What is your experience working with and or in that organization?
10 replies (most recent on top)
They spend a lot of time at the Gym and just hang out in the office talking to each other too. At least that is what I did.
They are, in a word, useless.
@cv Any smart VP has to because they cannot rely on FPA.
FP&A, the former, Budgets, Plans, and Analysis, has perfected the art of mathematical mental masturbation. No one wastes more time and resources on absolutely nothing at all than FP&A. A few of them add great value, but most of them are just spinning wheels going nowhere in a hurry. Truly mindless work.
@at Many operational svps have their own in house finance teams reporting directly to them totally separate from official finance and fpas. They often have great relationships with the business units and do the work to get things done that finance takes credit for. Unfortunately, shadow finance is referred to in a derogatory way at the highest levels of official finance - right? Despite millions spent on transformation and systems over the years, the overlap and misalignment between the leaders is jarring and highly visible.
Command and control.
They own "the numbers" and all the underpinning logic to derive them. How they derive them is a complete mystery in that they don't share logic, making any validation of the "truths" they derive nearly impossible.
Note the use of the word derive. The story told is subject to the underlying logic , assumptions and garbage data they have to work with.
psssst --- "TRAP!"
whats a shadow finance
The FPAS team handles the foundational tasks that overlapping traditional finance and shadow finance departments lost authority over. However, FPAS has deeper expertise due to their closer alignment with the numbers and forecasting methodologies. Finance and shadow finance act as intermediaries between the business units and FPAS, relaying questions and concerns from the business. When issues arise, the blame often falls on FPAS despite their crucial role. Additionally, discussions with the business units tend to be ineffective, especially when headcount approvals are controlled at the c suite level. This organizational structure, while intended to streamline operations, raises concerns about efficiency and accountability. A world class, best practices, art of the possible, North Star, raise the bar, leveled up organizational structure indeed! Right? Right? Right? Right?
For us they manage results, outlook and the budget for the expense lines and kpis. They remind of how we are trending and help manage risks and opportunities. Business Transformation Teams, on the other hand, always ask about new reductions that they think we have just randomly lying around...