Written by Angela Bolton
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If you’ve ever heard FP&A say, “Wait… why does this not match the plan?” congratulations—you’ve just spotted the real CIP (construction in progress) problem.
CIP doesn’t break down because accounting gets it wrong. It breaks down because planning gets disconnected from execution. And that usually happens when the very team responsible for funding, forecasting, and explaining the entire fixed asset journey isn’t included from the start.
Fixed assets aren’t a cycle you close—they’re a journey you live with
Fixed assets don’t begin at capitalization and they certainly don’t end there either.
They start as ideas in a budget, turn into commitments during capital planning, move through CIP with all its twists and turns, and then continue living on—year after year—in depreciation, operating budgets, forecasts, and performance expectations.
That’s the journey.
And FP&A is one of the only functions that touches every mile of it.
FP&A is the bank (and the memory keeper)
FP&A holds the funding for the journey. They also hold the memory of why the journey started in the first place.
They are already:
- Building capital budgets before projects are approved
- Forecasting CIP activity long before invoices appear
- Adjusting plans when scopes change (because they always do)
- Explaining capitalization timing and earnings impact
- Budgeting and re-budgeting long after assets are placed in service
FP&A doesn’t stop caring when an asset goes live. That’s when a new set of reporting and accountability requirements begin.
Yet somehow, they’re often treated as downstream recipients of CIP data instead of active users of it.
CIP Is everyone’s system—except the people who must explain it
Most CIP tools and workflows are designed for:
- Project teams managing spend
- Accounting teams managing compliance
Meanwhile, FP&A is expected to:
- Forecast capital they don’t directly control
- Explain variances without visibility into project realities
- Reconcile budgets, actuals, and systems that don’t quite agree
So they do what FP&A always does: They build shadow reporting. They create parallel models. They connect dots no system was designed to connect.
Not because they want to—but because the business expects answers.
If FP&A has extensive reporting responsibilities across the entire fixed asset journey, why aren’t they treated as first-class users of CIP?
Automation isn’t finished If FP&A is missing
Fixed asset automation often promises speed and accuracy—and delivers both.
But when FP&A isn’t part of the design conversation early, automation solves accounting’s problems while quietly creating planning ones.
You might get a faster close.
But you won’t get better forecasts.
And you definitely won’t get fewer surprises.
True automation success means:
- CIP data that supports forecasting, not just booking
- Visibility into planned vs. actual spend as it’s happening
- Capitalization timing that’s intentional, not reactive
That only happens when FP&A is involved from the beginning—not after the questions start.
The missing link in the journey
When FP&A has early visibility and a voice:
- Budgets stay connected to execution
- Capital decisions improve
- Leadership trusts the numbers
- And fixed assets stop feeling like a black box
The journey makes sense—from start to finish.
The bottom line
FP&A doesn’t want to own CIP. They don’t want to post assets. They definitely don’t want another reconciliation surprise.
They want a seat at the table—early—because they’re accountable long after everyone else has moved on.
Fixed assets are a journey. FP&A remembers where you started, explains where you are, and models where you’re going.
If that’s not a core user of CIP, I don’t know who is.