FP&A Today

Why Excel is the hottest esport on the planet – Maksims Sičs

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s get ready to modelll! Broadcast on ESPN, watched by tens of thousands of people around the world, and featured across CNN,BBC, ITV, and The Atlantic, the Financial Modeling World Cup (FMWC) is the hottest esport on the planet. If you ever wanted to apply for the Excel Modeling World Cup against top stars, feature on ESPN, or wonder if you have what it takes, this is the must-listen to episode of the year. 
Chief Operating Officer of the FMWC, Maksims Sičs reveals the inside story of how the “Excel World Cup” was started and the success story ever since.
Maksims Sičs is himself an expert in Corporate Finance advising customers on financial planning and analysis at companies including AG Capital, and PNB Banka.
In this episode Maksims reveals:
How the Financial Modeling World cup started
The success of the sport in creating a global Excel community
How a little help from Microsoft helped FMWC get broadcast on ESPN 
The glory: the prize fund for winning and being an Excel world champion stands at $30,000 jackpot and a trip to Las Vegas 
The pain: how one competitor tried to do the final stage in VBA and his Excel crashed five minutes before the final
How to enter the tournament for only  $20 ticket 
How good do you need to be to enter the competition? 
How a competitor called the Excel Wizard Bo Rydobon managed to complete cases in 2 minutes through dynamic arrays 
Helping SME business with finance  in his (second) day job 
Why FP&A provides “light in the darkness” for a business 
Enter the Financial Modeling World Cup
YouTube video of the episode
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When FP&A Meets Treasury with Mike Richards

When FP&A Meets Treasury with Mike Richards
“Spend 10 minutes a week on yourself. Nobody else is going to take charge of your career except for you. If you sit back, you are going to lose.”
Mike Richards, CEO & Founder of The Treasury Recruitment Company, has helped professionals in the US, UK and Europe find dream treasury roles at companies such as Chanel, IKEA and Porsche for two decades.  
Mike also hosts the popular podcast, The Treasury Career Corner Podcast which has seen  250 treasury guests and more than 120,000 downloads
In this episode: 
Modern treasury defined
The best paths to collaboration between Treasury and FP&A  (aka grab a coffee ☕)
Association of Finance Professionals' certifications for treasury and FP&A
The guide to understanding treasury operations for aspiring CFOs. 
Financial risk management, capital structure, cash management, banking, relationships, and decision-making for treasury 
How to get a job in a job market that sucks
Horrible finance job descriptions
 
Links 
Upcoming speeches and conferences featuring Mike Richards - https://treasuryrecruitment.com/treasury-roadshow/ Including New York Cash Exchange, then EuroFinance – Barcelona & then AFP, San Diego
Listeners can connect with Mike here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrtreasury/
Head to Treasury Corner podcast here - https://treasuryrecruitment.com/podcast/
 
YouTube video of the episode
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FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.
Datarails (www.datarails.com) 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.

Jenny Fuss, CFO, Boart Longyear: Swimming in International FP&A Waters

“You can throw me in any water. Stormy, cold, or hot and I’ll start swimming.” 
And swimming is exactly what Jenny Fuss did. 
Jenny Fuss, CFO of Boart Longyear, talks about the challenges of international experience, the importance of having a diverse set of skills in an FP&A team and  how to achieve storytelling and influencing in FP&A.
Originally from a small town in Germany, Fuss wanted experience of working and living abroad. When the opportunity to move to become a CFO of a joint venture in China presented itself she took it before relocating again to continue her global career in Houston Texas, and expertise as a finance leader walking the shop floor in manufacturing companies. 
This episode covers: 
Jenny’s advice for an international-based career 
The power of FP&A to provide game changing analysis when you have new customer, need to find a new way to contract or enter new markets
What CFOs expect from a new breed of FP&A teams
The challenge of doing less F and P (and more analysis) when facing high pressure cycles such as month end closes and budget planning
Why she favors a three-year forecast from FP&A
The #1 priority for a CFO in their first 90 days in a new role 
Owning up to a million dollar mistake  
Jenny’s favorite thing about Excel
Her top  advice for someone starting out in FP&A
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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.

Wassia Kamon: The power behind Powerball on doing “FP&A on the Go”

Wassia Kamon built FP&A from the ground up at Intralot, a state lottery vendor behind the US Powerball lottery (as an insider she couldn’t play the lottery for nine years).
And Wassia knows something about winning against the odds.
She arrived in the US aged 17. As she points out “only 3% of people getting a CPA are black”.
Wassia says: “Growing up in the Ivory Coast I was not a minority. Coming to the US I had to learn what it was to be a minority.”
She started posting regularly on LinkedIn after “seeing that there’s nobody that looks like me that’s talking about finance. “I never had a black boss, I never reported to somebody that was black. So the fact that I’m in this role means that other people saw me for what I could bring to the table and hired me.”
Her rapid rise has seen her become a finance executive with roles as VP of Finance at Boehringer Ingelheim From there, she moved on to more FP&A-focused roles at Boehringer Ingelheim, a global pharmaceutical company, as finance business partner for different business units, to VP of Finance at Low Income Investment Fund (the company manages $2billion of investments). She was recently recognized as an up the 40 under 40 honoree by CPA Practive Advisor.
In this episode learn:
Her approach to learning *on the go* in switching from accounting to FP&A 
The value of “starting where you are” 
How to make sure finance speaks the same language as the rest of the business
Putting ongoing meetings ahead of an annual meeting when it comes to budget and other big ticket items
Secrets to managing a team and getting the most out of colleagues
Book recommendations to boost your FP&A career
How being “overly confident” led to her biggest FP&A career blunder 
Her favorite Excel function that changed her life forever 
What’s better, chocolate or Cheetos?
YouTube video of this episode 
Full episode transcript
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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. 

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 
Follow Paul Barnhurst on LinkedIn 
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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. 

Danielle Stein Fairhurst: Using Excel for Business and Financial Modeling

Danielle Stein Fairhust  literally wrote the book on Excel and Financial Modeling. Well two books, actually. Using Excel for Business and Financial Modelling and Financial Modeling in Excel for Dummies. 
 
Here, the Excel MVP from Australia provides her secrets to financial modeling.
 
Her road to financial modeling after traveling for seven years, and leaving investment banking Why Excel is so crucial for businesses 
Budgeting and forecasting vs financial modeling 
How she was commissioned to write her famous books
Difference between creating a LinkedIn course vs writing a book
Encouraging and raising the profile of women in financial modeling 
Secrets to training and behind the scenes of the Financial Modeling World Cup 
How to Become an Excel MVP
The biggest issue people face with financial modeling
The Financial Modeling Institute work and how to ace the test 
Favorite Excel Function?
Biggest advice for someone starting in FP&A today?
 
Links
Danielle Stein Fairhurst: Using Excel for Business and Financial Modeling 
Danielle Stein Fairhurst: Financial Modeling in Excel For Dummies
Danielle’s LinkedIn course (new), Excel: Financial Functions in Depth.
 
 Follow Danielle Stein Fairhurst on LinkedIn 
YouTube video of the 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. 
 

Breaking Bad: Getting to Beyond Budgeting

Bjarte Bogsnes has worked with companies, from IKEA, H&M,Pernod Ricard, Volvo and Equinor (Scandinavia’s largest company). His approach, “Beyond Budgeting” involves wholesale rethinking about budget approaches. In today’s episode, Bogsnes rails against the “misery” and “borderline unethical behavior” in traditional budgeting within companies, as he talks about the seachange happening in businesses. He talks to Paul Barnhurst as he publishes his new book, This Is Beyond Budgeting: A Guide to More Adaptive and Human Organizations (2023).
 
The episode covers
 
Definition of beyond budgeting as an antidote to “serious problems with traditional management”
How traditional budgeting gets “trust” and “predictability” wrong 
Your answer to “Why are you budgeting?” shows the problems inherent in existing process
How budget process are “borderline unethical”
Equinor (Scandinavia’s case study) change 
Making organizations more adaptive and human in the process of transformation
Don’t start with rolling forecasting 
How a Vinyl collection of 3,5000 is a unique musical passion 
How Beyond Budget “will happen” in the next decade 
 
Links 
 
Bognes Advisory bogsnesadvisory.com
 
FT (case study of Ikea): CEOs forced to ditch decades of forecasting habits
 
Bjarte Bogsnes: This Is Beyond Budgeting: A Guide to More Adaptive and Human Organizations
 
 
Follow Bjarte Bogsnes on LinkedIn
 
YouTube video of the 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.

How to improve your Excel skills

In this special FP&A Today episode, Paul is  joined by three Excel experts whom Microsoft has recognized as Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs). Learn why it is important to up your Excel game and how you can do it. Below check out offers (saving $$$) from our MVPs exclusively for listeners of FP&A Today.
Get all your questions about Excel answered by the expert panel:
George Mount, Founder Stringfest AnalyticsCelia Alves, CEO, Solve and Excel ConsultingMark Proctor, Excel Off The Grid
In this special episode:
Our MVPs on when Excel first emerged as a difference-maker in their lives
George Mount on the failure of finance to adapt to technology
The challenge of finance teams descending to the lowest common Excel skill set
The untapped power of PowerQuery and where to start
The power of prepping your data properly
Python vs Excel
Automating Excel reports using Python
How to deal with tricky Excel issues
Will Excel go extinct with the rise of AI
The thing that you absolutely could not live without in Excel
Connect with George Mount
Connect with Celia Alves
Connect with Mark Proctor
Special Offers Exclusively for FP&A Today listeners
1) George Mount
Subscribe to George’s newsletter to get access to his data analytics resource library and many other goodies https://stringfestanalytics.com/subscribe/
2) Mark Proctor
https://exceloffthegrid.com/fpa is an exclusive offer for our training academy to the listeners of FP&A Today - 30-day full access trial for $1, followed by a $100 annual discount. This is valid until 31 May.
Excel Off the Grid 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExcelOffTheGrid
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markstephenproctor/
3) Celia Alves
Celia offers an online course about automation of Excel Reporting procedures. Check out the special FP&A Today discount here https://snapreportschamp.com/course
DISCOUNT CODE for 20% OFF: FPA20
(valid up to June 4, 2023).
Subscribe to Celia’s newsletter https://snapreportschamp.com/subscribenewsletter
Celia Alves - Solve & Excel - on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/CeliaAlvesSolveExcel
YouTube video of today's 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

Syed Nadeem: Learning from your Failure in FP&A

Syed Nadeem is a top finance leader in Saudi Arabia. But the director of Budgeting at listed telecom company, Zain KSA, says he considers his previous failures as pivotal to his position today.  He says: “When I was young [and experiencing failure] I felt so disappointed I thought my world was going to end. Sometimes  you don't get a promotion and you see other peers getting a promotion. I struggled after getting my CMA (Certified Management Accountant). Sometimes you are not getting good increments, or you are about to hire someone and they reject you. But what I learned is this failure actually makes you strong for the future role.”
Today, he shares his full breadth of experience-both good and bad and explains why he provides (free) mentorships to businesses on a daily basis and to his 15,000 followers on LinkedIn.  
In this wide ranging interview Syed explains:
Uncovering the power of FP&A in companies providing a “helicopter view of companies”.
The role and limitations of certifications in FP&A
How “selling”  is the core to getting a good job in finance 
The power of technology in FP&A and “unlearning and relearning every day”    
The secrets to effective communication with senior leadership
How bad experiences make strong finance business leaders 
The secret to talking to Investors in a Language they Understand 
 
Links 
Get a free one-to-one career session with Syed at https://calendly.com/syednadeem/connect
 
Read the full transcript and blog
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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

“MoneyBall for FP&A”: Maura Feddersen on Winning in Forecasts

 
Maura Feddersen, behavioral research manager at Swiss Re, is an economist who previously worked in the economics team of two of the Big Four Accountancy firms: PwC and KPMG.
 
She got switched on to behavioral economics as “I always felt there was something a bit missing in economics. [Economics] assumes that people act quite rationally…and that was just not the case. Behavioral economics brings together the economics, as well as insights from psychology, to try to assess how humans really make decisions”.
 
This  fascinating episode with Maura, uncovers the lessons that FP&A teams can learn from behavioral economics to improve forecasting and the power of “knowing what knowing what you don’t know.”
 
This episode includes   
 
New research revealing that investors predictions are only slightly more accurate than a chimp
How new forecasting methods improved accuracy at Swiss Re by 5%
The cognitive biases we need to be aware of that undermine accuracy (such as the dangers of groupthink)
Meryl Streep’s Oscar nominations and your forecast confidence levels tested 
How to try and manage cognitive bias
The true economic impact of uncertainty in the global economy and in your business 
The opportunities and limits of AI forecasting 
Using RIO (Rational Impartial Observers)
The biggest failure in her career
Favorite Excel function
Her biggest advice for someone starting out to get really good at forecasting 
 
Further reading 
 
Actuaries magazine: So You Think You Can Underwrite [Maura Fedderson]
 
 Insurers, take heed of these 3 common forecasting fallacies [by Maura Feddersen]
 
 Recommended books
 
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction Paperback - Philip Tetlock, Dan GardnerNassim Taleb, The Black Swan, the Impact of the Highly Improbable 
 
Annie Duke, How to decide
 
Adam Grant, Think Again, The Power of Knowing what you Don’t Know 
 
Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R. Sunstein, Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment
 
Read the full transcript and blog
Follow Maura Fedderson on LinkedIn
YouTube video
Follow Paul Barnhurst on LinkedIn
 
Follow Datarails on LinkedIn
 
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.