FP&A Today - Episode 30 - Sruthi Lanka: Why Top Startups see FP&A as Central to Strategy
In this episode Sruthi reveals
Her vision for FP&A as central to business and executive leadership
Her experience of The GameStop Frenzy in late January 2021 which coincided with her joining Public.com, helping it explode from “a relatively young startup to having over a million members”
The centrality of data or analytics partnering with finance and why some engineering and SQL is an important skill set for CFOs
Her founding membership of FSuite in which StartupCFOs meet to discuss everything from the best tools to complex challenges they are facing
Why a regular monthly meeting with FP&A is “sacrosanct” - in order to optimize what is measured and show progress against targets
The importance of FP&A doing the “hard work” of building “simple” financial models
FP&A Today - Episode 28 - Anders Liu-Lindberg: Start with Why in FP&A
In this podcast Anders discusses:
How he moved from "pretty poor numbers" as a LinkedIn creator 10 years ago, to be the leading influencer on FP&A
Why more voices on FP&A on LinkedIn and other platforms is propelling change for the profession
Why business partners need to better understand key drivers for their business and translates insights into action
Why change in FP&A is still not happening on the scale that businesses need to see
Analytics vs FP&A? Should they be competing
What is really meant by common buzzwords "business partnering" and digital transformation
Why he feels that in common with other finance professionals he held himself back for too long to avoid breaking out of his comfort zone.
FP&A Today - Episode 27 - FP&A’s Big Lessons from AFP 2022
From the conference floor of the AFP (Association for Financial Professionals) in Philadelphia (23-26 October), Paul Barnhurst sums up some of the key themes of the conference talking to some of the participants and key speakers. More than 100 educational sessions tackled everything from using AI to improve FP&A forecasting, to skills in building trust, and essential drivers business should focus on.
FP&A Today - Episode 26 - Ben Murray: My Career in FP&A
Ben Murray is known to his 40,000 dedicated subscribers simply as “The SaaS CFO”. On the number one website for SaaS finance (thesaascfo.com) Ben provides blogs, research, courses and templates based on more than 25 years running finance teams.
In an essential listen for anyone working in or considering a career in SaaS FP&A, Ben talks to Paul Barnhurst.
FP&A Today - Episode 23 - Gaining FP&A Mastery in SaaS Rocket Ships
In this episode of FP&A Today CJ talks to Paul Barnhurst about his journey from private equity to SaaS mastery, and ultimately his CFO role. In this essential episode for anyone interested in SaaS for FP&A he discusses:
His motivation for creating the fast-growing finance newsletter Mostly Metrics, an irreverent and analytical spin on metrics which has crossed more than 10k subscribers (and growing!)
The best way FP&A can create impact for M&A activity
3 absolutely essential SaaS FP&A metrics based on his experience at rocket ships
The one thing he is most scared of in his new CFO role
The painful FP&A mistake that CJ made that changed his entire approach to financial presentation forever
The differences between his roles in FP&A and investor relations
His strategy for moving from FP&A to CFO
His boxing career
His most inspiring advice for anyone in FP&A
FP&A Today - Episode 21 - From FP&A and Chill to CFO
Jon Laudie reveals his playbook for rising up the ranks from analyst to CFO and the methods he used to advance his career.
FP&A Today - Episode 20 - How FP&A Drives Revenue at The Economist
In this practical and frank episode, Howard reveals the inside story of his career in FP&A and how a revamped FP&A function has driven growth at The Economist.
FP&A Today - Episode 18 - What Gen Z Wants in FP&A
What does Generation Z Want from FP&A?
Between them, college students Gabriel Valentin Navarro, Charlee Wambolt, and Derek Baker secured FP&A and finance internships at companies as diverse as Credit Suisse, Clark Construction, Amex, Expedia, Regeneron, and SavviLegal. In this special episode we explore the experiences of a Gen Z cohort experiencing work in Finance for the first time.
FP&A Today - Episode 17 - John King: Inside the Success of FP&A at Walmart
In this interview John speaks about the intersection of FP&A and business-decisions at Walmart and his career.
His passion for technology and the tech stack used at Walmart
The core metrics which Walmart judges FP&A on and what other retailers can learn
How to get insights for the business “today or tomorrow” through dimensional modeling
How to keep focus on the most important data in the face of potentially limitless consumer data
As both a Python and Excel expert, whether FP&A leaders need to know Python, Excel or both?
The importance of taking logic and analysis to the data - rather than the other way around
The most important advice for anyone starting in FP&A to succeed
FP&A Today - Episode 16 - Jamie Genge: Winning Big with Monte Carlo analysis in FP&A
In this wide-ranging interview Jamie provides his take on
Moving from audit to FP&A
How FP&A acts as bid support in governmental organizations such as the NPL
His passion for Monte Carlo analysis, a mathematical technique to account for risk and upside in decision making
How Monte Carlo is used in the sales funnel, with examples from NPL
How NPL conducts its budget and forecasting
Bottom up vs Top Down budgeting
The pride of building a team in FP&A as one of the greatest career achievements
The challenges and opportunities in FP&A at this crossroads
Jamie’s gardening project as an analogy for FP&A
FP&A Today - Episode 15 - Matthew Bernath, Host of The FInancial Modeling Podcast
Matthew Bernath, based in South Africa, has been a financial modeler for 15 years. Such was his thirst to learn best practices in the field, he set up a podcast, The Financial Modelling Podcast. Eighty episodes and 100,000 followers later The Financial Modelling Podcast is now ranked as one of the top finance podcasts.
FP&A Today - Episode 14 - Lance Rubin: Becoming the Wrold’s Next Top Financial Modeler
Lance Rubin is one of the world’s leading experts on financial models. He has created thousands of models for some of the biggest companies and literally wrote the instruction manual on financial modeling as a certified trainer for the Financial Modeling Institute.
In this wide ranging interview Lance reveals the secrets to successful financial modeling:
-How to Instantly Improve your Financial Modeling
-Why you need to build and Treat a Financial Model like your House
-The Best Resources to Learn better Financial Models
-How to achieve Better Storytelling in FP&A, and bringing Emotion to the Numbers
-The power of non-financial data to change your models
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.
FP&A Today Episode 13 - Christian Wattig: Getting from Good to Great in FP&A
Christian Wattig is one of the world’s leading experts in FP&A having led teams at Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Squarespace. Today Christian is FP&A Solution Architect, Datarails, and manages the top-rated FP&A Bootcamp explicitly designed for professionals who work full-time and want to ramp up their FP&A game.
In this wide-ranging interview Christian provides actionable advice for any FP&A professional:
➡How FP&A can help marketing attribution
➡The need for FP&A to embrace Gray Areas
➡The importance of curiosity
➡His FP&A ootcamp teaching hundreds of FP&A leaders
➡Hard-won secrets for business partnering
➡The need to forecast ranges
➡How to cope with vast data
Follow Christian on LinkedIn
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.
Episode 12 - Kathy Svetina: The Fractional CFO’s Inspiring Guide to FP&A
From a family of entrepreneurs, Kathy Svetina was always going to run her own business. Kathy first took financial planning and analysis roles at big companies such as AON and Wolters Kluwer for more than a decade. Then, Kathy founded Newcastle Finance, providing Fractional CFO services – supplying financial expertise to startups and fast-growing companies not yet able to justify a full-time CFO and facing growing pains. Kathy uniquely serves women-owned businesses (achieving $1M to $10M in annual sales).
In this wide-ranging interview Kathy describes:
The growth of fractional CFOs in business
The challenge of data consolidation nightmares in small companies
The optimal way of starting FP&A in fast-growing businesses
A favorite Excel function that felt like angels had landed on earth.
Follow Kathy on LinkedIn
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.
Episode 11 - Aliyyah Abdullah: How to Succeed with Supply Chain Value
Aliyyah Abdullah is Strategic and Operational Finance Leader, Universal Foods Limited. Based in Trinidad and Tobago, Aliyya began studying management, which she describes as “closer to psychology”. Aliyya only shifted careers to finance when a friend told her about an opportunity. After getting a degree in accounting, she specializes today in working with top SMEs in finance in the food and beverage industry, most recently at Universal Foods Limited – maker of Charles Chocolates, Sunshine Snacks and Universal Lightly Frosted Corn.
Being a leading finance expert in a country of 1.4 million people, Aliyya gets to perform a number of roles including FP&A specializing in supply chain value.
In this episode of FP&A Today Aliyyah discusses
The importance of leading and lagging indicators in food and beverage FP&A
Why she has focused in the past 12 years on small business FP&A
Secrets to mixing finance and operations to add value
How a food and beverage leader is managing mounting supply chain issues such as the rise in the cost of a containers
How her love of Horror movies has got her through anxious FP&A moments
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.
FP&A Today Episode 8 - Mental Health and Burnout in FP&A with Stéphanie Herbots & Zoe Cooke
In episode 8 of FP&A Today, discussion Stephanie speaks about her journey, with Zoe Cooke, FP&A Director at We are Social, who has been a powerful advocate of mental health in finance throughout her career.
Leading the discussion FP&A Today host Paul Barnhurst, who himself has seen the impact of mental health first hand and is among those leading the drive for better recognition and transparency among the FP&A profession. This wide-ranging conversation discusses
- The specific mental health challenges within the FP&A profession
- Proven advice to lead and cope with stress, burnout and mental health in finance
- The limits and challenges of forecasting in uncertain times
- How challenges with data and manual processes can be overcome
FP&A Today Episode 10: Carl Sideman: FP&A as the Great Anticipator
Carl Seidman is an FP&A Leader who works with Fortune 500 companies providing advice and strategy on best practices and scaling FP&A. In this interview Carl discusses:
His background in turnaround and restructuring of businesses
His “first retirement” from business at 32, which formed the basis of a TedX Talk (519,000 views and counting).
Setting up his own business focused on FP&A advice to the Fortune 500
Why successful FP&A always means anticipating
Why large companies do not always have the best FP&A processes
Public speaking skills as a game changer for any FP&A solution
The evolution of software as the biggest opportunity in FP&A
FP&A Today Episode 7 - Kenneth Fick
Kenneth Fick, had it in his background to be in FP&A: His father spent 40 years in FP&A at Fisher Price.
Ken is now Vice President of Financial Planning Analysis at Citrin Cooperman which is a $350 million accounting tax and advisory firm based in New York. In this interview Kenneth discusses:
Being a 20-year-old watching the chaos unfold at Circuit City which is now taught as an example of corporate failure in America
While technical skills get you first roles, you get promoted through skills in influence and storytelling
Becoming a leading name in FP&A through his writing – including a viral article about how to exactly define to a stranger what FP&A is, at a cocktail party
His budget process and love of budgeting as a means of listening to the company
Why it angers him that FP&A is being judged on predictions
How fuzzy data is at the core of FP&A
Linear regression and statistical modeling in Excel
FP&A Today Episode 6 - Cameron Janke
In this masterclass for anyone in finance, Cameron explains:
-How he took the initiative to move from accounting to FP&A by building his own forecasts and sharing them with management
- Why anyone involved in an IPO Needs to Worry more about Day Two – not just Day One
-How FP&A can best manage ongoing M&A opportunities and not get sidelined
- The secret to building the best performing FP&A teams
- Plus how a Kind CFO's words gave him a leadership lesson to remember
FP&A Today Episode 4 - Franseca Valli
rancesca Valli is highly sought after when CFOs come calling to discuss high-priority transformations (their top priority right now). With both a finance accounting background and training, Francesca, combines decades of expertise in finance, IT and technology and AI and machine learning. Her experience of complex finance transformations underpinned by technology, include leading a £1 billion ($1.26 billion) digital transformation for multinational beverage alcohol company, Diageo. However even at the biggest, most well-run finance teams the complex and misunderstood issue of change management remains an expensive and difficult challenge.