I need a quotation for a solution for attachment Assignment 2 brief using the topics around the financial plan based on the other two attached documents.

A New Era for FP&A Submitted by Editor on Wed, 2016-01-13 21:30 By Larysa Melnychuk, Founder and MD of London FP&A Club We live in an era with an interconnected global economy, where constant change and uncertainty are taken as a given but planning for such an environment is not easy. Flexible and dynamic financial planning and analysis (FP&A) can help firms to cope. The financial crisis affected many companies and some of them became all too familiar with the spectre of unexpected 'black swan' events or 'perfect storm' market conditions that adversely impacted their business. Those that survived understand the value of FP&A. Some organisations have not had enough time to re-align their cultures, systems and processes to suit the 'new normal' conditions, but they should as most chief financial officers (CFOs) and other finance professionals know that the ability to forecast results is the number one concern of modern business. The financial planning and analysis (FP&A) function has undergone a dramatic transformation and re-modelling around the globe over the last decade to help it to provide these predictive capabilities. New technologies and 'big data' software interrogation tools mean that numbers can be crunched and accurate scenarios run thanks to the rise of cheap 'big computing' power. Traditional methods of budgeting and planning are no longer fit for the purposes and challenges of the 21st Century. There are a number of different studies and papers that I have read that prove this, from Accenture which claims that only 11% of companies are fully satisfied with their planning procedures, to a recent 'CFO' magazine study which claimed that 70% of its respondents were not able to see more than one quarter ahead. Spreadsheets often still dominate the planning and budgeting procedure, whether it's housed in the treasury or not, and this further limits the ability of corporations to predict future revenue streams, business growth areas, cash positions or other useful 'value add' information far enough into the future to plan effectively. FP&A might be able to help in this regard but before I go any further I'd like to define the term. What is FP&A? Currently, there is no consistent definition for FP&A across the industry. However, I like the following simple definition by Mark Gandy, a business-to-business CFO freelancer, who explains that: \"While the financial controller typically looks backwards, the FP&A professional looks forward and sideways, diagonally, upward, downward, multi-dimensionally, and so on.\" The acronym FP&A (financial planning and analysis) is still relatively new. Ten or 15 years ago the function would typically be called budgeting and planning, or business finance. Very often it would not even be separated from the function of financial reporting. Top Five FP&A Challenges According to the renowned 'sage of Omaha' Warren Buffet, in the business world, the rear view mirror is always clearer than the windshield. In other words, hindsight is a great thing but it doesn't necessarily help in predicting the future. Currently, there are many challenges facing our nascent FP&A profession, but I think that five stand out as the most pressing: 1. Traditional Budgeting Culture: Traditional budgeting strategy is outdated, expensive and dysfunctional. However, it is also deeply embedded in the corporate culture. The political acumen of the traditional planning process is well-known. David Axson describes the budgeting process in his book 'The Management Mythbuster' as \"a game where executives demand ever better numbers and their subordinates seek to ratchet down expectations\". 2. Misalignment of Strategic and Operational Planning Processes: Strategic and operational planning processes are greatly disconnected in many organisations. These two top-down and bottom-up planning processes are often generated from different systems and by different people and are therefore not harmonised. It is hence unsurprising that the vast majority of companies do not succeed in implementing the strategy they have lined out. Paul Niven describes the following barriers to strategy execution in his book entitled 'The Balanced Scorecard', prompting the thought that is it any wonder that planning and strategy do not always follow on into successful execution: Only 5% of the workforce understands the strategy. Only 25% of managers have incentives linked to strategy. 85% of executive teams spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy. 3. Planning Systems: Although increasing numbers of organisations are beginning to realise the importance of implementing modern driver-based planning systems, Excel spreadsheets are still a widely-used planning tool. Its functions are limited in scope and cannot fully cater to the financial planning demands of the current economy. 4. FP&A Teams: There is much debate on what the type of employees is needed in an FP&A department. A vast spectrum of skills are needed for an effective and efficient FP&A function and these can be sourced from treasurers, financial controllers, accountants, tax specialists or other trained finance professionals. I am a strong believer in the power of the synergetic team in which both the functional and team roles are well balanced. 5. Releasing the 'A' in FP&A: You need the right infrastructure in a financial planning and analysis department in order to minimise non-value adding activities and focus on highquality analytics and predictive planning that can be used to accurately assess cash positions way in the future or future calls upon company money. The majority of staff time at the moment is wasted on non-value add activities. In order to transform FP&A so that it is as forward-looking as possible, the analytical capabilities of the function should be improved and expanded significantly using 'big data' technologies, good training and skilled employees. The new AFP FP&A certification may be able to help in this regard. Where is FP&A Heading? In order to deliver a competitive advantage to a company, the modern FP&A function needs to be flexible and dynamic, to have a basis in sophisticated analytics, and be able to look at life-time values for products and projects, while encouraging business partnering where possible. As Charles Darwin famously said: \"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change\". It is as well to bear this quote in mind when assessing if your company can afford to invest in FP&A. There are significant changes in the role of the FP&A function, as it pivots towards a more predictive and analytical future, which will require internal cultural shifts. Big FP&A Changes to Watch The FP&A World is ready for some significant transformational changes: Business Intelligence (BI) technologies and advanced driver-based models will significantly reduce the time spent on non-value added activities. Routine tasks will be automated. Advanced and predictive analytical techniques will be widely used for better planning and decision-making. The traditional budgeting process will be significantly changed or even abandoned. FP&A processes will become shorter; our time horizon will expand. Rolling forecasts will replace traditional planning techniques. Cultural changes will encourage planning flexibility; when multiple scenarios are analysed, a participative planning process becomes the norm and the political acumen of the traditional planning process is addressed. FP&A teams will be multifunctional. Risk professionals, BI experts, risk managers, modellers, idea-generators and business partners will work side-by-side, creating synergetic teams with strategic vision and enormous analytical capabilities. Conclusion The above discussion aims to provide a generalised overview of the current state and outlook for the FP&A function and its development as a profession. The FP&A world is a complex and exciting one to be a part of, particularly in these unstable economic times when a predictive capability is highly prized. FP&A is gaining increasing recognition as companies realise its importance and the need for alternative, post-crash ways of doing business. It is certainly a field to watch, and more importantly- to get acquainted with. This article was first published on http://www.gtnews.com and http://www.afponline.org/ ASSIGNMENT 2 - Research Proposal Weighting: 30% towards final grade Word limit: 3000 (-/+10%) - text only, excluding tables, appendices, references, covers page, contents. This is an individual piece of work Apply the requirements of the Harvard Referencing System throughout the report. Use the structure appearing below: Research Proposal Specifics You are about to commence a new research project in a field of your choice. You are expected to write a report that constitutes a research proposal. 1. Working individually, you will: - Have chosen a clear and specific research question/ aim/ hypothesis for your research; - Have contextualised your research question/ aim within the academic literature; - Understand the philosophical and methodological bases for your research; - Have a sound method to address the research question/ aim/ hypothesis. 2. Use Harvard style in-text citation and referencing. 3. Do not copy any materials you use word for word unless you identify these sections clearly as quotations. 4. If you paraphrase any materials, you must identify sources through in-text referencing. 5. This is an individual assignment please do not work closely with anyone else. 6. Write 3000 words (+ or - 10%) excluding the header sheet, cover page, contents page, reference list, footnotes and appendices. Marks for criteria: Criteria 10% Focus and Completion Does the proposal address the set tasks in a meaningful manner? Research Objective Does the proposal clearly articulate Synthesis and Soundness Does the proposal place the research objective in the context of the relevant academic literature and any relevant past studies? Does the discussion demonstrate a 20% 20% 30% 10% 10% comprehensive understanding of that literature? Research Methods and Methodology Does the proposal sensibly outline methods for accessing sources of data that will address or answer the research objective? Is the method consistent with the methodology? Clarity of Approach Is the proposal well organised, logically constructed and attentive to the needs of the reader? Does the timeline include an Gantt chart or key milestones for research? Mechanical Soundness Is the portfolio clearly written, spell Structuring the research proposal 1. Introduction (~200 words) Explain the issue you are examining and why it is significant. Describe the general area to be studied Explain why this area is important to the general area under study (e.g., psychology of language, second language acquisition, teaching methods) 2. Background/Review of the Literature (~1000 words) A description of what has already known about this area and short discussion of why the background studies are not sufficient. Summarise what is already known about the field. Include a summary of the basic background information on the topic gleaned from your literature review Discuss several critical studies that have already been done in this area (cite according to Harvard style). Point out why these background studies are insufficient. In other words, what question(s) do they leave unresolved that you would like to study? 3. Research Objective (~500 words) A contextualisation and description of the questions you are examining and an exploration of the claims. Outline the methodological position you will take (ontology and epistemology) Outline the overarching research aim, objective or hypothesis that you will explore. List the specific question(s) that you are exploring. Explain how these research questions are related to the larger issues raised in the introduction. 4. Method and Design (~900 words) A description of how you would go about collecting data and test the questions your are exploring. (You are not required to come up with a new or original method!). Describe the general method you choose for your study, in order to explore your research objective or test your hypothesis(es). Explain why this method is the best for your purposes. Explain any potential difficulties in collecting data and how these will be overcome Explain the design features that ensure acceptability for ethical purposes Describe the participants (if any) and explain how you selected the sample Explain how you will present the collected data and how it will be able to be analysed the results to explore the research aim or to test the research hypothesis 5. Significance and Conclusion (~400 words) Discuss, in general, how your proposed research would lead to a significant improvement over the original studies, and how it would benefit the field. (In other words, why should someone care? 6. References (not in word count) Include all references in Harvard style. Appendix: (not in word count) Dissertation structure in chapters Gantt Chart or timeline Evolving FP&A: Should the Budget be Abandoned? Submitted by Editor on Mon, 2016-01-11 13:32 By Larysa Melnychuk, Founder and MD of London FP&A Club \"The same companies that vow to respond quickly to market shifts cling to budgeting - a process that slows the response to market developments until it is too late.\" -Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser, co-founders of BBRT With analytical driver-based models, FP&A's processes become more flexible and dynamic. A new generation of systems allows for agility, easy management of FP&A routines and collaborative planning. FP&A systems are now more often managed in the finance department, which helps to eliminate the problems of 'black boxes' and heavy reliance on expensive programmers and IT departments. Today, we are seeing the emergence of a new generation of FP&A professionals, who are different from traditional accountants. These practitioners can see the big picture, understand key business drivers, build models and generate valuable business insights. Most importantly, they can communicate the insight for effective decision-making and also inspire people across the organisation. The basis for this evolution is a changing business culture. The traditional, outdated budgeting mentality is being challenged more and more. Target negotiations, political games and biased planning processes cost companies a lot of money. These conventional budgeting practices are non-value adding and need to be abandoned if organisations want to stay competitive in this dynamic business environment. While the process of moving away from a traditional budgeting mentality is painful and slow, it is happening around the globe. The question is, are we ready to abandon the traditional budget completely? Going Beyond Budgeting The proponents of the 'beyond budgeting' movement are convinced that the budget attempts to fill too many roles, namely: Setting targets. Planning. Resource allocation. Coordination. Performance management. One of the biggest conflicts of interest lies in trying to combine planning with target negotiations. It is a well-known paradigm: the budgeting process is a process of heavy target negotiations. Targets are linked to remunerations. This makes traditional budgeting a very emotional process: it is a battle for next year's pay package of the participants. Can it still be objective and unbiased? Probably not. This is a game, where 'subjective' or 'objective' are often forgotten. When this subject is discussed at FP&A Club events in different countries, it invariably produces smiles on FP&A professionals' faces. They can strongly relate this behaviour to inefficiencies in their processes. Unfortunately, this traditional process is still so heavily embedded in business practices around the globe that often it is very difficult to challenge the status quo. Luckily, change is already underway. More and more, companies are realising that budgeting is out-of-date before its finalisation and, therefore, is not that relevant for business. Some companies have even started to think about abandoning the budgeting process altogether. Norway's StatOil and Sweden's Handelsbanken are among those to have done so, demonstrating that it is possible to survive and prosper without a budget. However, this cannot happen overnight. Going beyond budgeting requires serious changes in business culture. It is well-known that such changes are the slowest and most painful. What is Beyond Budgeting? Bjarte Bogsnes, vice president, performance management development of StatOil, defines beyond budgeting thus: \"The main purpose is liberation from dictatorship, micromanagement, number worshiping, calendar periods, hierarchies, secrecy, stick and carrot.\" The main problems of traditional budgeting may be summarised as follows: Planning and forecasting are mixed with the target setting process. Compensation targets are fixed and heavily negotiated during the planning and budgeting process. Budgeting for the year is fixed. It is perceived as the head of each department's annual allowance. If he/she does not spend this year, that budget can be cut next year. The capital budget is set during the budgeting process. It is often fixed for the next financial year (in both projects and money terms). If you see an interesting business opportunity during the year, it may be not considered at all if you do not have the budget for this new project. Looking at the problems of traditional budgeting, many realise that it does not fit for purpose. Are we ready to abandon it though? Many FP&A professionals find the idea of abandoning the budget difficult to comprehend. Typical responses include: How will we report to the market analysts? How will we compensate our sales force? How will we control our expenses? The reality is that the beyond budgeting philosophy does not leave an empty space. Once the budget has been abandoned it gives new management tools that allow companies to overcome inefficiencies and a culture of dysfunctional behaviour. Beyond Budgeting, Step-by-Step Basically, the first step should involve separating the three processes that are historically combined in the traditional budgeting routine; namely target, forecast and resource allocation. The next step should consist of improving each of these processes: The target should become more ambitious, but relative. For example, it should be connected to external industry benchmarks. Fixed targets do not support holistic performance management practices. The forecast should be driver based and analytical, assumptions should be logical. Only a logical, analytical process can help create an unbiased planning and forecasting process. Resource allocation should be flexible, not fixed. If a new opportunity arises during the year, it should not be killed because of the lack of capital budgeting. The instruments of beyond budgeting are different. In general, it is based on rolling forecasts, balanced scorecards, analytical driver-based models, modern FP&A systems and efficient FP&A departments. Above all, the most important factor for beyond budgeting is business culture. While some organisations are not yet ready for this change, they may well become so over time and the process will be evolutional. Many companies are currently in a stage of transition: deeply dissatisfied with their FP&A processes, overworked and bombarded by deadlines, and looking for new FP&A talents that can be difficult to find. They are beginning to take the first positive steps towards a better FP&A business culture: implementing rolling forecasts, driver-based models and modern FP&A systems. However, the culture is often driven from the top of the organisation. Chief financial officers (CFOs) and chief executives (CEOs) have lived with budgets for too many years. The simple test in order to understand how embedded the "traditional budgeting culture" in your processes is to ask your FP&A team the following questions: Are you ready to challenge your CFO/CEO, when he/she sets unrealistic targets? Are you ready to point out when a plan is biased and not in-line with the trends and driverbased models you have? Do you have enough courage and power to eliminate 'hockey-stick forecasts' in your company, which often demonstrate how unrealistic and biased the process is? If you can answer 'yes' to the above questions, then probably you are ready for the beyond budgeting journey. If not, good luck in your search. Please remember though that if you want your FP&A department to become more strategic and influential, you have to challenge the existing status quo. This article was first published on http://www.gtnews.com and http://www.afponline.org/