How to drive action with your analysis

Imagine performing hundreds of analyses over the next 10 years that leads to millions of dollars in added value.

Your resume would be full of specific example of how your company increased revenue or reduced expenses because of your analysis.

Today, I'll teach you how to do that.

Unfortunately, some FP&A Managers rarely get to analysis that adds value. The number 1 reason this happens:

They start their analysis from scratch.

Imagine being a car manufacturer and not having a framework or template for building cars. You start each one from scratch with no assembly line, you buy the materials you need for each car, and you assemble each one in a different sequence.

It would take your forever to build a single car and your quality would be low.

In the same way, starting your analysis from scratch is slow and low quality.

But I’m going to teach you my multi-million dollar analysis template.

Here it is, step-by-step:

Use a ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘so what’ template.

If you can explain the following on a single piece of paper with 3 graphs or charts, then you have struck gold:

1. What happened (what)

2. Why did it happen (why)

3. What should the reader do with the information you are presenting (so what)

When you start with this structure you can begin identifying exactly which graphs or charts should go in each box.

Plan out exactly what graphs you need.

If you jump straight into pulling data, you are likely to get distracted.

Instead, start by thinking through what graphs would convince someone to take action.

Here are some questions I ask to identify my ideal graphs:

• For the ‘what’ graph, what did the senior leadership team see that caused a reaction?

• For the ‘why’ graph, how can I arrange the data in a way that convinces people of the root cause without a doubt?

• For the ‘so what’ graph, what would the impact be if this trend continued in the future?

By framing this out and then delegating to your team exactly what graphs you want to see, you will cut out hours of back-and-forth.

You can also use your sketched-out framework to get feedback with key stakeholders before you spend your team’s time pulling data.

The only thing left to do is execute on the plan.

In Summary:

FP&A Managers who use an analysis template will add more value than those who don’t.

Keep it simple with the ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘so what’ structure on a single page.

After a while, your team will catch on to the process and you’ll pump out value-added analysis regularly. How do you plan to take action on this?

See you next Saturday.

P.S. If you are finding this newsletter helpful, then consider checking out my guide to become a world-class FP&A Manager. The guide will teach you how to go from reactive to proactive by implementing a world-class FP&A Operating System.