Launched in 2003 , SkyScanner fi nally reached Unicorn status earlier last year . Its February funding round saw the UK-based travel search engine raise almost $ 192m from new investors - valuing it at $ 1.6bn - which it said it will use to fund acquisitions , expand internationally , and fend off takeover offers from larger rivals in what is a fi ercely competitive sector . They now have 40 million app downloads globally , 60 million unique visitors to the website and applications a month , and last year reached £ 120 million turnover , generating £ 11 billion in total transactions . They also employ 750 people .
Skyscanner ’ s growth over the last few years has been remarkable , and much of this is down to the excellent work of its FP & A function in enabling the company to scale and move into new markets . At the 2016 FP & A Innovation Summit in London , Tony Finnegan , Manager of FP & A at Skyscanner discussed how the function had changed during his tenure as the company had grown , and the way the function was riding the crest of the wave without holding back growth , despite working in what is an extremely complex business model .
The key driver for FP & A at Skyscanner , as it is for most in the digital age , is speed . It is competing with giants such as Trip Advisor in a fast-moving marketplace , and must therefore be extremely agile to remain competitive .
According to Tony Finnegan , there are three phases that their FP & A team passed through as they grew to unicorn status . Phase 1 saw FP & A activities carried out by a general accountant , who dealt primarily with budgeting . Phase 2 saw an increase in the amount of ad hoc analysis , with more staff allocated to help the function . Phase 3 - where the fi rm is now - has seen FP & A become a standalone function , utilizing proactive business analytics and operating reviews to drive growth . In phase 3 , it is a clearly defi ned business unit which operates separately from other departments , and looks to help different teams work better for the business as a whole .
In order for this to be a success , FP & A needs to operate a continuous learning loop when the business grows at rapid levels , and evolve their skill set in line with expansion . The most important thing he noted , however , is autonomy and the ability to act as a business infl uencer rather than a centralized function . Autonomy is particularly important for Skyscanner because of its exceptionally complex organizational structure , with different ‘ squads ’ overseeing each section : one for hotels , one for fl ights , and one for car hire . Such a structure makes it impossible for FP & A to be centralized . Most of the time , they are not sharing fi nancial information with FP & A analysts but product owners , most of whom are not from fi nancial backgrounds , which means education is paramount . The product owners have got to have a good idea of how what they ’ re doing is impacting the business model . For example , when making a change to the product , they need to know whether it is driving more exits , if it ’ s driving more revenue , and so forth .
Once a product owner has a suffi cient level of commercial awareness , Skyscanner ’ s FP & A team starts to shift ownership out to them entirely , leaving them alone to monitor their information and performance . Once this is achieved and each ‘ squad ’ has the necessary knowledge and ownership , they are able to conduct 1000s of tests around everything they do , enabling far greater agility and speed of processes . The FP & A team itself , meanwhile , can come together from a macro view . This drives the product , growth and performance , generates insight , and gives them visibility of what each squad could be doing to learn from one another and ensuring that they are doing it .
The 2017 FP & A Innovation Summit will take place in London this April 19-20 , with even more leading FP & A practitioners from the likes of Nokia , British Council , and Offi ce Depot taking the stage . They will discuss all the latest trends and innovations driving the fi nance function forward , from understanding how to automate areas of their FP & A process to speeding up their forecasting processes .
For any questions about the summit , please contact Elliott (+ 44 20 3868 0031 ) or ejay @ theiegroup . com