It is fair to say that Larysa Melnychuk did not have the expected start to a career which has since seen her emerge as the biggest transformational force in the FP&A profession
Larysa was born in the former USSR in Siberia to a Ukrainian family. Opportunities in the USSR were limited. She was resigned to give up on her childhood dream of international travel (“It was absolutely certain that I would never be able to travel.”). Eventually, Larysa and her family moved to Ukraine where she studied engineering.
However, it was her skills in finance that brought her opportunities.
She moved to the UK more than two decades ago through a British government initiative for talented finance immigrants that set her on her career.
In the UK, she gained a chartered management accountant from CIMA and spent 15 years leading FP&A teams including at a subsidiary of HSBC Bank and at multinational engineering company  Invensys (now part of Schneider Electric).
Today, as founder and CEO at FP&A Trends Group and the International FP&A Board, Larysa  is  pushing FP&A to new levels, having launched  27 chapters across 16 countries hosting webinars, posting resources and championing the industry.
In this episode Paul Barnhurst speaks with Larysa about:
Her career from the USSR to international finance leadership
Definitive new findings around the real impact of the pandemic on FP&A
Scenario management compared to scenario planning
How to assess FP&A maturity in your organization 
The new role of FP&A Data Scientist and how to get there
How companies including Microsoft, Swiss RE, and Deutsche Bank are capitalizing on of AI to change their FP&A approach
Best practices towards using external data to forge new FP&A analysis
How the horror of war in Ukraine has affected her personally and impacts her perspective
Why it is vital for anyone starting in FP&A to be the Agent for Change, rather than complain about routine

To contribute to the charities that FP&A Trends support for Ukraine follow the following links.
National Bank to raise funds for the army - https://bit.ly/3sPWRHW
Leleka Foundation - US-based, volunteer-run non-profit organization helping people affected by the armed conflict in Ukraine - https://bit.ly/3IS30sn
Children's hospital Ohmadid: https://fonddopomoga.org.ua/en/all-project-list/okhmatdet/
 
About FP&A Trends
FP&A Trends Group is a high-profile thinktank whose mission is to identify and share the latest trends and best practices in modern Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A).
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To suggest a great guest for the show, or if you would like to be the FP&A Leader being interviewed contact jonathan.m@datarails.com