Financial Planning and Analysis

The financial planning and analysis concentration, or the FP&A concentration for short, is designed to cover the fundamental concepts and techniques of financial reporting, planning, managerial finance, and analysis that are used by accounting and financial professionals to support the successful management of a business.

Financial planning and analysis is the business function that forecasts future financial performance and provides management with analyses and commentaries on actual financial results. The function plays two critical roles: providing operational insight through budgeting and strategic planning and timely reporting and analysis of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial results.

Where the Financial Planning and Analysis Concentration Will Take You

By taking financial planning and analysis courses, you will gain the analytical skills necessary to provide financial support for day-to-day management decisions. You will learn from forward-thinking professors, and access financial planning and analysis tools that give you real-world experience in this subject matter.  
 
Thus, this concentration is particularly relevant if you plan to work within the finance and/or accounting functions of various-sized businesses, conducting analysis for financial management, from startups to large multinationals, or if you plan to work in a career requiring a high degree of analytical and communication skills, such as corporate finance, investment banking, and/or consulting.
 
It’s also ideal for current or aspiring entrepreneurs. Additionally, your coursework will prepare you for careers in investment banking, commercial banking, corporate finance consulting, strategic planning, and other FP&A-related careers.

What You Will Study in Your Financial Planning & Analysis Courses

You learn the basic frameworks and processes of financial planning and budgeting, including forecasting monthly, quarterly, and annual business results and long-range strategic planning—a fundamental of financial planning. Courses provide you the knowledge of the basic processes and analytical frameworks needed to effectively prepare and communicate to both company management and key external constituents, such as investors and creditors, a financial forecast, an operational and capital budget, and a strategic plan.  Additional financial planning courses cover such topics as how to prepare, analyze, and report financial and operational reviews for a business.

By taking courses selected for the financial planning and analysis concentration, you gain accounting and financial knowledge, proficiency in planning and forecasting, and analytical and communications skills critical in providing financial support for daily decision-making and quarterly and annual reporting to key internal and external business stakeholders. Required and elective Courses in this concentration cover key competencies tested on the Certified Management Accountant (CMA®) exam, a certification offered through the Institute of Management Accountants, (IMA), the Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business.

Required Courses

You will take financial planning and cost control and either financial reporting and analysis or intermediate accounting I.

Elective Courses

As part of your coursework in the financial planning and analysis concentration, you will take two electives. Options include:

You Will Learn From the Best

At Babson, our faculty are experts, innovators, and forward thinkers in their chosen fields. Here are just some professors sharing their expertise and support with our students.

Have Questions?

Faculty Contacts: Richard Block and Weerapat Attachot
Sponsoring Division: Accounting & Law