FP&A Today

Data Visualization & Storytelling: All your Questions Answered

In this special LinkedIn Live/ FP&A Today, join Paul Barnhurst and our all-star panel to answer your questions about hard-won experiences about data visualization and storytelling to get FP&A a seat at the table.
Our special guests joining Paul Barnhurst are:
Pooja (Laddha) Jaju, Lead Financial Analyst (6Sense and Accenture)
Soufyan Hamid, Independent FP&A Professional (Proximus, Deloitte)
Ron Monteiro, Founder KICT Inc (Campbell Soup Company,
The questions they tackle from around the world, include:
How data visualization is important for your career and growth in the business?
The first dashboard you created and what you  learnt from that experience?
Your favorite chart for making an impact
The Absolute Worst chart in  FP&A
Getting your finance team to better understand the importance of data visualization when in a leadership role?
How improving your presentation skills can advance  your career?
How can you best present month end financials using principles of storytelling?
Most powerful advice to ace your next presentation
 
Watch the full show on YouTube.
Read the full transcript and blog
Follow Pooja (Laddha) Jaju on LinkedIn 
Follow Soufyan Hamid on LinkedIn
Follow Ron Monteiro on LinkedIn
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.

Jeff Marx: How to Land your Dream Job with a Finance Passport

Jeff Marx, VP and Treasurer of large global chemical manufacturing company Hexion, reveals how anyone in finance can land their dream job. His method is to encourage anyone in finance to adopt a method called “the finance passport”.
Rather than chasing “shiny titles that look good on LinkedIn” anyone in FP&A should consider the concept of a “finance journey” to become an all-round player. This means taking a trip through Treasury, tax, audit, and investor relations to be rounded and be able to talk confidently about all aspects of finance, improving your impact on whichever role you are in, but is especially powerful for anyone with CFO ambitions. “I've had roles in internal audit, financial planning and analysis, controllership” says Jeff revealing how this journey has transformed his mindset.
In this episode Jeff talks to Paul Barnhurst about:
Understanding the finance passport and how to adopt this shift in your career
Moving from a promotion-based to a growth-based mindset in finance
The difference between a finance “athlete” and a finance “specialist”
How Treasury and FP&A can work most effectively together to drive business efficiency
His favorite Excel formula
Why ability to communicate effectively remains the best advice for anyone in FP&A
Watch the full show on YouTube.
Read the full transcript and blog
Follow Jeff Marx on LinkedIn 
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

Joseph Clayton: The outsized role of FP&A in big real estate deals

68 Ventures is a holding company for numerous operating entities transforming the Alabama Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle.
FP&A is central to this mission, says Joseph Clayton Business Analyst at the company. At 68 Ventures the  FP&A team is tasked with analysis that is fueling multiple big ticket real estate deals. Specifically, FP&A oversees a due diligence process to “ensure we're getting land at the value that we need in order to sell those lots at a profit to pay back our lenders, pay back our investors” alongside “tracking the schedule of the project.”
But Joseph’s career actually started in basketball.
With aspirations of playing in the NBA,  Joseph played college basketball until  injury cut this career short. After  being warned off law as a profession, he found a passion for finance after a series of roles showed him the powerful role of “financial data is in the decision-making process."
This inspiration of game-changing finance remains at the core of his mindset at 68Ventures. He discusses the central role of finance in providing storytelling and business partnering in a complex holding company which has 17 different entities. The 68 Ventures brand comprises an entity purchasing land, another developing the projects, home building, to a landscaping entity and pest control company (companies include Truland Homes, Vault Mortgage, Southeast Plumbing and Gopest).  
In our first episode tackling FP&A and the real estate sector, Paul Barnhurst talks to Joseph Clayton about:
The key metrics real estate FP&A leaders need to obsess over
The role of FP&A as interest rates rises impact homebuying after a sustained period at  rock bottom
The partnership and decision-making process of FP&A across a company with 17 different entities
The whys, and how’s as 68Ventures went through a process of replacing manual Excel processes to choosing an FP&A software company - and the lessons learnt
How to overcome an instinct to achieve complete accuracy in forecasting
Watch the full show on YouTube.
Read the full transcript and blog
Follow Joseph Clayton on LinkedIn 
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
 

Cole Dixon: How Cotopaxi uses FP&A in its Mission

You may not have heard of Cotopaxi. But you have likely heard of similar companies doing something different- Ben & Jerry’s, Allbird, Patagonia, and BrewDog.
What these companies have in common is B Corp certification. This is awarded to businesses for meeting the highest standards of accountability when it comes to social and environmental impact. Last year Cotopaxi also gave away $1.3million in donations as part of its pledges.
But how does an FP&A team work to advance this mission? How can FP&A work to achieve goals which are ultimately not about maximizing shareholder wealth.
Cole Dixon is FP&A Director at outdoor sports company Cotopaxi which has a tagline of Gear for Good on its high performance and eye-catching gear. For Dixon, the FP&A function at the company is central to “upholding a mission of our founders Davis Smith and Stephan [Jacob] that Cotopaxi can get us exploring and make a positive impact on other people’s lives. So we’re really truly committed that all of our products can be repurposed and that we prioritize human rights.” 
Every FP&A metric – units per transaction, average order value, average store volume, the inventory returns for stores – also incorporates the company-wide mission.
Listen to the fascinating story from Cole Dixon in this week’s FP&A with Cole Dixon and Paul Barnhurst.
In this episode Cole reveals:
The Ecommerce metrics and FP&A role that helped Cotopaxi to open stores during the pandemic
How FP&A partners with marketing to succeed in new ventures, such as the outdoor gatherings (Questival)
How Cotopaxi handled scenario planning and cash flow planning as stores closed during the pandemic
How he dealt with his biggest failure at Skullcandy, the lifestyle audio brand where he managed FP&A prior to Cotopaxi
How to build an FP&A team from scratch as he did at Cotopaxi
The importance of constantly “looking forward” to finding new values for in FP&A
Watch the full show on YouTube.
Read the full transcript and blog
Follow Cole Dixon on LinkedIn 
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

Sruthi Lanka: Why Top Startups see FP&A as Central to Strategy

Engineer-turned-CFO Sruthi Lanka  was drawn  into finance after seeing her parents - themselves brilliant engineers - losing money in the markets. “I couldn't understand how people who could solve incredible math puzzles in their head could not figure out how to make a return in the markets. And so that's what led me down this path of navigating into finance.”
Today she is CFO at investing app, Public.com, the biggest competitor to Robinhood, famous for the “GameStop Frenzy which rattled markets in January 2021. 
 
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
Watch the full show on YouTube
Read the full transcript and blog
Show Links
FSuite (A thriving, invitation only community where CFOs turn to excel in their career and day-to-day) 
Follow Sruthi Lanka on LinkedIn
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

Chris Reilly: Simplifying Private Equity, FP&A, and Financial Modeling

Chris Reilly's first finance experience was historic. He worked on the Lehman bankruptcy at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 unwinding the investment bank's portfolio with "sights of empty offices and employees being laid off". This period at management consultancy FTI Consulting occupied days and nights dealing with the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Following his consultancy days, Reilly moved to  Hilton Worldwide  in a more traditional FP&A treasury senior analyst role. Here he learned to love private equity and ended up pursuing middle market PE in Denver for nearly a decade. In 2020, made his "pipe dream" of setting up his own consultancy business a reality, founding Mission Capital Consulting where he provides custom built M&A and FP&A models. He also runs a successful course Financial Modeling for Private Equity ("I started saying to myself, I wish I could have coached myself or coach an analyst or something like that on how to do this the right way because of all the sleepless nights I spent doing it the wrong way.")
Chris is a leading voice in finance on LinkedIn, providing his more than 25,000 followers with insights and practical advice each day.
In this episode he talks to Paul about:
How he became skilled in finance through “sink or swim”  encounters that taught him modeling and FP&A
How mastering the Three Statements changed his career trajectory 
The brutal response from a boss that changed his attitude to financial modeling forever 
His worst model? (Or why is still haunted by 7,000 rows on multiple tabs)
Why every financial model starts with the end user in mind (and how to do this practically) 
Why the model itself should not be considered only a means to a “conversation”.
Why building a model of their own lives” can be the most powerful  beginning training 
His new courses including financial modeling for private equity which have attracted five-star reviews
How he went from fine arts and Spanish double major to a career in finance
Watch the full show on YouTube
Read the full transcript and blog
Show Links
Link to Chris's course: financial modeling for private equity
Follow Chris Reilly on LinkedIn
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

Anders Liu-Lindberg: Start with Why in FP&A

 
Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder, partner and COO of the Business Partnering Institute and owner of the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn. He has ten years of experience as a business partner at global transport and logistics company Maersk.
 
Within the world of FP&A, Anders can lay claim to being the most well known voice, blazing a trail for the function's ability to transform businesses. On LinkedIn, he publishes frank and combative insights to an audience of more than 100,000 subscribers throughout the world challenging FP&A to provide more strategic value.
 
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.
 
Watch the Full Episode on YouTube
Read the transcript and blog post
Show Links to Anders Liu-Lindberg
The Finance Masters Podcast
Trends and Finance in Accounting
Future of P&A and Business Partnering 
 
Follow Anders Liu-Lindberg on LinkedIn
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
 

FP&A Today, Episode 27, FP&A’s Big Lessons from AFP 2022

Did you miss the biggest FP&A gathering of the year?
No worries. This special episode FP&A Today has got you covered .
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.
In this episode hear from FP&A  all-star guest list:
Bryan Lapidus AFP -  subject matter expert on FP&A 
Christian Wattig ex-Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Squarespace FP&A and lead on the FP&A Prep course
Chris Ortega,  CEO of Fresh FP&A, and fractional CFO
Hector Rubalcava – director of finance at OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization. 
Brian Malambo – Head of  Monter Capital Partnership based in Zambia and investing in sub-Saharan Africa
Mario Vasquez - Director of finance for the EW Scripps Company
Read the full episode Transcript
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

Ben Murray, The SaaS CFO: 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 . Ben is also hired by SaaS companies: from small, private technology firms to global multi-billion dollar public companies. 
But few people know that Ben honed his career in FP&A.
Calling Financial Planning & Analysis "the key to strategic finance" Ben explains how this work is “near and dear to my heart” and provides a masterclass for FP&A professionals.
Ben's formative career roles included  manager of FP&A at Manager, at fitness company, A.D.A.M., Inc and (miles away from SaaS)Director, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) at Pinnacle Airlines Corp. Since then he is called in by finance teams to enhance FP&A alongside other finance functions.
In an essential listen for anyone working in or considering a career in SaaS FP&A, Ben talks to Paul Barnhurst about:
Rising up the ranks from FP&A to CFO and beyond 
How FP&A and finance can make an impact in a downturn 
The essential SaaS metrics most relevant for today's business
The “end of party” for SaaS valuations and funding and what finance should be doing 
The best practice he has learnt from advising multiple SaaS FP&A teams
Product led vs Sales Led SaaS companies - and the metrics for both
The importance of proper accounting foundations
The different expectations of SaaS business at $1million ARR, $5million ARR and $10million ARR
His best career advice
Watch the Full Episode on YouTube
Read the transcript and blog post
Show Links
Link to The SaaS CFO website - https://www.thesaascfo.com/
Link to the SaaS CFO academy (with 5k+ students) - https://www.thesaascfo.com/the-saas-academy/
Ben’s recent blog post on setting up an FP&A function in SaaS -  https://www.thesaascfo.com/financial-planning-and-analysis-strategic-finance/
Follow Ben Murray on LinkedIn
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

Nick Brignola: How FP&A Birthed $46 billion worth of Pharma Takeovers

In two companies, Nick Brignola, has shown the power of FP&A steering big ticket medical acquisitions. Firstly,  almost a decade ago, Nick led FP&A at manufacturing medical company, Schering-Plough snapped up by Merck in a $41.1 billion deal. Then in June 2022, at Cloudmed, Nick’s FP&A team oversaw the Atlanta-based healthcare revenue recovery provider being acquired by Revenue cycle management company R1 RCM ( $4.1 billion). In this straight-talking episode Nick reveals the secret inside story of FP&A's behind the scenes role in closing M&A deals. He also discusses:
Getting to 1% Forecast Accuracy in Pharma and the lessons others can learn.
The vital metrics anyone in pharma manufacturing need to know.
What are the main differences betweeen Corporate FP&A or Business Unit (or operational) FP&A?
FP&A Vs Sales The secret for FP&A teams to truly challenge your sales team (productively)
His secrets to building the most effective and dynamic FP&A team which bring results
Follow Nick Brignola on LinkedIn
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
Read the Blog and Full Program Transcript
Watch the Full Episode on YouTube 
To suggest a great guest for the show, or if you would like to be the FP&A Leader being interviewed contact jonathan.m@datarails.com