Should I fix my chart of accounts before implementing FP&A software?

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You can start an FP&A (financial planning and analysis) implementation before redesigning your chart of accounts if the data can be reconciled and mapped to the reports you need. Resolve errors that affect balances, classification or comparability before relying on those reports. Account names and numbering can wait when tested mappings preserve the meaning of current and historical data. A complete chart of accounts (CoA) redesign is not always needed before FP&A implementation. What matters is whether finance can map and reconcile the data needed for the first reporting phase. Correct posting or classification problems that would make those reports unreliable. Consider an illustrative company with inconsistent account names and numbering. Renaming those accounts would not decide how they should feed the board's reports. An approved crosswalk from source accounts to reporting lines lets finance test that question separately from a wider ledger redesign. Map accounts according to their meaning, including dormant accounts that carry balances or historical activity. Similar names do not prove that two accounts belong together, and combining mappings does not remove duplicate transactions. Reconcile reporting totals and classifications before relying on the output.

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