Why you need to have a “support mindset” as an FP&A Business Partner
In FP&A, it’s our job to determine why the business is moving in a given direction.
Usually, that means we need to ask our cross-functional business partners for information - often against a tight deadline.
Additionally, we need to guide our business partners towards making decisions that have an acceptable level of risk, grow the company sustainably, and keep profitability goals in mind. That means we need to ask them to do things that come on top of their already busy schedule. That’s why it’s so important to support our business partners when the opportunity presents itself.
If we keep asking without giving anything in return, it hurts our relationships in the long run.
And once the relationship is damaged, it’s less likely people go out of their way to help us or share more information than they need to.
What are ways you can support your business partners?
Ask if there are any pain points with the monthly close process you lead. There are ways to make it easier for people most of the time. Sometimes, it’s a lack of understanding of the process in its entirety that causes confusion and unnecessary rework for our business partners. Taking the time to explain it can go a long way.
Do your business partners need more visibility of the results you are reporting? Perhaps there is a KPI that you can start tracking. Ask what metrics your business partners would like to see in an ideal world. Sometimes, people think certain things are impossible to know because they don’t currently have them.
Share results earlier, giving them more time to review. For example, consider providing the most actionable metrics weekly instead of just monthly. Increasing reporting frequency makes it easier to spot a change in trends early enough to do something about it.
Check in regularly to see if the Finance team can do anything to help them succeed with their goals. It helps to have regular 1:1s scheduled ahead of time, to have a standing meeting. Otherwise, it’s too easy to forget to connect during busy times. That’s especially important when we don’t automatically run into each other since people work from home most of the time.
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