + Excel + internal data<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An important concept at this stage is <\/span><b>\u201coperating index\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (operationals) \u2013 factors that drive financial results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customer churn rate (ARR) directly affects revenue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decreased customer software usage may result in service discontinuation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Integrating operational metrics into financial analysis helps Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&amp;A) teams connect data, explain forecast variances, and provide more detailed analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a customer&#039;s software usage rate falls below 50%, there is a high chance they will stop using it within 90 days.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based on current data, we forecast 6 customers will churn in the next 90 days.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, in reality, only 4 customers stopped using, of which 3 were on the initial forecast list and 1 showed no sign of decreasing usage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conclusion: Customer churn rate positively impacted revenue compared to forecast.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This analysis is much clearer and more useful than a simple sentence like: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis month&#039;s sales were higher than expected.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Combining financial data with operational data helps us better understand the causes of fluctuations and make better business decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Giai_doan_3_Lap_ke_hoach_va_du_bao_tich_hop\"><\/span>Phase 3: Integrated planning and forecasting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Technology required:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Professional FP&amp;A tools or advanced Excel<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This stage creates the greatest value.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this stage, businesses will leverage financial and analytics tools to create a more integrated planning system that links financial data to operational metrics in a more detailed and accurate way. These tools not only help connect data sources but also automate real-time forecast model updates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This step is not too different from the previous stage \u2013 since no new data appears\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the power of this stage lies in the fact that you combine financial and operational data at a transactional level of detail, rather than just at an aggregate level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the previous stage, you had to log into two different systems to get the data\u2026 Then, in an Excel model or FP&amp;A tool, you would pair the monthly results from each system at an aggregate level (i.e. the sum of each system&#039;s monthly results).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In an integrated planning and forecasting system, data fusion is done at the most granular level possible (transaction, customer, supplier, department, employee) so that when there is a change in the driver forecast, it is updated across all financial forecasts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the output of this step and the previous step may be similar, using technology to do all the complex math will save you the need to rely on analysts to edit Excel models and ensure that changes in customer usage are accurately reflected in each account in the P&amp;L.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This integration helps the finance team reduce manual errors, save time and increase accuracy in financial forecasts. Further analysis can be performed on the detailed database. This provides valuable information for the company&#039;s strategic decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the implementation of this tool needs to be carefully considered, especially for small businesses or businesses that are not yet stable in terms of products and markets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Standardizing your forecast too early can be a waste of resources, especially if your product-market fit isn&#039;t yet well-established and your forecast drivers are constantly changing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-999970436 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Integrated planning and forecasting\" width=\"2560\" height=\"964\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-300x113.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-1024x386.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-768x289.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-1536x579.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-2048x772.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Lap-ke-hoach-va-du-bao-tich-hop-18x7.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Giai_doan_4_May_hoc_va_phan_tich_theo_thoi_gian_thuc\"><\/span>Phase 4: Machine learning and real-time analytics<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Technology required:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Leading planning tools combined with in-house data analytics team<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an exciting time\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of relying on analysts to send reports, mine information, and update forecasts, you can now leverage technology to do all of these things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, this step can only be done effectively if you already have an integrated planning and forecasting system in place (as in stage 3).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When all your data is centralized in a single analytics ecosystem, you&#039;ll be able to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apply machine learning to detect patterns in data that are difficult for humans to recognize (with billions of rows of transaction data across thousands of variables).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use machine learning to perform multivariate financial forecasting based on hundreds, even thousands of different data dimensions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detect data patterns that do not conform to normal trends (outside the range of standard deviation or normal expectations).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide real-time analytics to frontline employees or leaders as they manage real-world work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deploying AI chatbots allows leaders to interact directly with your data.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the ideal level that businesses are currently aiming for in their journey of developing FP&amp;A technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, very few organizations are able to achieve and operate effectively at this stage, and they are actually reaping huge benefits from this process\u2026mainly because it requires a solid foundation and years of preparation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can&#039;t skip the stages, and many financial leaders still lack the vision to reach this stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result, many businesses fail to make the necessary investments, and finance teams remain stuck between stages 2 and 3.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ket_luan\"><\/span><b>Conclude<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The impact of technology on your financial planning and analysis journey is clear, in order, but difficult to achieve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take time to understand what stage you are in your journey and what you need to do to move to the next level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then calculate the technology costs required to make it happen and build a strong enough vision to make it happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source: Edited from Forecasting Performance\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Monitor\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/?swcfpc=1\">Bizzi<\/a>\u00a0To quickly receive the latest information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Facebook:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bizzivietnam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bizzivietnam<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Linkedin:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/bizzi-vietnam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/bizzi-vietnam\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Youtube:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@bizzivietnam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@bizzivietnam<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you ever feel like the financial planning and analysis (FP&amp;A) cycle just keeps getting bigger and bigger? It seems\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":999970434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-999970433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-goc-nhin-cfo","category-tin-tuc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999970433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999970433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999970433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":999980647,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999970433\/revisions\/999980647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/999970434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999970433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999970433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizzi.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999970433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}