The Real Job of Financial Planning & Analytics (FP&A) Is Clarity
Written by Lesa Muir, Director, Pivot2 Solutions
Finance doesn’t struggle because we lack data, we struggle because the data doesn’t create clarity.
I’ve sat in enough boardrooms to know you can have the most comprehensive pack in the room and management still walk out with confusion.
When that happens, it’s not a modelling problem, It’s not a system problem, It’s a clarity problem.
And clarity in FP&A comes down to two things:
Knowing what actually matters.
Explaining it in a way your audience understands.
That’s it.
Every business has a “main thing” in any given budget cycle.
It might be protecting margin.
It might be scaling without blowing up delivery.
It might be conserving cash.
But it is rarely everything at once.
The discipline of strong FP&A is not building comprehensive 50 page reporting packs. The discipline is deciding what matters most right now, and having the courage to make that the spine of the conversation.
When everything is important, nothing is, before you build the report deck, ask yourself:
What is the one tension in this business that really matters?
Is it growth vs margin?
Investment vs runway?
Capacity vs demand?
If you can’t name that tension clearly, your stakeholders won’t be able to either.
But even when you’ve identified what matters, you’re only halfway there.
Because metrics don’t speak for themselves.
A CEO hears opportunity.
A board member hears risk.
An operations leader hears workload.
An investor hears return.
The number hasn’t changed, the meaning has.
Your job in FP&A is not just to present performance, it’s to translate performance into decision language.
Instead of saying:
“Revenue grew 12%.”
Say:
“We grew 12%, but the mix shift means margin pressure in Q3 unless we adjust pricing or delivery efficiency.”
Now you’re not reporting you’re helping them choose.
That’s the shift.
Clarity is about sharper framing.
It’s about naming the chapter the business is in, it’s about highlighting the real trade-off and making the decision obvious.
There’s a quiet insecurity in finance that more detail equals more credibility, it doesn’t.
Clarity equals credibility.
If your pack can’t answer:
What matters most?
Why does it matter?
What decision does this support?
At Pivot2, we see this all the time in planning and EPM conversations, the system can produce hundreds of views, but the real value isn’t volume.
It’s helping leaders see:
Where the leverage sits.
What actually moves the needle.
And what can wait.
Finance shouldn’t just measure performance, it should create alignment.
And in a world drowning in data, clarity is one of the most commercial capabilities you can bring to the table.
Ready to see what life beyond spreadsheets looks like? Pivot2 helps finance leaders across ANZ move from Excel to NetSuite Planning and Budgeting in as little as 12 weeks. Explore our client stories or get in touch with us to start your journey.