Growing volatility in the business environment, cost pressures, and a new focus on enterprise performance has sparked a renewed interest in FP&A organizational structure. Companies are starting to realize the valuable role of FP&A in managerial decision-making.

The AFP Guide to FP&A Organizational Structures: Trends & Best Practices, sponsored by Wdesk, explores the various approaches to an FP&A organizational structure. With comments from experts and multiple case studies, the guide provides an overview of different companies’ approaches and emerging trends, delves into the pros and cons of each approach, and offers a list of best practices.

How the FP&A function is organized has a lot to do with a company’s growth curve, and its industry and corporate structure. Fast growing companies often need to have more staff in the field than mature, slower growing enterprises. Companies with few business lines and a simple organizational structure can be more centralized. Finally, large complex organizations may need both a corporate function and embedded staff.

The ultimate goal of any organizational structure is to support an effective and efficient delivery of services to internal and external customers. That’s true for FP&A as well.

In order for FP&A to deliver the added-value it can provide to senior management and operations, it needs to have the right people in the right place. It needs to be positioned to communicate up to senior management, delivering analysis and telling “stories” to drive enterprise performance; it also needs to be able to communicate downward and across functions, to support the operations.

After reading the new guide, you’ll have a better understanding of how to create an FP&A organizational structure that maximizes efficiency and delivers analysis and decision-making support to better aid your organization and its leadership.

Download the AFP Guide to FP&A Organizational Structures: Trends & Best Practices here.