FP&A (Financial Planning and Analysis) is the strategic brain of corporate finance. While accountants record what happened, FP&A professionals figure out what will happen — building budgets, creating financial forecasts, and analyzing business performance to guide management decisions.
Key FP&A activities: annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, variance analysis (actual vs. budget), financial modeling, and management reporting. When the CEO asks "What happens to profitability if we expand into India?" — the FP&A team builds the model to answer that question.
FP&A is one of the fastest-growing finance careers. Salaries range from $70,000 for analysts to $200,000+ for FP&A directors in the US. The role requires strong Excel/modeling skills, business acumen, and the ability to translate numbers into actionable insights for non-finance executives.