Why you should use the Power of AI in FP&A

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a term that's on everyone's mind, even for leaders in finance.

Research shows that 70% of CFOs are actively increasing their budgets to invest in new technologies like AI. But as a CFO or finance leader, knowing how to effectively integrate AI into your finance and accounting functions can be challenging.

AI excels in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) by catching errors and identifying trends in your data faster than any human could. This reduces surprises that could derail your planning cycle. Thanks to AI, FP&A professionals can now shift from manual labor to strategic thinking. As a result, CFOs are gaining confidence in data accuracy and can focus more on strategy.

The best part is, AI won't replace your current workforce. Instead, it works alongside automation to handle repetitive tasks, freeing your team to think creatively and develop new solutions to achieve your goals.

Here are three ways AI can transform your FP&A process:

AI Improves Analysis and Forecast Accuracy

At any given moment, your finance team constantly sorts and analyses vast amounts of data to build accurate forecasts.

Without AI, CFO have traditionally either hired more staff to handle the increase in data or overburdening a lean team, which can lead to burnout.

AI continuously learns and adapts to new data, even if your data grows quickly, ensuring that your predictions are always accurate and relevant.

FigureFlow’s native AI function, is designed with FP&A teams in mind. It’s able to analyse vast amounts of data in seconds rather than days.

FigureFlow’s machine learning algorithms also work continuously to quickly understand your business and identify patterns, regardless of market volatility. Best of all, it can detect anomalies in your data so you can immediately take corrective action.

AI makes FP&A teams more agile

Business executives expect their FP&A teams to create a variety of scenarios, budgets, and projections daily or weekly in light of rapid economic changes.

Creating a high volume of accurate scenarios aims to make the organisation more agile in dealing with market fluctuations. A manual strategy to tackle agile planning can make your team less agile in the long run.

Save your team from drowning in data by incorporating AI into your workflows.

Cloud-based financial management platforms (FPM) leverage AI to generate scenarios much faster than manual processes. This means that, as CFO, you can look ahead, modify operations as needed, and respond quickly to fluctuating market conditions. All of which contribute to a more agile team.

AI lets you focus on high-level activities

Finance and accounting professionals should spend their time on high-value and creative work to grow the business. Instead, many of these workers are stuck in manual and repetitive workflows, contributing to burnout, silos, and dissatisfaction.

AI automates those repetitive tasks, allowing your team to engage in more rewarding activities like creative problem-solving and improving the financial IQ of colleagues across the organisation.

While not seemingly related to crunching numbers, these kinds of tasks are rooted in soft skills. They can dramatically improve your workplace culture and productivity. Cross-functional collaboration also leads to stronger relationships and improved communication.

Invest in an AI tool to automate your financial planning

Clearly, incorporating AI into FP&A is a game-changer for any organisation.

As we’ve seen, AI isn’t going to replace your finance and accounting teams. Rather, it acts more like a partner, automating the minutiae of the day-to-day so your employees can focus more on high-value work that will give your company a competitive edge.

FigureFlow brings this cutting-edge technology right to the hands of CFOs.