FP&A Today
FP&A Today is the podcast for Financial Planning and Analysis. The weekly show dives into the challenges and opportunities within the world of FP&A, interviewing FP&A leaders, CFOs and other finance pros in order to give you the freshest insights and takeaways. Each week our top guests provide actionable advice about financial planning and analysis – from career goals to navigating challenges, and powerful Excel tips. Our weekly show provides unrivalled insights for navigating FP&A. FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails. Datarails is the AI-powered Financial Planning and Analysis platform for Excel users.
Episodes

Tuesday May 31, 2022
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Francesca 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 digital transformation supporting a £1 billion ($1.26 billion) spend 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.
In this wide ranging-interview for FP&A Today, Francesca reveals the essential things CFOs, and FP&A teams need to know in undergoing any type of transformation. As well as sharing their horror stories of change management programs (Paul reveals a $12m mistake in a deeply flawed change management he observed) the interview also reveals:
What "putting your house in order first" means for finance teams before undertaking any finance technological transformation
The biggest common problems of misalignment
How to avoid overhyped promises of some finance technologies and the questions to really ask vendors
Whether AI and robots will really steal FP&A jobs and what you can do to remain relevant?
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.
Follow Francesca on LinkedIn
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.
With Datarails on your side for FP&A you get improved data integrity and visibility helping your relationships with your internal business partners and external stakeholders; real-time latest version of all your company’s data in one place, with version control, audit trail and records, ensuring errors and multiple versions are avoided; the ability to let your data tell your story through proprietary, built-in visualization of critical KPIs in real-down; and drill-downs to answer questions on underlying data on the spot.
Get in touch at www.datarails.com
Follow DataRails on LinkedIn to find out about upcoming episodes and the latest FP&A news
Get the full program transcript
Watch the full YouTube video
To suggest a great guest for the show, or if you would like to be the FP&A Pro being interviewed contact jonathan.m@datarails.com

Tuesday May 24, 2022
Tuesday May 24, 2022
Bryan Lapidus has more than 20 years of experience in the corporate FP&A and treasury space working at organizations like American Express, Fannie Mae and private equity-owned companies. At AFP he is the staff subject matter expert on FP&A, which includes creating and curating content to meet the needs of the profession and membership. Bryan also manages FP&A Advisory Councils in North America and Asia-Pacific that act as a voice to align AFP with the needs of the profession.
Bryan speaks to Paul Barnhurst aka The FP&A Guy giving the benefit of everything he has learned speaking to thousands of practitioners of FP&A at the AFP’s conferences, roundtables and interview sessions. He discusses everything from the importance of a finance passport, FP&A certifications, core skills to be an effective challenger, how budgets have changed - and not changed - since COVID-19, and the one change that FP&A pros all need to master.
Follow Bryan 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.
With Datarails on your side for FP&A you get improved data integrity and visibility helping your relationships with your internal business partners and external stakeholders; real-time latest version of all your company’s data in one place, with version control, audit trail and records, ensuring errors and multiple versions are avoided; the ability to let your data tell your story through proprietary, built-in visualization of critical KPIs in real-down; and drill-downs to answer questions on underlying data on the spot.
Get in touch at www.datarails.com
Follow DataRails on LinkedIn to find out about upcoming episodes and the latest FP&A news
Get the full program transcript
Watch the full YouTube video
To suggest a great guest for the show, or if you would like to be the FP&A Pro being interviewed contact jonathan.m@datarails.com

Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Jack Alexander is an in-demand speaker, author and advisor coaching the world’s leading finance teams, specializing in creating world-class FP&A teams. Jack has been a CFO of companies, such as Mercury Computer systems, and EG&G, before becoming a best-selling author of the FP&A handbook, Financial Planning & Analysis and Performance Management (Wiley Finance).
Drawing on more than 40 years of experience, Jack speaks to Paul Barnhurst aka TheFP&A Guy about the origins of FP&A; the essential things that CFOs are looking for in their FP&A functions; how to immediately start more effective scenario planning in uncertain times; how to get - and keep - your seat at the top table and become a Top Gun: Maverick; and the rookie mistakes he continues to see from FP&A teams.
Follow Jack 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.
With Datarails on your side for FP&A you get improved data integrity and visibility helping your relationships with your internal business partners and external stakeholders; real-time latest version of all your company’s data in one place, with version control, audit trail and records, ensuring errors and multiple versions are avoided; the ability to let your data tell your story through proprietary, built-in visualization of critical KPIs in real-down; and drill-downs to answer questions on underlying data on the spot.
Get in touch at www.datarails.com
Follow DataRails on LinkedIn to find out about upcoming episodes and the latest FP&A news
Get the full program transcript
Watch the full YouTube video
To suggest a great guest for the show, or if you would like to be the FP&A Pro being interviewed contact jonathan.m@datarails.com

Tuesday May 10, 2022
Tuesday May 10, 2022
Jordan Goldmeier started out with a degree in accounting, and went on to become one of the leading experts in data science and Excel. Recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award, Jordan is one of the leading global minds on data science, data visualization, and analytics. Jordan currently works with Fortune 500 companies and institutions. His latest book, Becoming a Data Head: How to Think, Speak and Understand Data Science, Statistics and Machine Learning is a #1 Best-Seller across multiple categories.
In this wide-ranging interview for FP&A Today, Jordan gives his outspoken views on whether FP&A pros need to know coding; the first stages to awesome analysis; the best Excel joke of all time; the problems with Excel education; and the Excel function he would die on a hill for.
Follow Jordan 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.
With Datarails on your side for FP&A you get improved data integrity and visibility helping your relationships with your internal business partners and external stakeholders; real-time latest version of all your company’s data in one place, with version control, audit trail and records, ensuring errors and multiple versions are avoided; the ability to let your data tell your story through proprietary, built-in visualization of critical KPIs in real-down; and drill-downs to answer questions on underlying data on the spot.
Get in touch at www.datarails.com
Get the full program transcript
Watch the YouTube video
To suggest a great guest for the show, or if you would like to be the FP&A Pro being interviewed contact jonathan.m@datarails.com

Friday Apr 29, 2022
Friday Apr 29, 2022
FP&A Today is the podcast for Financial Planning and Analysis. The weekly show dives into the challenges and opportunities within the world of FP&A, interviewing FP&A leaders, CFOs and other finance pros in order to give you the freshest insights and takeaways. Each week our top guests provide actionable advice about financial planning and analysis – from career goals to navigating challenges, and powerful Excel tips.
Our weekly show provides unrivalled insights for navigating FP&A.