You join a growing company with only a spreadsheet budget. How would you build a driver-based FP&A process and board KPI pack?
What the interviewer wants to hear
- Identify the few operational drivers that explain revenue and cost
- Build a driver-based model linked to the chart of accounts
- Set a monthly close, forecast and review calendar with owners
- Design a concise KPI pack with targets, trends and commentary
- Automate data flows and improve over time
Model answer
I would start by understanding the business model with leadership and finding the five to ten drivers that explain most of the numbers, for example store count, footfall, conversion and basket size for a retailer, or pipeline, win rate and churn for SaaS. Then I would build a driver-based model where revenue and major costs come from these drivers and map to the chart of accounts, so actuals can be compared line by line. I would set a monthly calendar: books close by day 5, flash results by day 7, forecast update by day 12, with named owners for each driver. The board pack would be short: a one-page summary, actual versus budget and forecast, a profit bridge, cash and runway, and five to eight KPIs with targets and trends, plus commentary on what changed and what we are doing. Over time I would automate data from the ERP into a BI tool.
Can you answer it under time pressure?
Take a timed hard round and get scored on every answer.
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