People Forecasting: Aligning Finance, HR, and the Business for Greater Impact

At its core, people forecasting brings together the most important resource in a business and one of its biggest costs. Getting it right is critical not only for managing budgets but also for ensuring the workforce can support operational and strategic goals.

In this blog, we focus on Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) and explore how coordinating FTE across finance and business operations drives efficiencies and empowers the business beyond routine budgeting.

How to Turn Your FTE Forecast into a Business Enablement Tool

Understand How Different Teams Track People

Start by identifying how each stakeholder manages headcount. HR typically works from position numbers and pay policies. Finance focuses on cost centres and budgeted FTE. Business units often maintain their own trackers, even if it’s just spreadsheets on a local drive. These unofficial records reveal what the business monitors closely and where the official systems fall short. As a finance manager, understanding these nuances is critical to aligning your forecast with reality.

Define the Nuances and Align Reporting

FTE forecasting involves many nuances, including how vacant roles, secondments, parental leave, and temporary assignments are treated. HR, finance, and business units often have slightly different approaches, so it is critical that everyone agrees on when and where the numbers are reported. Establishing a shared understanding ensures that forecasts are consistent, credible, and ready for discussion at the executive level.

Understand Relevant Policies

Review policies that impact FTE and financial forecasting: pay bands, secondments, backfilling, recruitment costs, and so on. When your process reflects the actual rules, you avoid time-consuming debates about why the numbers don’t match your forecast.

Build a Simple, Reliable Tool

Combine data from HR and Finance and design it so business unit managers can input updates directly. Ensure that the presentation of the tool caters to different users. For example, include people names, not just role IDs or staff numbers, for business unit managers. It doesn’t have to be complicated. An automated Excel template or a small Power BI model is often enough to start.

Test and Refine

Run the new tool alongside existing processes for a few months. Gather feedback from HR and business units. The goal is not perfection but a shared view that everyone trusts.

Set Controls and Maintain Discipline

Once the process is working, define user controls and train managers on how to update their data. Review the numbers regularly. When everyone understands the process, your meetings focus on decisions, not reconciliation.

Driving Business Impact Through Coordinated FTE Forecasting

Effective FTE forecasting is a powerful way to drive efficiencies and support strategic goals across different stakeholder groups. Understanding how different teams track their FTE and addressing the inherent challenges with a holistic solution ensures that forecasts are accurate, consistent, and trusted. By bringing together finance, HR, and business units in a coordinated process, organisations can create reporting that not only reflects reality but also informs better decisions.

If you would like to explore ways to enhance your FTE forecasting and make it a more valuable tool for your business, feel free to connect with us at Interro Solutions.