Episode 60 - Paul Barnhurst: The Inside Story of The FP&A Guy’s Career
Show Notes
Today's guest is…Paul Barnhurst. Usually sitting in the presenter’s chair, this special edition sees Paul Barnhurst, aka The FP&A Guy (and host of FP&A Today), reveal the highs and lows from his storied career in FP&A at American Express, Solera, Inc., and DigiCert, Inc.. Guest host is Annette DeYoung MBA, FP&A Solutions Consultant at Datarails, herself an FP&A veteran at companies including manufacturer, JL Clarke.
Highlights? Discover a rookie error that saw Paul deliver bonuses to the worst performers (yes, you read that right), rather than the best. How he met Jimmy Carter. The inside story of FP&A forecasting for American Express’s (then) money-spinning Travelers Cheques business, and how his biggest FP&A tech accomplishment is still in place at a previous company.
Get to know your host as Paul reveals:
The winding road to FP&A from his beginnings in government procurement contracts
His big break at American Express despite “not really knowing what FP&A was”
With a love of numbers, why he was drawn to FP&A as his passion
Accounting vs FP&A and the best techniques he has used to manage the relationships
His key learnings to becoming a truly excellent FP&A business partner
The fears and journey in leaving big corporations to become a top FP&A consultant
Why finance tend to be such laggards when it comes to tech adoption
What’s it actually like using Google Sheets?
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Earn CPE credit through Earmark for listening to this episode.
For AFP FP&A Continuing Education credit, please complete the course via the Earmark Ap, must pass the quiz with 80% accuracy, and send the completed certificate to pbarnhust@thefpandaguy.com for issuance of 1 hour of credit toward your AFP FP&A Certification.
Datarails is the financial planning and analysis platform that automates data consolidation, reporting and planning, while enabling finance teams to continue using their own Excel spreadsheets and financial models.
Get in touch at www.datarails.com