FP&A Today

FP&A at $5m to $50M Companies – Jon Allen and Duke Heninger

Feb 6, 2024

Jon Allen and Duke Heninger, experienced finance professionals from Amplēo, discuss the challenges of managing data in small to medium-sized companies, the advantages of paying off investments, exploring alternative career paths in FP&A, and using chat GPT for finance and Excel. They emphasize the importance of education and communication to gather necessary data quickly and continuously learning to open doors for career opportunities.

48:11

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Episode guests

Duke Heninger

Jon Allen

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Simplicity is crucial in FP&A, as it ensures digestible and actionable information that can drive decisions and actions within the organization.

Being a good business partner is essential in FP&A, requiring an understanding of the organization's needs and aligning efforts accordingly to provide value through reporting, forecasting, and strategic insights.

Starting a career in FP&A should involve learning from experienced leaders and mentors to build technical skills and gain valuable experience, even in less glamorous positions that offer growth and learning opportunities.

Deep dives

Keep it Simple, Digestible, and Actionable

In FP&A, simplicity is key. Focusing on keeping the information and insights digestible and actionable is crucial. Instead of complex formulas and lengthy reports, prioritizing simplicity and clarity ensures that the information can drive decisions and actions within the organization.

Introduction

2min

Challenges of Managing Data in Small to Medium-Sized Companies

15min

Paying off investments, Data Rails platform, and teaching an FP&A course

4min

Exploring Alternative Career Paths in FP&A

18min

Serving People and Getting to Know Each Other

2min

Using Chat GPT for Finance and Excel

7min

Jon Allen and Duke Heninger, of Utah-based Amplēo, have brought their finance game to fast-growing companies which are between $5m and $50m in revenue. They are “fractional CFOs” – that is experienced finance professionals advising these companies on a part-time basis. For instance, one business they work with, Korean barbeque restaurant Cupbop, appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank and got $1million from Mark Cuban in 2022. Other companies they advised include Burt Brothers (a tire and services company). Collectively Amplēo helped more than 3000 companies.

But they always find the same story when they look at financials at such companies.

“It’s always the data”, says Duke Heninger, Financial Partner at Amplēo. “It’s getting things put in a way so that people can understand what they’ve even spent. Most of my clients are on a very simplified accounting system. They aren’t classifying anything in separate departments. So it’s breaking it out, trying to understand who owns what, where should it go, and ultimately everybody just sandbags just so that they don’t trip a budget”.

In this episode of FP&A we meet Jon Allen Managing Partner, Finance, and Duke Heninger, finance partner at Amplēo.
They provide a masterclass on the value of FP&A at fast-growing companies, revealing:

Our worst budget experiences
Our journey through finance to CFO
What we wish we had known earlier in our career
Restaurants in COVID Times – how we used FP&A to help businesses
The powerful value of FP&A in restaurants
Why FP&A is a superb career choice
Founding companies as finance leaders
Teaching FP&A at University
Why great FP&A must lead to actions and decisions
How FP&A can become good business partners
Reporting vs forecasting
The importance of choosing a great finance leader to work for early in your career
Getting out your chair and talking to people
The last things we asked ChatGPT

Follow Duke Heninger:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dukeh/

Follow Jon Allen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonnyallen/

Amplēo provides business professionals, such as CFOs, CMOs and CHROs, to companies on a fractional basis in order to help them achieve their full potential. https://ampleo.com/

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FP&A Today

FP&A at $5m to $50M Companies – Jon Allen and Duke Heninger

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Keep it Simple, Digestible, and Actionable

The Value of Good Business Partnership

Creating a Path for Career Success in FP&A

Embracing Simplicity in Excel

Getting in Touch

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts