CFO Weekly Budgeting for Impact: How Finance Can Lead, Not Just Report with Travis Grundy, Senior Associate of FP&A at Adventum
May 13, 2025
Travis Grundy, Senior Associate of FP&A at Adventum, is a financial strategist and fractional CFO with a diverse background that includes military service and publishing. He shares insights on effective budgeting, advocating a bottom-up approach focused on unit economics. Travis emphasizes the importance of aligning forecasts with real-world conditions and maintaining accountability through socializing budgets. He also discusses adapting budgeting strategies across industries and the role of AI in future financial forecasting.
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From Military Paralegal To FP&A Lead
- Travis recounted moving from the military into finance, starting as a paralegal and later running enterprise FP&A for a mental health provider.
- He credits military duty and responsibility for shaping his approach to getting work done.
Start Budgeting From Unit Economics
- Build budgets bottom-up starting with unit economics and the lowest sustainable expense level.
- Then scale up expenses only as justified by realistic market and demand assumptions.
Be The Voice Of Realistic Expectations
- Act as the voice of reality to temper founders' optimistic projections with evidence-based limits.
- Present numbers that will pass a straight-face test to investors, boards, and banks.