E ERP Atlas
101
FOUNDATIONUnderstand the FP&A management cycle

FP&A 101 ยท FOUNDATION

What is Financial Planning & Analysis?

FP&A helps leaders understand performance, anticipate future outcomes, compare choices, and commit to action using connected financial and operational evidence.

FP&A decision cycle

Select any stage to explore

01StrategyFrame02PlanAlign03ForecastRefresh04AnalyzeExplain05DecideChoose06LearnAdapt

FP&A turns trusted history into a forward decision

R2R establishes governed accounting actuals; SAP Controlling (CO), presented within B2R, establishes management-accounting meaning. Operational teams own demand, capacity, workforce, projects, and commercial assumptions. FP&A connects those inputs into integrated plans, forecasts, scenarios, performance explanations, and recommendations. B2R separately turns an approved plan into budget authority, release, and consumption control where required.

  1. 01

    Frame the decision

    State the question, owner, horizon, available actions, materiality, and evidence needed.

  2. 02

    Build a governed baseline

    Reconcile actuals, definitions, dimensions, drivers, versions, currencies, and operational constraints.

  3. 03

    Plan, forecast, and simulate

    Create comparable forward views with transparent assumptions, workflow, calculations, risks, and ranges.

  4. 04

    Explain and act

    Bridge performance, recommend a response, assign ownership, update the outlook, and measure the next result.

PLANNING EVIDENCE

Connect decisions to explainable performance

This lens answers a different question from the lifecycle above: what evidence proves the result at each ownership boundary?

BASELINEWhich actuals, dimensions, definitions, and drivers establish the trusted starting point?
PLAN / FORECASTWhich assumptions, versions, ownership, and workflow create the forward view?
ANALYSISWhich variance, bridge, scenario, and operational facts explain the result?
ACTIONWhich decision, owner, target, and follow-up measure closes the management loop?

OWNERSHIP BOUNDARIES

FP&A connects the views; it does not replace them

R2R and consolidation

Own accounting close, statutory or group reporting, and governed historical books.

Controlling

Provides cost objects, allocations, product-cost evidence, and the advanced profitability view; B2R governs the budget boundary.

FP&A

Coordinates plans and forecasts, explains performance, models choices, and supports management decisions.

CONTINUE TO FP&A 202Explore the capabilities behind the cycle

Learn planning, forecasting, performance analysis, scenarios, reporting, and SAP integration boundaries.

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