I thought working in financial planning and analysis (FP&A) was going to be rewarding. When I first considered a role in FP&A, I envisioned a dynamic environment filled with strategic discussions and facetime with business leaders.

However, the reality of FP&A is a bit different. I spent most of my time working with Excel spreadsheets, gathering feedback, and reformatting for stakeholders. This article explores what a typically looked like in FP&A and how Rockhopper is transforming it all.

Spreadsheet Collaboration & Editing Difficulties

Endless Analysis: Building detailed analyses, adjusting inputs, and testing various assumptions.

Manual Workarounds: Creating multiple versions of files for feedback, coloring cells to fill-in, and deleting sensitive tabs.

Limited Collaboration: Real-time collaboration is challenging, even if you’re an org. with Google Sheets-now you need to understand the changes made by multiple stakeholders and people overwriting each other.

Lack of Auditability: Tracking changes and ensuring data integrity is tough.

Manual Workflows: From CSV imports to data manipulation, the process is tedious and repetitive.

Despite these challenges, spreadsheets remain the backbone of dynamic analysis and storytelling for CFO teams, even with robust saas planning tools. Spreadsheets allow us to align on decision-making and present our findings effectively and dynamically. Yet, the manual, repetitive nature of these tasks is a breeding ground for errors.

Spreadsheet Innovation at Rockhopper

At Rockhopper, we're addressing these issues head-on. We're developing solutions that enhance workflow and collaboration around spreadsheets, making the process of cross-functional forecasting and financial management more efficient and less error-prone.