An overview of the CGFPA Certification & How it Helps FP&A Professionals Become Strategic Leaders with Alfredo and Jihane
In this episode of FP&A Tomorrow, host Paul Barnhurst (aka The FP&A Guy) speaks with Alfredo Kinanga and Jihane Mochamad, two graduates of the Certified Global FP&A Certificate Program (CGFPAC). They share why they chose the program, the key takeaways that shaped their professional growth, and how the course helped them sharpen both technical and soft skills. From business partnering and financial modeling to data storytelling and AI, their experiences offer practical insight for anyone considering an FP&A certification or looking to elevate their career in finance.
Alfredo Kinanga is a finance and trade marketing professional with 14+ years of experience in accounting, planning, and commercial finance.He’s passionate about driving business growth and using FP&A to connect strategy and execution. Jihane Mochamad is a CPA from Canada with over 10 years in payroll, financial reporting, and budgeting.She works in the senior living industry, focusing on automation and preparing for the future of finance.
Expect to Learn:
What Alfredo and Jihane gained from the strategy and AI modules
How financial modeling and data storytelling helped transform their work
The power of co-creation and business partnering in FP&A
Why communication, empathy, and stakeholder relationships are must-have skills
How the program helped them reconnect with foundational finance knowledge
Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:
“Strategy gave me a big picture view, even from a payroll position.” - Jihane Mochamad
“FP&A is about empathy, collaboration, and understanding the business.” - Paul Barnhurst
“Data storytelling taught me how to present insights with clarity.” - Alfredo Kinanga
Alfredo and Jihane brought energy, honesty, and real-life examples to this episode, sharing how the Certified Global FP&A Program helped reshape their careers and perspectives. From strengthening their technical and soft skills to embracing AI and strategy, their stories show what’s possible when you invest in your own development and approach FP&A with curiosity and collaboration.
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In Today’s Episode
[02:20] - Meet Alfredo and Jihane
[04:08] - What Makes Great FP&A
[06:10] - Discovering the CGFPAC Program
[12:35] - Alfredo’s Biggest Takeaway
[16:23] - Co-Creation in Finance
[18:36] - Jihane’s Shift Toward FP&A
[23:56] - Favorite Course Modules
[30:32] - AI Section Highlights
[33:33] - Advice for Future Students
[38:40] - Must-Have Technical Skills
[40:25] - Top Soft Skills for FP&A
[42:58] - Career Reflections and Final Thoughts
Full Show Transcript
[00:01:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Hello everyone! Welcome to FP&A tomorrow, where we delve into the world of financial planning and analysis, examining its current state and future prospects. I am your host, Paul Barnhurst, aka the FP&A Guy, and I'll be guiding you through the evolving landscape of FP&A . Each week we are joined by thought leaders, industry experts and practitioners who share their insights and experiences, helping us navigate today's complexities and tomorrow's uncertainties. This week, we have a special treat for you as we're going to talk about one of the great certificates out there, the Certified Global FP&A program. With two graduates from the program. So I have Alfredo and Jihane. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Why don't we go ahead and give each of you just a minute to introduce yourself to the audience? We'll start with you, Alfredo. If you could introduce yourself, let everybody know who you are. And just a little bit about yourself.
[00:02:34] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. Thank you. My name is Alfredo Kinanga. Actually, I have a degree in accounting and finance, plus 14 years of work experience, mainly in finance. Now I'm also doing trade marketing and sales. Basically, I'm focused on commercial finance, business planning, business planning and development, sales and marketing. I'm really passionate about growth and profitability.
[00:02:58] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great. Sounds like you got a little bit of everything. You don't very often get sales and marketing and planning all together.
[00:03:03] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes.
[00:03:05] Host: Paul Barnhurst: We'll give Jahan. You go ahead and introduce yourself to our audience.
[00:03:08] Guest 2: Jihane: My name is Jihane Mochamad. I am a chartered professional accountant and PCP from Canada. And then right now, currently, I work as a payroll accountant for a company that manage senior home living. So my specialty is in payroll, financial accounting and reporting and also budgeting and forecasting. So I have ten years of experience. I was a controller senior accountant before this role in 2024.
[00:03:38] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Cool. You know, I always appreciate the payroll people because I've seen payroll get messed up and nobody likes when their pay gets messed with. As you know. Yeah. So they're always one of my friends in the company. And unfortunately, I've been one of those that have messed up payroll sales commissions before. I used to calculate them and we had a few issues from time to time, but for the most part it worked well. All right, Alfredo, can I ask you, from your view, when you think of FP&A , what do you think makes great FP&A ? Like what is great FP&A in your mind?
[00:04:12] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. Basically, for me, as actually went through this program, FP&A is a combination of many technical financial skills and actually comes also with soft skills. But for me it's the bridge between the business teams and the top team or leadership. Also top management FP&A actually makes these this connection and bridges between the two. So it boils down to business partnering, supporting the business as actually the business go forward in terms of growth and profitability. So that's basically my take. And what actually makes the FP&A very interesting function.
[00:04:50] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you. I appreciate that. John, any thoughts from you on that? When you think of great FP&A , anything else you would add to that?
[00:04:57] Guest 2: Jihane: I think great for a person is a person who understands not only the technical skills, but also like the strategic picture, like the goals of the company, the impact of their function to the company as a whole. And the most important thing is understanding people. So great FMB person will know how to communicate with, like a lot of people with different backgrounds and have a well-rounded picture. How to solve problems.
[00:05:30] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Agreed. I think you made, you know, great points both of you brought up. It's not just technical. There's communication, there's bridging the gap. You know, FP&A is one of those careers that requires a lot of communication skills and a lot of technical skills, right? Some tend to lean more heavily one way or the other. But really, if you want to move up and be successful long term, you have to have both in FP and obviously the more you move up, like in any role, communication becomes more important as a leader. But they're both very important. What I'd like to start with next is we just love to know why both of you took the Certified Global FP&A program. Kind of. What was your reasoning for taking the program? John, we'll start with you on that. I'd love to know how you found out about the program and how you decided to take it.
[00:06:20] Guest 2: Jihane: So I was introduced with FP&A back in 2022, when my employer at that time needed to have a bank covenant reporting that required us to, like, create from scratch financial modeling for three financial statements and also forecasting. And then at that time, I started to search like certification that I like to enroll. I also already enrolled CFI. It's more like kind of tactical things. And then I saw Asif and Daniel's program. So I like about it is because the students are from around the world. So it means I will learn different things because I'm in Canada. And then also the class is on weekends, so it's easy for me to attend it and it will not interrupt with my daily work. And also like the interactive portions of the the course and then the modules are comprehensive from strategy to technical skills. Even AI, which I think it's wonderful.
[00:07:33] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. So it sounds like two things. One, you really enjoy the weekend. So the flexibility there. Yes. The the live instruction people all around the world. Yes. And then a comprehensive program. Those are some of the things that attracted you to it? Yes, Alfredo. What attracted you to the program? You know, as you were, what were kind of your main reasons for taking it?
[00:07:53] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. Uh, first of all, I was, uh, I normally work on my development plan. Uh, basically, I was, uh, almost three years without actually a form, a proper formal training or proper formal, uh, education at that time. You know, when I was looking at my development plan. So I needed to be certified. And then also because I was I'm doing basically mainly sales. And, uh, what do you call it, uh, trade marketing? I needed to reposition myself as a, as a financial professional, as a having a degree and not having the financial, uh, jargons and actually felt being put away in terms of finance. I had to reposition myself in terms of the financial profession. So which is basically one of my core and where I actually gravitate to. And then I saw the, you know, the Saturdays flexibility that, you know, would not really impact on my daily, daily work as I went through the program from the internet, and then the live session sessions actually is what actually took me there. And once I saw that there are certain modules that actually would resonate with me, especially the strategy bit, and then the data analytics, actually, that moved me into this, into this program. So which I really found very, very, very, I call it as a nuggets of gold that I really that I actually had a chance to, to, to grasp them and to grab them.
[00:09:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great. So thank you for sharing, I appreciate that. What I'd love to know from both of you is before you enrolled in the in the program, were there other programs you looked at? I think, John, from what you mentioned, you had previously done some stuff with Corporate Finance Institute, it sounds like, which you found mostly technical, and I'm going to assume all on demand. But did you look at any other programs when you enrolled in this one.
[00:09:44] Guest 2: Jihane: I look at Wharton and also finance finance circle from Nicolas Bouchet, I think. Yeah.
[00:09:54] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. And so what what was the kind of if there was one deciding factor as you looked at each of those? What was kind of the deciding factor for you that led you towards, you know, the KGF program?
[00:10:07] Guest 2: Jihane: For me it's like flexibility on weekend. And I like the way Daniel and Ashish present for topic because FP&A is complex topic, but they make it easy to understand in simple language and the way they, you know, and when the expert usually they will, explain things in complicated ways, but they, explain it in simple language, and I love that.
[00:10:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. So it seems like flexibility was really a key and just connecting with the instructors in the way they teach. I appreciate that. What about you, Alfredo? Were there other programs you looked at, other things you considered before you enrolled?
[00:10:51] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. Yes, yes. That basically was the same as Jihan. Actually, I had some experience. It surprised now that actually we are following the same path. And we found out in the same spot. So basically, my,I was looking mainly at financial modeling. I think also CFI, if I'm not mistaken, also offered that. But once I actually got, you know, before deciding, I got the programs I was browsing mostly on the internet. And the key factors basically to pick up Cgfp was basically, as I mentioned, the modules , when it comes to data storytelling, the analytics, and because they were also I was,, indulging myself in learning more in terms of, power BI, but I think the key factors there is because the way they presented the model a break down into into the weekends, into the months, they presented very detailed program to me so that, you know, I could really put it in schedule and plan properly. So, and checking these models, like, , repeating it, you know, power BI actually, and, data storytelling , strategy actually came as a compound that I, you know, this is the, the right thing for me. And then once we're also in the, um, in the training or in the sessions, actually, the context was actually talking to me. The programs were really , were really live, and they were really engaging. So, um, it was not really a bad decision to take this course. It was really a good decision. But these are actually the factors that, made me, go forward into attending this course or this program.
[00:12:28] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you. I appreciate you both sharing that. Yeah. So this next question, you know, Alfredo, you took the program. Was there a key takeaway from from the program? You something that you took away and maybe started implementing or using in your day to day work immediately? Is there something that really stuck out to you?
[00:12:46] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yeah, there are many things that really stuck out. You know, there are many things. It's like, I could not really pick one. You know, I cannot really, really touch touch point in one because that was so intensive. That was so it was a game changer in transforming. But, you know, for this, for, for, for some as a summary, you know, it's like, I would resemble so much or resonate so much in, um, business partnering. So I think that FP&A is really,is about partnership, bringing and bridging and supporting the department, all departments, people with the, you know, strategic goals comes as a bridge. So what I took really from this, from this program was that, you know, it's business partnering. You know, let me just give you a little bit of story here. As a financial professional, we tend to be so critical, especially with the salespeople, with other operations. But, you know, the spirit of this course was or this program was that, you know, we are partners. So we have to build, you know, between the teams and our business teams and, you know, the dealership so that, you know, we can come along in the ultimate strategic goal, which is, you know, company moving forward. So that's the key takeaway even in my approach now with finance team, you know, as I'm not really into that finance sport, you know with my colleagues I try to bridge so much so that, you know, we can really move forward in terms with profitability and growth so that, you know, I became kind of a bridge and I stood this concept well. So business partnering is my key takeaway from this, from this program.
[00:14:19] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great. That's a great example. And I know when you talk business partnering and mentioning communication is sometimes, you know, how we don't understand or it can be difficult relationships between finances and the business. I saw John nodding her head. She's like, I probably dealt with that some over the career. So what's kind of your thoughts around the the business partnering and just some of the things Alfredo mentioned there? Because I can tell you were relating to that as he was talking.
[00:14:44] Guest 2: Jihane: Yeah, I used to work in, in a company where like I'm part of accountant, like accounting department, but like the way their mindset is, like, different than mine. it's just like everything is known for them. Even a business owner, like asking something that's like, no, no, no and no. And, I just thought like, um, this is not good for the whole company, you know? So for, for me, um, being in the program and understanding how FP&A works is just to understand that we're here to to be one, to achieve goals together and to be successful, we need to work together. That's what I think.
[00:15:29] Host: Paul Barnhurst: 100% agree it's really about working together. Interesting enough, and we'll ask you guys this question later. But one of the questions I ask people is what's the number one soft skill FP professionals need, you know. And I often hear business partnering relationship building. But with that people will often say empathy. And I love that because, you know you guys both brought it up. Learning to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the business makes it much easier to get to work well with them. It's easy sometimes to be like, well, why didn't the person give me the purchase order? Or why didn't they fill out this form, right? Or why didn't they put the information in the CRM on the sell side, whatever it might be? And when you really start to step out and put yourself in their shoes, it makes it much easier to be like, oh, they're doing all this other stuff as well. And maybe it's not as easy as I thought. I'm not their priority.
[00:16:23] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. And actually in this course there were some concepts that I actually still,stuck in my head. You know, it's like, as if we're talking about co-creation. It's not really about one person or one department. You know, if we're going to a budget meeting, also, we can talk about, you know, co-creation. And I found it very interesting, you know, that changed my perspective in terms of, you know, how can I really impact the business. You know, it's like it's not only your comments, let's comment together. Let's put the narratives together. It's not only about, you know, the finance person putting it in a presentation. So what is your take on this one. So you merge and you bridge and then you present it together. So co-creation is something you know that came along. And then this concept really changed my perspective and my attitude towards, you know, my team, especially.
[00:17:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: FP&A Guy here today. I'm super excited to talk to you about the FP&A Hub community, the online community that you can go to to get answers. Early in my career, I wish I had a place I could have went to where I didn't have to talk to somebody in the company, go to my boss again, or Google that I knew I could get answers from. That's what you can get at the FP&A hub. You can make friends, you can learn from others, you can attend events, put discussions and posts out there. You don't have to worry about all the selling and cheat sheets and stuff you get on LinkedIn. This is real conversations by real FP&A professionals. We have over 1100 people in the community and it's absolutely free. That's the best thing. So please go ahead and join today the thefpahub.com. You can join for free at the hub. Com and the FP&A Guy look forward to seeing you in this free community. Join today!
[00:18:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you for sharing that. I really like that idea. What you called co-creation, right? Budgeting is not a finance function. It's a company function. And we should be creating things together. So I really appreciate that. Johan, I'm curious, are you you know, with taking the FP&A program, I know you're doing payroll right now. You've done some FP&A a lot of accounting. Are you wanting to move more into an FP&A role, like, kind of full time, or what's kind of the goal of having taken the program?
[00:18:45] Guest 2: Jihane: Okay, yeah. Right now I'm on payroll. Accountant is,like, position that bridges finance with payroll. So that's why it is interesting at this moment, at this stage, um, my employer is starting to build the system. And then what? What I've been doing now is to automate the transaction processing. That's what is interesting for me. And then after that, like, um, I predict that after this, the, the tasks will evolve. So it is not processing Anymore because like everything mostly can be done by AI in the future. And then.
[00:19:29] Guest 2: Jihane: Sure.
[00:19:29] Guest 2: Jihane: And the next they need the people or employee who can analyze things instead of just doing. A stuff that can be automated in the future makes sense.
[00:19:41] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So really kind of helping prepare yourself. As you know, there's changes coming. You know the systems come in place, AI, a lot of the things you do maybe just be done by a system. So it's like, what do I want to do? How do I want to make sure I'm prepared for the future that's coming?
[00:19:57] Guest 2: Jihane: Yes.
[00:19:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's great. I think it's wonderful that you were proactive, because so often it's easy to just kind of do the job, and then we have to react when technology disrupts what we're doing. Right. And that's going to happen. We've all seen it the internet, computers, you know, the list goes on and on. Disruption and change is part of life. And so I really appreciate you taking that time. I admire that you were proactive and kind of prepared yourself for that.
[00:20:26] Guest 2: Jihane: Thank you.
[00:20:27] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So here's the kind of moment of truth question. You know, I hear you do. I think you have about three hours on Saturday that you had your instruction, if I remember right. And the program says you spend about four hours on average a week. I'm curious, how much time did you really spend? Right. There's always the marketing and there's reality. And I'm kind of just curious to just get an idea of, you know, how close the two are. So we'll start with you, Alfredo. What? How much time did you find yourself spending? On average, a week?
[00:20:56] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yeah. Excluding the two hours live sessions on Saturday. Yes. My average time spent for. For reading the pre-reads and studying it, indulging myself on putting myself into readings. It was basically 2 to 3 hours, you know, averaging. Not average. But you know, I spent I would spend this 2 to 3 hours, you know, before the classes, but I still was not really enough, to be honest, because,you know, the context were really engaging. Going back to the, to the, to the videos, you know, recorded sessions actually was something engaging. But, you know, you have to balance your work and balancing your, your, your learnings and your studies. So 2 to 3 hours was the maximum that I would give into the learnings or into the into the program for myself as well.
[00:21:44] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So it sounds like overall counting the Saturday, everything, you're spending about five hours a week and you limited yourself to that, you easily could have spent more.
[00:21:52] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. Yeah, yeah, I could really spend more. But the issue was basically balancing, you know, your daily, daily stuff, your daily work, which I which is really also intense. But this is also for me was very serious. You know, I took it very serious. I took it to the heart, you know, part of my development plan. So I needed to do something. And that also came as a recap, especially to the fact that most of the concepts actually I learned at university and I need I applied them quite a long time ago or a few years back, applying something like budgeting on my daily daily activities. So it was really something that I put it at the heart so that, you know, I could really not grasp the new knowledge. But as well as recapping what actually is being done in the program. So three hours most time, you know, I used to to put, you know, for, for myself.
[00:22:46] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thanks. Appreciate that. How about yourself John? What did you find? How much time did you find yourself spending?
[00:22:52] Guest 2: Jihane: I think it's one hour a day because I listen to the the recording when I. I'm commuting.
[00:23:00] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Got it. So you would listen to all the recordings again when you were commuting. And so you're spending about five hours again about five hours a week.
[00:23:08] Guest 2: Jihane: Yeah.
[00:23:09] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Okay. So not I think they say average for. So an extra an hour so far every program tends to be a little bit more than what they tell you.
[00:23:17] Guest 2: Jihane: So yes.
[00:23:18] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's why I said it. The way I did is I expected you'd probably put in a little more time, which is which makes sense because you're learning a lot of material. It can be time intensive and if you want to take it serious, can often take more time than people think.
[00:23:35] Guest 2: Jihane: Yes.
[00:23:36] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I think that doesn't surprise me at all. It was a little longer. So now we'll start with, you John, was there a favorite module, you know, maybe a framework from the program that you enjoyed most, like a certain session or area that you were that just really resonated with you?
[00:23:56] Guest 2: Jihane: That module is because, like, when I work as an accountant,in only one department, right? So if I can't see a big picture of the company, it's like some kind of motivating for me. It's just that's the highest achiever like achievement that I can go whatever I am in, in what stage I am in my career, I can always be like motivated because of that.
[00:24:23] Guest 2: Jihane: Yeah.
[00:24:23] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I really enjoyed the the strategy section, I, I love that. Was there any kind of frameworks or anything particular that they taught you that really kind of resonated around strategy.
[00:24:36] Guest 2: Jihane: Power metric.
[00:24:37] Guest 2: Jihane: Why that.
[00:24:39] Guest 2: Jihane: Is. Um, it helps me. It helped me to understand how how to, um, manage the power politics in the office.
[00:24:51] Guest 2: Jihane: Because of that, I. Yeah. In the office? Yes.
[00:24:55] Guest 2: Jihane: Because I, I used to have that issue in my previous work, and then it's really like eye and eye opening. It's not something technical, but it is really important.
[00:25:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's huge to managing relationships, you know, and the strategy of a company, there's going to be power and politics involved in setting it and all the way throughout and all your communication. So I can see where that would be really beneficial to get a matrix. And some thoughts on how to manage all that, because we've all been caught up in it. I know I've mismanaged it in my career more than once. And, you know, it's it's just a nature of things we deal with. What about you, Alfredo? Was there a kind of favorite module for, you.
[00:25:36] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Know, actually, let me let me try to this to explain this. I believe that, the stories as a commercial finance, I used to do most of these things that actually were in the module, but I did not really know that was FP&A , you know, as a commercial finance, because that was something. So when I got into program, everything was connected, every module was connected. I could not I could not really pick up, you know, one one thing, you know, there there are many. But one of the things that actually resonated with me so much. It was, um, financial modeling I've done. Financial modeling, you know, in a course, you know, I think 2018, but did not go. You know, as such. And I bought some books in like a business model canvas. I could not really understand that, you know, I was reading, but I could not understand that. But once actually, I merged or I married, if I may say that word, you know, the business model canvas and the financial modeling, that was it. And I couldn't really, now understand business. I could I can really I actually went to ChatGPT as I understand the business model canvas now trying to analyze some companies.
[00:26:46] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: You know, in my country, I understand some companies outside, you know, this in the world, I could really sense, you know, and then the key thing that I got from these, financial modeling was also the fact that, you know, as a commercial person, there was this side of, like, client, you know, the client is, which is one of the, you know, the most important element in the business, but out of it. You know, I think one of the most important thing,before the client is the client relationship. That's why I could now understand, you know, the CRM, which is client relationship management, I can really now apply in the future. I'm going to apply it in the future just to understand and be part of this financial modeling. So that really resonates with me. That really was massive and was really, for me, something that changed, you know, in my commercial career, it's going to change in my commercial career. And then I really am keen to apply this, and I apply it almost every time when I'm analyzing business and I'm analyzing even route to market sometimes.
[00:27:47] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great. Thank you. So if you take that away, the obviously the financial modeling section, you're really appreciated. It was easy to understand. You liked how all the,modules built on each other and were interconnected. So it felt it didn't feel like a disconnect between them. And then also kind of all that, you know, the client relationship side.
[00:28:07] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Adding to that, adding to that was, you know, in terms of framework, which was the data storytelling framework, you know, which is really was really impactful for me, which is, you know, data storytelling is equal to data narrative and, effective visuals. That was, you know, the something that really because I like to present, I like presentation. But, you know, I would struggle in my narratives like, you know, you are presenting an impact and then are you showing it as a negative, but it's a good impact. So how you present, how do you narrate your data? How do you narrate your, your story, as well as the teachers or the lectures? They told us, you know, about effective visuals. You know, sometimes, you know, the way you present as an accountant is for yourself. But, you know, putting the very effective visuals like, you know, I used to I like the waterfall waterfall graphs. So if you have, you know, a proper, let's say,, a right, the right graph, you can really, really present and make people understand it's not really about you showing the numbers, but how do you form, how do you present the numbers to the people? So we also learned that, you know, for the operational you can be too detailed as well as, you know, to the top you also have to be a top line. So what's really something that in terms of framework that I'm using so much and change my presentation skills as, although that I'm actually still evolving and developing this in my daily activities.
[00:29:35] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you. And yeah, when you mentioned the, storytelling data storytelling, as you mentioned, you know, data, narrative visuals, there's a great graph. That concept has talked a lot by Brant Dikes, who wrote a book called Effective Data Storytelling. I've interviewed him before, and I've got to know him as a person, and it's so true. Bringing all three of those together can really improve our framework. And I'm glad they taught that, because now we have to learn how to, especially that narrative. How do we bring the narrative in with the visuals and with the data to make sure we're influencing the business? We're making recommendations. We're not just doing a bunch of analysis and then nothing happens with it. Yeah, we've all seen I would love to know. You both mentioned one thing you liked about the course, I think early on was the talk I so I'd love to know, just maybe one takeaway from each of you from the AI section, since that seems to be all anyone talks about nowadays, right? Yeah, it's kind of the big buzzword. John, what was one of your takeaways from the AI section or something that kind of stuck out to you?
[00:30:38] Guest 2: Jihane: That taught me how to utilize AI to analyze, financial information. So now I'm constantly using ChatGPT to, for, get the formula or just to have some kind of idea for like, make my work better And also even, um, office politics. So I ask those questions to ChatGPT two, and then the answer is really good.
[00:31:10] Guest 2: Jihane: You know, I'd never.
[00:31:11] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thought about office politics asking it. That's a good one. I'll have to keep that one in mind. I've definitely used it for formulas, analysis, some of those things. But I love your asking it for kind of office politics and how to, you know, manage certain situations. I learned so many different use cases from people, so thank you for sharing that.
[00:31:30] Guest 2: Jihane: Thank you.
[00:31:32] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Alfredo, how about you?
[00:31:33] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes, I think we expose in one real life exercise one of real life, many of real life examples. And then as I recall, we were talking about reorder leveling. We were talking about capital budgeting. And then the key takeaway was that actually, actually we can place everything into ChatGPT, AI but, you know, you have to make sure that you yourself, you understand what you're doing and the expected result. And sometimes, you know, you also get to know the calculations and do your own analysis to not to challenge, but to make sure that you know the results that comes from ChatGPT especially in that case you know that are correct and accurate. So, it was really something interesting. I did not know that ChatGPT could do all those things. And then, you know, the formulas that actually they place was the same, that actually we have been taught in our guidelines and books as well. I was taught, you know, life and then, you know, we went to see it in ChatGPT, which was really correct, was the same. Yes, but not the the key point is that, you know, for me, it was the fact that okay, does not matter if the results are there, you can work with ChatGPT, but you yourself, you have to understand what you're doing and the results actually are accurate. So that's the key takeaway.
[00:32:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Great takeaway is one, as I tell everybody. Don't just take what it gives you. Assume it's right and use it. Review it. You wouldn't take an intern's work and give it to your boss without reviewing it. You shouldn't do that with I and so. But yeah, I can give some great answers. I appreciate both of you sharing that, and I'm glad they covered that because it's such an exciting area that's so quickly changing all the time. Next question I'd like to ask and we'll start with you with this one, Alfredo, if someone's considering taking the program or you know they're considering taking a certificate. Any advice you would offer them? You know, anything you would say to them is they're looking at, you know, this program and other programs as they're trying to evaluate it. Any advice you could offer.
[00:33:44] Host: Paul Barnhurst: FP&A Guy here today, I want to talk about something that can help you in your career. That's for certificates. We all want ways to stand out and to validate to our employers that we're serious about our profession and that we understand that a great way to do that is to get a certificate or a credential that demonstrates your ability to do the work.There are several great programs out there in FP&A and financial modeling, and I cover those on my website. I've done an episode on FP&A tomorrow about them, and I'm doing episodes in the future about all the different programs, bringing in customers to talk about them. So if you're interested in showing your employer that you're serious about FP&A and upgrading your skills, look at an FP&A certificate. There's one from Fpac Wharton Online CFI. FMI offers a great one for advanced financial modeling. There's the FP&A Professionals Institute and others, and I cover all those on my website. So go to the FP&A guy and check them out. Go to certificates and courses, FP&A Certificates. And the best part is, with each of these programs, I have a discount code where you can receive a special discount for taking that program, so check it out today. Level up your skills by earning a certificate or credential to demonstrate your seriousness about FP&A.
[00:35:11] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes for me or the advice I would really give, you know, is that this is a game changer for someone that is seriously taking his development plan to to the to the next level. It's a game changer. It was a game changer for me. It is a game changer for me. I still go go back into the into the recording sessions, you know, and then I still I still feel, you know, that I'm I'm in the room again and I'm, I'm still alive. So it's a game changer. It's a mix of many cases that's, you know, it's a there's a lot of cases, case studies, real life examples. You know, one of the things that I actually became familiar with me is like it could give me a context. You know, he was talking because he was talking to me. In my context, it can be, you know, global, but I was talking to me in my context, you know, and that was practical discussions. You know, it's like we're talking about, you know, something, as I recall, right, when you're doing a strategies business, conglomerates and mergers and acquisitions as well. So we could connect with people like Gian Rohit as well.
[00:36:15] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: You know, we are in the same picture. We could agree on that one. So the mixture of cases that's real life examples and practical discussions, you know, is one of the things that you're going to find in this course. Also, I've nailed many of concepts that were confusing to me. I've nailed it like,the cash flow forecasting. I just done it in school. But, you know, once I came to this, I could really understand and put it, you know, in Excel and understand it practically. How it works as well as working capital is one of the things that was my headache, you know, I could not really understand once I got to the books. It's like, how does it work? And then, you know, working capital was something that I really understood. And then the capital budgeting. So the capital budgeting is have we done it again? And a lot of questions and some of my doubts were created. So it's also I sharpen ,my analytical I think I'm an analytical person by nature, but it has sharpened me with, the good use of Excel, power BI and storytelling. So it's a game changer.
[00:37:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you, I appreciate that. I'm glad it was a game changer for you. Sounds like it was a great experience. John, any advice you'd offer to others as they're looking at this and other programs and they're trying to decide, you know, any thoughts you could add for them?
[00:37:31] Guest 2: Jihane: Yeah, I think the the factors that needs to be considered is the purpose of enrolling a certificate and the stage of their career. Um, and then the content of the modules and and the way the instructors explain things if they, um, relate to you or not. And also the the type of case studies that the certification have.
[00:37:58] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yep. Great. I think those are all important things. You know, do you relate to the instructor? Why are you doing it? You know, what's the goal in your career? Case studies. All great advice. I'm glad you both really enjoyed your experience. That's what we always hope to hear. You know, we don't want to. We'd hate to hear that. Oh, yeah. It was terrible. Don't do it. That nobody would. I mean, I guess if it really was, we'd want to know. But we don't want those programs out there. So I'm glad you both had a great experience. We're going to move into what I call the FP&A section. This is where I ask some standard questions of every guest. So you're both going to get the same question. You can provide completely different answers. And we'll start with you, Joanne. When you think of FPA, what do you think is the most important or the number one technical skill that we need to master?
[00:38:47] Guest 2: Jihane: Oh.
[00:38:47] Guest 2: Jihane: Technical skills. Okay. I think technical skills, financial modeling. Forecasting. That's the most important thing. And and understanding of tools. Especially automation. Automation tools and analysis tools.
[00:39:04] Guest 2: Jihane: Okay.
[00:39:05] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. Got it. So really it's that modeling forecasting. And then we as we talk about tools. All right. Alfredo, what about you?
[00:39:13] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yeah. For me I think the number one pillar would be data. Data analysis or analysis overall is like, yeah, you cannot go to budgeting if you do not know how to analyze. Not not only in the aspect of finance or financial analysis analysis per se, but you know, in a point that, you know, you have to understand, first of all, the basics of analysis, analysis, you know. So not only data analysis, not only financial analysis, but analysts overall come up with impacts, come up with variances, and then we can recommend, you know, necessary actions. So if you do not know how to come up with, impacts like, and do variance analysis, not talking about financial analysis yet ratio and other stuff. But you know, for me the number one skill would be data analytics or analysis. First of all.
[00:40:08] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Got it. So we got the financial modeling forecasting the tools the data analysis. Those are both answers. We get a lot. So not not surprised by either of those. You know we I ask every guest this question and it's fun to see the variety of answers we get. So number two, we'll start with you here, Alfredo, on this one, what's the number one soft or human skill that we need to master?
[00:40:29] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Effective communication. Effective communication? I think that's essential for a professional to master. So it comes, you know. Effective communication is often not only speaking effectively, it's listening actively. Effectively as well. it comes with a bit of empathy.and then yeah, that's basically what I take. Effective communication, especially the empathy part whereby, you know, I think I've, I've experienced, you know, I've been myself, you know, in finance faction at the core. I was really critical most of the time. I've been very critical and put people into process. I categorize people in processes, procedures. So I could not have so much of empathy. And I see, you know, most of the time my accounting people or in finance people doing the same. So but when it comes now with this effective communication, I also put empathy, active listening and speaking also effectively so that would be my soft and human skill that actually again, a professional could have.
[00:41:34] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thank you. Appreciate that. Alfredo. Joanne, what about you?
[00:41:38] Guest 2: Jihane: I think the most important soft skills for FNA is stakeholder relationship. So we need to understand how to like, relate to other people with different backgrounds and to understand their their aspirations, their needs that maybe we don't understand and work together. Same goal.
[00:42:02] Guest 2: Jihane: Like.
[00:42:02] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That. Same goal, stakeholder relationships. So I love that on each one of these, you each gave slightly different answers. And that's what we get from different guests. There's it's really hard to say what's the most important because there's a lot of important things. It just shows how many different things we have to be good at. But at the core, we can see both have to do with relationships, right? If you can't communicate well, it's really hard to build relationships. And if you're not focusing on building relationships, even if you communicate great, you're going to have problems. So, you know, it's really not a either or. Both of them are things we need to develop. So now we're going to go ahead and wrap up here in a minute. We're nearing the end of our time. So we have a just a one for each of you a get to know you question, just kind of a fun question that has nothing to do with FP&A going to change. Change the subjects here for a minute. So I think we'll start here. We'll go to John on this one. If you could have any job in the world or any person's job for one week, whose job are you going to take or what job?
[00:43:07] Guest 2: Jihane: I think I love my current job, so I'm okay with my existing like my current job and then doing this, but like with more FP&A work as well.
[00:43:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So keep doing what you're doing, but with more FP&A . Nice, I like it. All right, Alfredo, here's your question. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
[00:43:31] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: That's a question that took me back, you know, very far. But yeah, I think I actually called two stages in my life when I actually wanted to be a medical doctor. I wanted to follow my, my, my mom's steps, which is, a nurse, medical nurse. And I wanted to be that. But there was a time that, you know, I was when I wanted to, to go to nursing school. I was very, very young, and my mom did not accept that. So I closed that subject. And then when I was actually 14 years old, I wanted to be a lawyer. And I actually started pursuing that career when I was doing my high school, with social sciences, but, did not materialize because I actually went to study outside,, my country, which is Angola. And then what happened to me is that with, , a translating error, actually, I came up, I end up doing accounting and finance. So I thought was economy. You know, because I've done in high school some, , principles of economics. But, you know, what happened to me is like I, I mis translated, you know, accounting, you know, as, , economics. So and, and ended up doing, you know, accounting and finance when I was supposed to do HR because I decided I'm going to change to HR, I'm going to change to public management when I wake up to, to change how I actually having my degree. So and now I actually like the numbers, I like, you know, analysis, I like planning. So I think I'm, I'm well I'm grateful with that translating error.
[00:45:12] Guest 2: Jihane: Perfect.
[00:45:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: It's funny how life works out. I, uh, when I was a kid, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer because I liked arguing. Then I realized it was a lot more than that. So there you go. I can't say it was a good reason, but.
[00:45:28] Guest 2: Jihane: There.
[00:45:28] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Was my reasoning. Alright, as we wrap up, just any last thoughts? You know, anything you'd like to share with the audience, any kind of advice or just kind of thoughts in general before we wrap up? So Alfredo, we'll start with you.
[00:45:42] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes. There's this quote that I got when I, when I was really starting as a, as a professional, which goes that never delegate your development plan on it and execute it. That's basically my advice. Never delegate your development plan. So and FP&A is a good starting point. And that's basically my advice.
[00:46:05] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I like to never delegate your development plan. Great advice. We'll put that up on a poster. John, what about you? Any last thoughts you want to share?
[00:46:14] Guest 2: Jihane: Based on my experience, I now realize that anything can be taken away from me professionally, but not my knowledge and my development. So now I. I am determined to like to always be thankful. For what? My stage in my career. What? What happened in my career? As long as I keep learning something new that will be mine forever.
[00:46:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I love that right. The knowledge that we've learned can never be taken away. Our job could go away tomorrow. You know, health problems could happen tomorrow. Whatever. There's all kinds of things that happen, but we're going to take our learnings with us and those will help us. So, you know, kind of goes along with don't delegate your development, be developing. I think both of you gave great advice there. And it feels like the takeaway is regardless of what program you choose, you know, you both got great experience from the FP&A program. But more than anything, make sure you're developing, you're learning, you're improving your skills because that's something that will always go with you.
[00:47:21] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Yes yes, yes.
[00:47:23] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. We'll put your, uh, LinkedIn profiles in the show notes in case anyone wants to learn more about you. And I really appreciate you. You know, carving out an hour to chat with me today. So you guys both have a great day.
[00:47:36] Guest 2: Jihane: Thank you.
[00:47:37] Guest 1: Alfredo Kinanga: Thank you very much.
[00:47:38] Guest 2: Jihane: Thank you. Bye bye.
[00:47:40] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Thanks for listening to FP&A tomorrow. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a five star rating and a review on your podcast platform of choice. This allows us to continue to bring you great guests from around the globe. As a reminder, you can earn CPE credit by going to earmarkcpe.com, downloading the app, taking a short quiz, and getting your CPE certificate to earn continuing education credits for the FPAC certification. Take the quiz on earmark and contact me the show host for further details.