February 16, 2021
As a government contractor and/or an accounting BPO, you can take pride surviving 2020, which was easily one of the most volatile years on record. Chances are, you relied heavily upon your financial planning and analysis (FP&A) teams throughout the ups and downs of the year to provide quick insights into forecasts, operational performance and data-driven answers to make important decisions. Now that the first quarter of 2021 is underway, here’s what you can expect from an FP&A perspective, according to our partners at Oracle NetSuite…
1) Fixed Costs will continue to face scrutiny
In times of uncertainty, organizations must turn a critical eye toward which costs can be cut, without harming the future of the company. FP&A teams must continue to monitor several categories continually, including payroll and benefits, outsourcing, cost of operations, supplier contract terms and culture expenses. This scrutiny will continue and may be more extreme this year.
2) Organizations will cut legacy systems
FP&A teams cannot afford to be slowed down by old legacy systems any longer. In 2021, organizations will need to either enhance or eliminate systems that cannot keep up. Additionally, they will need to either create efficiencies in their processes – including
migrating to cloud-based planning and budgeting solutions, such as those offered by
Oracle NetSuite. These tools allow for better remote access and greater collaboration for
companies of all sizes.
3) Agility becomes a priority
Now more than ever, it is important for FP&A teams to adjust to plans quickly and communicate insights early and often. These teams must continue to enhance technological capabilities that allow organizations to reduce planning cycle times, improve forecast accuracy, deliver insights quickly, and proactively plan as the world changes quickly.
4) Strong but flexible financial planning becomes vital
2020 forced FP&A teams to rethink the art of prediction, and highlight the importance of mitigating risk. Organizations faced additional strains on their financial planning and forecasting processes, which will likely continue in 2021. Throughout 2021, there will be an increased focus on driver-based modeling and collaboration with those most familiar with a defined driver. Additionally, planning teams will rely even more heavily on external economic drivers.
NetSuite’s Planning and Budgeting solutions are easy to use and deploy. They eliminate manual
data entry, with reporting at your fingertips and no need to worry about who gets what data when.
Plus, it’s easy to include everyone within the company who needs to be involved in the planning
process. Contact Daston today to learn how an Oracle NetSuite Planning and Budgeting solution can work for your enterprise!