What It Takes to Be World-Beating: Our Approach to Modernising FP&A

When Josh Kerr shattered the men’s mile world record in London, running an astonishing 3:42.66 and breaking a mark that had stood for 27 years, it was more than an athletic achievement. It was a demonstration of what happens when talent is paired with “training, technology and teamwork” and, importantly, the right tools. Having spent my career working in and with finance functions, I know the same lesson applies in business planning.

Being Run Ragged

Many organisations are still trying to run a modern planning process with tools and processes that were never designed for the speed and complexity of today’s environment. When businesses experience high growth, additional demands are placed on Finance. Growth drives additional levels of consolidation, more frequent forecasting and ever more complex reporting requirements. The result is a widening Finance Ambition Gap between what Finance is expected to deliver and what current processes and systems enable. Finance can end up being run ragged.

Just as elite athletes no longer rely on stopwatches and instinct alone, businesses can no longer depend on disconnected spreadsheets to drive critical planning decisions.

The Problem with Running a World Record Pace Using Old Methods

To break the record, Kerr, like other world record holders, didn’t simply run harder. He created “Project 222,” a focused initiative that combined advanced training, data analysis, specialist equipment, and a coordinated support team to target a specific outcome.

Imagine if he had prepared using handwritten training logs, inconsistent timing data, and dozens of disconnected spreadsheets maintained by different coaches. The result would likely have been confusion rather than a world record. Yet this is exactly how many organisations still approach planning:

• Finance maintains one spreadsheet.
• Operations maintains another.
• Sales has its own forecast.
• Supply chain works from a different version.

Nobody is entirely sure which file contains the latest numbers. Ultimately, instead of racing toward a common goal, teams spend their time reconciling data and debating whose spreadsheet is correct. It’s at this point that it’s time to question whether it’s time to move beyond spreadsheets.

Staying on Track

During any record attempt, the hopeful athlete knows the pace required, tracks progress against the target, and adjusts throughout the race. Businesses need the same level of visibility.

When planning is spreadsheet-driven, leaders often receive information days or weeks after conditions have changed. By the time a forecast is consolidated, the market may already have moved.

Modern planning systems provide:

• Real-time visibility
• Automated data integration
• Faster forecasting cycles
• Scenario planning capabilities
• Greater confidence in decision-making

No Pain, No Gain?

Our approach and experience have led us to identify 21 Struggles that high-growth, ambitious finance departments face. These range from “by the time the numbers arrive, the moment to act has passed” to “we feel we’re one copy and paste error away from a number we can’t defend”. We help clients identify, prioritise, and address challenges so finance teams can become the strategic advisors the business needs them to be.

A New Personal Best

Whilst achievements of finance teams are not often lauded on the world stage, we’re in the business of helping them smash their personal bests. Typical results include:

• 40% faster planning cycles
• 30-50% reduction in manual FP&A effort
• 10% improvement in forecast accuracy
• £ Multi-million risk reduction
• Real-time insights replacing weeks-long reporting cycles

See It to Believe It

There is a lesson here. The organisations that transform their planning processes are rarely motivated by technology alone. Like elite athletes, they start with a clear ambition: to make better decisions, respond faster to change, and align teams behind a common goal. The tools matter because they help remove friction, improve visibility, and free people to focus on performance.

The best planning processes are built around the same principle: giving people the tools, visibility, and alignment they need to perform at their best.

Just as world record breakers set out to redefine what was possible on the track, many businesses are discovering that moving beyond spreadsheets can help them unlock a new level of performance.

To see how Sempre can help you move beyond spreadsheets with real-life use cases and high-performance solutions like IBM Planning Analytics, join us for our webinar: Transform the Way You Plan, Analyse and Deliver, taking place at 10am on Thursday, 15th October.