Paul Barnhurst: The Inside Story of The FP&A Guy’s Career

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, and DigiCert. Guest host  is Annette deYoung, 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?

YouTube video of this episode 

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FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.

 

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

 

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.