← Glossary

FP&A

Financial Planning & Analysis — the finance function that plans, forecasts, and explains performance so leaders can decide with confidence.

What it is

FP&A plans, forecasts, and explains performance so leaders can decide with confidence. In SaaS, that means connecting ARR and retention to P&L, cash, and headcount in one coherent operating model.

What good SaaS FP&A owns

  • Metric definitions and ARR governance
  • Close of operating metrics into the board pack
  • Rolling forecast and scenarios
  • Variance commentary leadership will sign

Where it breaks

FP&A breaks when it becomes a slide factory on top of irreconcilable sources — or when “the model” lives in a personal workbook no one else can reproduce.

In the board pack

FP&A’s product is a trustworthy board pack: traceable ARR, clear bridges, and forward views tied to actuals. SMPL is built for that SaaS FP&A workflow.

Keep the written definition stable across close, the board pack, and diligence so the same word never means two math models.

Related terms

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