Drew Murphy: Find best practices, people that make you work better, and things you enjoy

Drew Murphy nearly became a meteorologist. But he opted for a different type of forecasting, warning of impending storms as an FP&A professional. A fast-paced finance career saw him land a part role at Procter & Gamble (while studying)-his senior year saw him work 30 hours a week as a plant accountant. Following six years of FP&A at Procter & Gamble (including analysis for Gillette and Braun), he took roles at Vistaprint, Mimecraft (where he was central to their IPO) and a CFO gig. Drew then launched community FP&HEY with his co-founder Yarty Kim. The mission of FP&A Hey is to “help time starved FP&A professionals get their free time back, their personal freedom back” offering resources and mentoring for FP&A professionals.

Core to his career approach is a clear mantra: “Find best practices, find people that make you better, work on things you enjoy.”

In this episode he discusses the implications of this approach to upgrading your career and work life balance in a busy finance role.

In this episode:

• Drew’s worst budgeting experience in his career 
• Shaving forecasting with Gillette and Braun
• how to impress sales executives with quarterly sales performance analysis 
• Best practice for a monthly profit forecast and team management process
• Why you need to be at a place with “people you respect and admire” 
• The importance of relationships in finance
• How the IPO process felt like a “wedding” 
• His strategic finance moment delivering (at Mimecast) growth of 40%, EBITDA expansion over time as a percentage of revenue
• Why FP&A pros must learn accounting and a business model 

Links from the Show

FP&A Hey. Because they don’t teach FP&A in school. Grow your skills, networks, and careers, all while having fun.

How to impress sales executives with quarterly sales performance analysis: https://www.fpandhey.com/how-to-impress-executives-with-quarterly-sales-performance-analysis/

Contact Drew at Drew@fpandhey.com