FP&A Today

Laura Bloom started as as a contracts manager for an air cargo company. In a dramatic switch she moved to accounting, then finance and FP&A at top companies including Dotmatics, Salesforce Comcast, and is now senior finance manager at Icertis, a SaaS platform for AI-powered contract intelligence. In 2023 she founded Impact FP&A specializing in Go-To-Market (GTM) finance strategy for companies. In this episode she reveals the importance of flexibility in her career and joining the dots in your story: “For example, with contracts management, you wouldn’t think that would translate into finance and accounting. However, as part of that role I was working with sales to build the sales bids for new business. I was also working very closely with accounting to give them revenue expectations for commercial contracts and OPEX expenses for our commercial properties.” In this episode: My passion for bringing order from chaos in finance Examples from my FP&A including calculating the obsolescence reserve for almost a billion dollars worth of inventory on a biannual basis Building a new model and updating assumptions (transforming the process from 6 months to 60 days and releasing $5m back to the balance sheet) The importance of data minimalism Monte Carlo analysis giving you a wider range of possible outcomes  Tableau as a data visualization tool and digging into commissions Importance of flexibility in a finance and FP&A   Most important FP&A Skill?  The ladder of abstraction The most vital go-to-market finance metrics  Connect with Laura on LinkedIn or email her at contact@impactfpna.com

Former CFO Daniel Paik, turned founder and CEO of CuroWork is at war on back office functions. He vows to “transform back-office departments from cost centers to profit centers” with FP&A in their sights. He says: “I call the back office the last frontier. We are the only ones not measuring ourselves. Therefore we get crap given to us every single day." Here are some of the ways that Daniel Paik, a former CFO, fixed the “back office” mentality in finance teams. Salespeople at one company said that the hardest part of their job is the 4 hours of entering Excel sheets related to forecasts. After looking at the situation, Paik decided to hire a financial  analyst (at $80,000) to take away the pain for salespeople previously diverted away from the selling - bringing in $4m in extra revenue Paik discovered and stopped a recurring report that hasn’t been read by the client in three years - giving back up to 5 hours a week to finance for strategic tasks By analyzing  how a finance professional was performing next to her job description Paik found “she was 140% utilized just on her recurring work” (compared to ad hoc work or project work). “By reallocating a lot of our time to project work we can become a value center or a profit center.” In this episode: ERP SOS! How an  8 month ERP implementation turned into two years  Moving from individual finance contributor to manager: tips and tricks  What Peter Drucker actually said about measurement (and why it matters)  The unmeasured country of Back Office functions Managing finance buckets into recurring work, ad hoc work and projects How to balance a million finance projects The right metrics to measure the finance team Average worker only productive up to 4 hours a day and how to get the most of that time What is a business for?” The real power of a project The power of AI in the back office  Connect with Daniel Paik on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpaik/ CuroWork: https://www.curowork.com/

CFO and Partner, Tyler Caskey loves hunting down and automating manual processes, installing better systems, and redesigning how information is gathered. He adds: “On average I can cut 40% of the time cost out of most finance and payroll teams within 12 months. And with the 40% saved time they can significantly reduce error rates and start to show their true value.” In this episode Tyler talks to Glenn about some of his experiences working with teams from New Zealand, Australia, the US, UK and Europe. This episode covers: Getting dropped into audit in KPMG New Zealand before discovering a  “love for helping messy clients” Nonprofits and the finance of Movember getting up to 3000 transactions per day  How to sell the change of system stack  SAP vs Xero vs QuickBooks  Tech upgrades ahead of a liquidity event How I have seen PE destroy the culture of the business (and some good experiences) Sharing scars and war stories from PE  My finance horror at a restaurant business and why I walked out  CFOs and sniff testing the budget How we are using AI in finance and budgeting   My experience being a CFO in the wild recruitment business  How finance can prepare themselves to make informed tech decisions Involving junior team members on projects Basketball meditation and wellness   Connect and chat with Tyler on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylercaskey/

Brandon Wilson, Founder and CEO of Steady Dynamic, shares his expertise in leveraging data for financial planning. He emphasizes the shift from predictive to prescriptive analytics, where data not only provides insights but also actionable recommendations. The conversation dives into the impact of AI on finance, real-time data acquisition, and the transition of FP&A from being a cost center to a value-adding function. Wilson also explores the role of complex modeling techniques and the benefits of different database systems in enhancing data analytics.

Nicholas Mann, founder and CEO of Stratos Consulting, shares his expertise in optimizing data strategies for businesses. He discusses the journey towards a unified data architecture and emphasizes the crucial role of FP&A in a company’s overall strategy. Mann highlights the impact of AI on variance analysis and the importance of collaboration across departments. He also opens up about his personal journey living with achromatopsia, showcasing resilience in the face of challenges while transforming financial planning through data-driven approaches.

In this engaging conversation, Maria del Dado Alonso Sanchez, a seasoned CFO with a robust background in finance across major corporations like Amazon and Booking.com, shares her transformative journey. She discusses essential strategies for financial adaptability in fast-growing sectors, revealing lessons from launching Amazon Prime and navigating Booking.com's acquisition. Maria emphasizes the importance of aligning KPIs with industry challenges and the promising role of AI in finance. Plus, she shares some fun personal insights about kickboxing and karaoke!

Christian Wattig, former FP&A leader at major companies, shares insights on creating the Wharton FP&A Certificate Program. Topics include FP&A in multinational companies, startup vs big FP&A, new analysis techniques, building an FP&A team, AI in FP&A, and key trends in finance. He also discusses the importance of FP&A tools and the evolution of FP&A teams towards strategic value creation.

Joe Knight, author of 'Financial Intelligence', discusses the importance of storytelling in finance, empowering small businesses through financial literacy, evolving financial roles, addressing financial literacy challenges, empowering decision making through financial literacy, and exploring the impact of automation and technology on knowledge and power.

Researcher Alex Kim discusses groundbreaking study showing AI outperforms humans in financial analysis. Topics include AI accuracy, practical implications for finance pros, combining AI with human intelligence, and future research projects in AI and finance. Podcast also touches on Alex's background, self-taught coding skills, and the importance of staying updated on AI trends.

Learn career progression tips from Nick Gribbon and Laura Streather at Essenta in the finance industry. Topics include getting noticed by headhunters, transitioning to CFO roles in private equity, importance of behavioral competencies, referrals, and salary negotiation.