I train Finance Teams at Soft Skills | Corporate Training Facilitator | Course Instructor | Keynote Speaker

You can build the best reports…
and still struggle to make people care.

(I know because I used to do that, even as FP&A Manager)

I could spend weeks preparing the reports and the deck
only to see eyes glaze over when I presented them.

My “storytelling” looked like this:
- 40 slides
- 200 KPIs
- 0 engagement

Then… silence
No decisions. No alignment. No impact.

The reality check hit me when the CFO told me
"Soufyan, bring me the story. People I will present to need more than tables and graphs"

And he was right: If leaders don’t understand the story,
they can’t act on it, no matter how accurate the numbers are.

That moment changed everything.

I stopped trying to impress, and started trying to connect.

→ I simplified the narrative
→ I turned variance bridges into business stories
→ I built frameworks to help others do the same

A few years later, I was training entire finance pros.
Then entire teams.
Then CFOs started calling.

Today, I run The Finance Circle,
where I help FP&A teams, controllers, and CFOs
turn reports into stories that drive decisions.

Here’s how it works:

• The Finance Stage  for teams
• Financial Storytelling Program — our flagship training for professionals
• Coaching programs — for CFOs and Leaders
• Workshops on AI, Copilot & Storytelling

I’ve trained teams at Holcim, Deloitte, Bauer Media, Ansell, and Proximus.
Different industries, same goal: make Finance heard.

Because the best insight in the world means nothing
if no one remembers it after the meeting.

Ready to make your next presentation land?
Send me a message — let’s make your story stick.

Soufyan Hamid

Your words are killing your presence

12 ways to know if you’re doing it:

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲:

“Maybe we should…”
“I may be wrong, but…”
“Can I ask a dumb question?”
“Just thinking out loud here…”
“Hopefully this makes sense…”
“This might be overstepping…”
“Does that sound okay to you?”
“I’ll try my best to get that done…”
“I’m no expert in operations, but…”
“I just wanted to share this update…”
“I’m not sure if this adds value, but…”
“Would you mind if I add something?”

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞:
“Here’s the key shift”
“The numbers suggest…”
“Here’s what the data is signalling”
“Here’s one scenario worth testing”
“Here’s how the pieces fit together”
“There’s a financial implication here”
“Does this align with your priorities?”
“Here’s an insight that could shift things”
“You’ll have the updated model by Friday”
“Let me build on that from a financial angle”
“Here’s how this flows through P&L and cash”
“Help me understand how this connects to targets”

In FP&A, your presence depends on what you know

but also on how confidently you deliver it

➟ Your analysis stays the same
➟ Your credibility doesn’t
➟ Strong language creates strong leadership

Which phrase are you eliminating first? 👇

Insight Communication for Modern Finance Teams (Storytelling Done The Right Way) | EMBA Lecturer | Keynote Speaker

"Let’s improve our financial storytelling"

Translation: Let’s argue about whether we should use pie charts or PowerBI

There's a problem that very few want to admit in FP&A:

Most "financial storytelling" advice will just help you make your data dumps a bit more sexy

But, it’s not actual storytelling

If you want financial insights to cross the door of the (virtual) meeting room after the monthly review and drive real decisions

Stop obsessing over the dashboard tools and start here

You need to answer these 10 questions before opening a single slide:
1️⃣ Audience: Who are we presenting to and what keeps them up at night?
2️⃣ Alignment: Are we on the same page about the problem before we present the data?
3️⃣ Business Insight: What do these numbers actually mean for the operation?
4️⃣ Message: What is the single core takeaway they must leave with?
5️⃣ Value: How does this narrative demonstrate value creation or risk mitigation?
6️⃣ Structure: What is the logical flow that leads inevitably to our conclusion?
7️⃣ Visuals: Is the data clear and engaging, or just a noisy spreadsheet screenshot?
8️⃣ Delivery: How will we present this to ensure it lands with impact?
9️⃣ Outlook: Don't just look back. What is next?
🔟 Action: (The most important one) What should we do differently tomorrow because of this data today?

Nail these 10?

You’ve got financial storytelling that makes people react

Ignore them?

You’ve just got another 90-page deck that will be forgotten by lunchtime

♻️ Repost if you've ever sat through a meeting that ended with zero clear action items

Reporting vs Explaining vs Influencing
Where would you put your team?
(PDF on https://lnkd.in/e9m42D9Y)

It's important because you can't change anything with reporting

But today, most teams I've seen are still blocked there

It could still work 10 years ago (and even so...) 
- gathering the different data sources
- cross-checking to verify the accuracy
- setting them in a usable report/dashboard

But the problem has always been that the rest of the company expects more from our job

Even 10 years ago, our stakeholders thought: "and now what?"

Leaders push back because they still don’t know what to do with what you showed them

So there's only one thing to do: move from hindsight to foresight

When you move your partners from the rear mirror to your windshield 

You become a finance business partner

If you want a simple way to diagnose where your team stands (reporting, explaining, or influencing) I’ve put together a visual that breaks down the differences with business impact included

It’s the framework I use in my workshops when teams want to raise the level of the conversation inside the business

If you want the full version, I’ve made it available as a free PDF

👉 https://lnkd.in/e9m42D9Y

Do you prefer to be respected or liked?

I want to be LOVED, and I'm telling you why 👇

Because until proven otherwise, we work with humans (not sure it will last long, but in the meantime, let's keep that hypothesis)

And people still prefer to be nice with people they love

Attention: I'm not pretending that by being "lovable", you can neglect to be competent ⚠️

In a workplace context, a "competent jerk" will more likely get more "task" collaboration than a "lovable fool"

But when it comes to influence situations (let's say, randomly, a budget nego), being likable will help you more because:
- you ask a lot of efforts
- you often bring bad news
- you have to challenge pushbacks

So, besides your mastery of models, also bring that to your toolkit
1️⃣ You make people feel heard
2️⃣ You challenge by asking questions
3️⃣ You stay calm
4️⃣ You're accountable and share credit
5️⃣ You have solid principles
6️⃣ You're fair in how you treat people
7️⃣ You deliver what you promise (always)
8️⃣ You bring solutions
9️⃣ You absorb stress
🔟 You equally support and challenge

I remember having had that discussion some time ago with some fellow finance leaders

Often the answer was that "respect" was more important

But what if you're both "respected" and "liked"?

When you see these 10 points, that doesn't seem the end of the world

Right?

I’ve trained 1.254 Finance Pros in Storytelling | EMBA Lecturer | Keynote Speaker

Only 17%* of FP&A teams say their data is truly “best in class”

Meaning 83% still struggle to reach that level.

And it’s not hard to see why:
• Endless time spent on reconciliations and manual files
• Insights arriving too late to influence anything
• CFOs running after reports instead of steering the discussion

That’s when finance starts spinning its wheels

Effort is higher than progress, and strategy fades into the background

The shift from the daily activities to strategic ones doesn’t happen overnight

It’s a gradual clim

You begin with standardization
→ One consistent process that removes the chaos

Then move to automation
→ Eliminate the repetitive busy work

Next comes measurement
→ Track what truly matters and make it visible

After that, continuous improvement
→ Weekly tweaks that quietly build long-term strength

And finally, innovation
→ When finance starts shaping the business

I’ve seen this path in every transformation I’ve worked on and in all the CFO roundtables I participated to

It would be great to be able to jump to the nitty gritty at once 

But a steady path works much better

📎 Share it with your CFO.
💾 Save it for when your team needs a boost.
⚙️ Use it as a roadmap to build a future-ready finance function.

* Source: 2025 FP&A Trends Survey

Want to dig deeper? Here are a few ways to start:

📘 Grab the free Financial Storytelling Starter Pack → https://lnkd.in/eadSXhKp
 🎥 Subscribe to my Youtube channel → https://lnkd.in/eDkW4xxC 
🤝 Or book a chat if you’d like to explore options for your team → https://lnkd.in/eKTff5s2

Analysis <> Storytelling, Ying and Yang of Finance

And you can learn to do it with AI, if you have 2 specialists together

That's what Nicolas Boucher and I did yesterday for Forge Connect even in Antwerpen organised by the wonderful team of Rydoo 

Together with 60 Finance pros, we explored how we can use AI to help us do our job

From data analysis to storytelling in 8 steps
1️⃣ Gather all data from different emails thanks to Copilot
2️⃣ Consolidate them into one single file
3️⃣ Run the analysis and create a report
4️⃣ Outline the presentation in a story
5️⃣ Create the slides to use during the presentation
6️⃣ Challenge the content and brainstorm for backup
7️⃣ Rehearse and get feedback on it
8️⃣ Have it delivered by an AI avatar (if you don't believe it can be done, look at Klarna's latest earnings 😉)

We don't do one or the other, we must do them all

That's why it was so great to collaborate with Nicolas on this

Like Melle Eijckelhoff said, we're the ying and the yang of what finance pros must do and we're complementary

Except when Nico stresses me by adding a totally new functionality in the presentation...

 ... 20 minutes before we start 😄 (look at the last photo, but don't worry, it eventually went great)

Jokes aside, this is the perfect workshop if you want your teams to get the best of AI in Finance

From to A to Z, they'll learn how to be efficient and do what's expected of them

Bring more human in finance 😉

Insight Communication Prompts for Finance Leaders
Get the high-res PDF on https://lnkd.in/e_p6FgKP

At the gates of 2026, you can't ignore AI in your work

And even more if you're a busy CFO or FP&A Leader who has to deliver insights after your team has worked on the analysis

So here are my ChatGPT/Copilot/Gemini prompts for Finance leaders

I built this reference sheet with the 8 domains where finance leaders can drastically increase their impact:

1/ Month-End Commentary
2/ Financial Storytelling
3/ Business Partnering
4/ Board & Executive Communication
5/ FP&A Insight Generation
6/ Leadership Presence
7/ Process Improvement
8/ Decision Support

You know it by now, your influence won't come from more slides

It comes from better communication of the insight that matters

So, if your main stakeholders are executives

Use these prompts to generate
- direction
- importance
- action

That's why you need a repeatable system your team can use every single week to:
• Frame insights like a senior leader
• Move faster from data to decision
• Build trust in tense moments
• Present with authority instead of hesitation
• Turn performance reviews into business conversations
• Strengthen the relationship with every stakeholder you support

These are the prompts I use when I train FP&A teams, CFOs, and business partners across Europe and the US.

Now they’re yours too

—

What would you add to the list?

Repost ♻️ if you want more finance teams to communicate with impact

P.S. I’m Soufyan Hamid — I help finance teams turn insights into decisions

I started to learn public speaking with TED talks

No, not all applies to our job, but CFOs can learn by listening to some

To be precise, 10 of them

These TED Talks reveal something every finance leader eventually realises:
👉 The job isn’t just numbers (it starts to be understood)
👉 The job is perception (still difficult to believe)
👉 The job is influence (rarely acquired)

Because when you sit in the CFO seat, nothing is “just finance” anymore:

Pressure
Ambiguity
Expectation
Risk
Human decisions
Organizational tension

You can’t eliminate any of it

But you can learn to navigate it

Here are 10 TED Talks every (future) CFO should watch (and the one insight you can apply today)

1️⃣ Margaret Heffernan — “Dare to Disagree”
Takeaway: Build productive conflict. It saves millions
💡 Ask before decisions: “What are we missing?”

2️⃣ Simon Sinek — “Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe”
Takeaway: Psychological safety makes data better
💡 Start your next finance meeting with a 3-minute check-in

3️⃣ Amy Edmondson — “How to Lead in a Crisis”
Takeaway: Replace fear with forward motion
💡 After risks, ask: “What small step moves us now?”

4️⃣ Dan Gilbert — “The Psychology of Your Future Self”
Takeaway: Long-range planning is guesswork
💡 Audit your 5-year assumptions: which ones will age poorly?

5️⃣ Nina Nesdoly — “How to Relieve Stress When You’re Overwhelmed”
Takeaway: You can’t outthink stress
💡 Before a board meeting: inhale 4, exhale 6, drop shoulders

6️⃣ Rainer Strack — “The Workforce Crisis of 2030”
Takeaway: Talent drives performance more than numbers
💡 Review workforce planning with the same rigour as your P&L

7️⃣ Ruth Chang — “How to Make Hard Choices”
Takeaway: Hard choices define identity
💡 Ask: What type of organisation do we want to build?

8️⃣ Tom Wujec — “Got a Wicked Problem? First, Tell Me How You Make Toast”
Takeaway: Visuals simplify what words complicate
💡 Turn your next messy process into a one-page visual map

9️⃣ Linda Hill — “How to Manage for Collective Creativity”
Takeaway: Innovation is a team sport, even in finance
💡 Run one “improvement sprint” per month with FP&A

🔟 Matt Abrahams — “Think Fast, Talk Smart”
Takeaway: Structure reduces anxiety
💡 Use: What? So what? Now what?

TED talks are motivational

But I see them more as a toolbox

The CFOs who inspired me the most are the ones who invest in how they think, how they communicate, and how they lead under pressure

Which one are you watching first? 
Are there others you would recommend?👇

The TED talks CFOs should look at or listen to

You are 1.000.000s to master Excel

You are unique at being YOU

That's why your soft skills are your competitive edge

Because at some point, everyone learns the formulas, the models, the systems

There are, of course, signatures but all these have to follow a set of rules to be applied correctly

But not everyone learns how to 
- influence a decision
- deal with adversary situations
- communicate a tough message

And since organisations are like pyramids, there are very few spots at the top

If you want to reach it, you need to differentiate

That differentiation won't come for skills you share with 1.000.000s of people

That will come from how you make them matter

Work on your soft skills

Future you will thank you for that

I get it, it's easy to talk for myself

But what if others talk about what storytelling did for them?

Over the last four years, I’ve taught the Financial Storytelling Program in companies, workshops and in a self-paced format

I can tell you why it works

But it’s easier to let others speak

“From this course, I learned excellent techniques to enhance my financial presentations, starting from the basics in graphics to tips on how to be prepared to answer difficult questions. [...]”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Carlos Rodriguez, CFO at Fracttal 

“Soufyan has prepared a great storytelling course that is very well structured, with an interactive mixture of theoretical concepts with great practical training and exercises that were catered to our industry[…] ”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jasmeet Vasir, CFO at CMA CGM Inland

“The course was extremely comprehensive, structured and really well prepared… It really helped me organize my thoughts and offered significant knowledge on the subject”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Christos Kolokotronis, FP&A Business Partner 

“Soufyan is a great coach who comes to us well-prepared and provides very relevant examples to make the learning more valuable to us. His sessions are very engaging and interactive, filled with games and activities to make learning enjoyable and effective”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rong Mo, FP&A Director at Upwork

“What I like about the program is that Soufyan gives what companies normally pay a lot of money for. You have practice, exercises and training, all that in a single individual program”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nicolas Boucher, Founder at Nicolas Boucher Online 

This is what matters to me: not just that people “liked” the training, but that they left with a way of presenting that changes how their message lands

If you’re in FP&A, controlling or finance business partnering and you want your work to have that kind of effect, check the other testimonials and see what can happen when finance learns to tell a story

And whenever you're ready to make the step, join today with the Black Friday Offer
- reduced price ($147 instead of $247)
- bonus 1: live masterclass AI for Financial Storytelling 
- bonus 2: personal review of your slides and feedback

https://lnkd.in/dqNTTeBD

Testimonials of real people who learned to tell stories

The worst moment in your process is presentations

Because that’s the moment where:
– your credibility is visible
– your nerves become data
– and your story meets reality

But let me reassure you:

You don't have to be a born presenter

Everyone can learn to be one

But the finance world doesn’t teach this enough

That’s why I put together this resource inspired by the biggest learning I got on public speaking

These are the techniques I wish I had earlier in my career

When I was still thought my "spoke for itself"

A few that change everything:
🔹 The 5-5-5 Rule
Your eyes tell the room you’re in control, even before your voice does

🔹 The Power Pause
Nothing signals confidence more than giving silence space to work for you

🔹 The 3-Part Open
A clean opening does more than engage. It sets the agenda for how people interpret your numbers

🔹 The Lighthouse Method
Anchor points keep the audience from drifting, especially when slides get heavy

🔹 The Callback Technique
One well-timed reminder can turn a deck into a story

Use them as tools

And like all tools, don't use a screwdriver to break a wall

Determine which one works when

Because people need to feel your conviction to trust you

And once they feel it, they follow it

The biggest performance killer in FP&A isn’t in the tools

It’s the myths we keep believing about planning

These myths quietly shape how teams work.

They create stress, confusion, and unrealistic expectations long before the numbers are even discussed

If you’ve ever wondered why planning cycles feel heavier than they should, it usually comes back to one thing:

Teams start from beliefs that were never true in the first place

Here are some of the myths holding finance teams back (and the facts that actually move planning forward):

———

1/ The plan must be 100% accurate
I’ve watched teams obsess for hours over a decimal point.
Accuracy matters, of course, but planning is a process of direction, not perfection.
Great teams focus on directional guidance.

———

2/ More detail means a better plan
Granularity feels safe but in practice, it slows you down and clouds judgment.
What leaders need is decision-level visibility, not transactional noise.

———

3/ Planning happens once a year
Every FP&A leader knows that the world doesn’t wait for your calendar.
Everything moves, shifts and evolves.
Continuous planning is the only way to stay aligned with reality.

———

4/ FP&A owns the plan
It took me years to understand this one: we don’t own the plan. The business does.
Our real job is to facilitate the thinking, challenge the assumptions, and orchestrate the alignment...and play with Excel

———

5/ Forecasts should mirror the org chart
This myth creates silos, political debates, and disconnected plans. 
The business doesn’t operate in perfect boxes.
Neither should your model.

———

6/ Variance analysis is a blame game
In high-performing teams, it becomes a learning loop.
A space to understand what really happened and how to adjust.

———

7/ Tools will fix your planning problems
No matter which new fancy tool you choose, technology helps, but it won’t solve weak processes.
Discipline comes first.
Then tools amplify it.

———

Every planning cycle exposes the same truth: the real challenge is in the mindset

When you let go of the old myths, planning becomes lighter, sharper, and far more aligned with how the business actually works

Stop trying to plan harder and start planning smarter

♻️ Repost if your team needs that for next planning season

Would you rather spend $50k on:

A - licenses and bots to automate a month-end process nobody fully understands

B - a workshop with the process owners, a wall of brown paper, and a pizza stack

Serious question, there is no right or wrong

Except if you answer A then you are definitely not right

OK, I admit, I joke

Automation is tempting, I know

Vendors promise 75% saved time
Your backlog is long
Headcount is limited 

The idea of “it's done by itself” sounds great

Before you do, here is my advice:

DO NOT AUTOMATE BROKEN PROCESSES.

ONLY automate what you would proudly run manually once, start to finish

If you automate a messy workflow, guess what?

You just pay to make the mess move faster

That is a really expensive way to hide problems.

Here is what we do instead in FP&A and finance partnering:
1️⃣ Map the steps and the owners: everything included in the process
2️⃣ Remove duplicates and rework: in a manual process, there sure are
3️⃣ Define the single source of truth
4️⃣ Pilot the clean process for one full cycle: measure time & errors
5️⃣ Then, automate, and only then

A quick example from my past (way before AI):

I was in a company where Finance was in love with cubes (I will not say the name of tool, just to be fair)

Whenever an idea came to mind, the first reflex was to call the [tool] team and start building the process with the cube in mind

Long story short, almost every "new" cube had a lifetime of less than a year

Because it could easily be tested, iterated or brainstormed in Excel and with that, we would have noticed what wouldn't work correctly

When I had the opportunity (and power), I started to ask for a POC before anything could be set in a cube

It changed everything.

My lesson here is: automate your best version of the process

Your best version that drives the results you want:
- Shorter close
- Less manual inputs
- More understandable reports
- Happier teams
- More time for scenarios and storytelling

Bill Gates said it well. “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency”

I just saved you a budget line and a few weekends

You are welcome 🙂

They keep saying every story needs a hero

But have you ever tried to use that in a finance presentation?

It’s… ridiculous

I’ve heard dozens of “storytelling experts” tell CFOs and FP&A teams to follow the Hero’s Journey

Problem: our world doesn’t work like that

No one in the boardroom is waiting for a hero

They’re waiting for clarity, impact, and decisions

So I tested it

In this week’s video, I actually built a “hero-style” finance presentation and presented it to an imaginary exec team

Let’s just say it didn’t go well

You imagine the result?

Awkward silence, confused faces, and one imaginary exec asking me to go to the point

Financial storytelling doesn’t need heroes

In the new video, I break down:
👉 What the Hero’s Journey really is
👉 Why it fails for CFOs and FP&A professionals
👉 The storytelling structure that actually works in executive presentations

🎥 Watch it here → https://lnkd.in/eBv-SGpD

Ever been told to “make your CFO the hero”?

Tell me below: did it help your story… or kill it?

Most burnouts happen between budget and year-end

But that window is just the moment to work on recovery

Why does it happen now?

Simply because you know what you lived and you fear the next round 😫

We're not going to lie, despite all the progress made regarding automation, simplification and rolling forecasts, budgets are still an intense period in FP&A

Out of the hundreds of companies I have contacts in, maybe 2-3 go through it like a walk in the park

And the problem is: teams go out of it exhausted

But the worst is not even there yet

Right after the budget, many FP&A pros are already thinking about the next big thing

With year-end comes the stress of
- the continuous risks and opps
- the quick wins to reach the targets
- the annual closing and the reports that go with it

It's sad to admit but it's often in that period that people break

This is both due to mental AND physical breakdown

But just like a car, you must refuel if you want to keep the journey

So here are some techniques to recover mental and physical health
1️⃣ Practice breathing exercises
2️⃣ Focus on your concrete sense
3️⃣ Reset your body posture
4️⃣ Differentiate danger from discomfort

I wish I had known that back then

If for you, it's not yet too late, now is the time to do them

And if you want your teams to be fully operational in 2026, share that with them

Micro-Recoveries for Macro-Performance

I’ve always had a hard time delegating

Not because I didn’t trust my team

But because I felt responsible for the outcome

Until the moment I almost touched burnout

That’s when I realized something simple:

To trust your team, your first have to let go, no matter how they prove themselves

But even then, a tougher question came up:

👉 What should I delegate… and what should I keep?

In Finance, it’s not obvious

Some tasks look easy but require context

Others look strategic but can be shared safely

So I’m curious:

What’s hardest to delegate in Finance?
- Forecasting
- Presentations
- Stakeholder management
- Decision support

👇 Vote and share your rule for what stays on your plate vs what you let go

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

A quick note for those who asked me this week

The Black Friday offer for the Financial Storytelling Program closes tonight

It’s the full method I built after years of presenting to executives and training finance teams

And this week it includes two bonuses for the first 50 people:
✔️ The AI Masterclass for Financial Storytelling
✔️ A personalised audit of one of your slides

If this is something you’ve been wanting to work on, all the details are in the comments

Nothing more to add

I just didn’t want you to miss it

Join today

https://lnkd.in/dqNTTeBD

Paul Barnhurst

The FP&A Guy

Founder

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FP&A Tomorrow is a podcast focused on discussing not only what is happening in FP&A but what does the future look like for FP&A. The show is hosted by The FP&A Guy and is the premier podcast FP&A podcast. The show launches in April 2024.

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Co-founder of the only dedicated planning and analytics community created by and for planning and analytics professionals.  

Com join us today at https://community.plan-buddies.com/c/about-us

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Born Capital

The tides of change are flowing into the finance function which sends the function into the age of 4.0. We say it is "Enabled by tech - Driven by people". 

At Born Capital, we focus on tech enablement and are looking for early-stage startups in what we call #CFOTech that will enable the finance function to become a profit driver. We have a keen interest in FP&A and Business Finance as this is where we see the biggest improvement potential.

Actually, CFOs themselves know this as 71% of them are not happy with the performance of their FP&A team despite significant investments made in the past decade. We will help the office of the CFO get the right tech and tools to step up to the plate and deliver on the expectations of the CEO and other CXOs.

Feel free to reach out if you would like to know more about how we can help your start-up to the next level...

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Scaling a company is hard. We are working together to share best practices, help one another solve similar problems, and invest in the operator community. We meet and connect regularly to support each other as we create the next generation of high-growth companies and company leaders.

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FP&A Today

Host FP&A Today, one of the premier podcasts on FP&A.  It is a weekly show where we bring you the latest news and actionable tips about all things FP&A.

DigiCert, Inc.

Director of Finance Sales Operations and Analytics

Solera, Inc.

Director of FP&A - Dealer and Aftermarket Division

Director of FP&A - Dealer Divison

Built Excel data model and developed financial reporting tool that allows easy review of budget and actuals for 30 North American legal entities transactional data, this model has helped reduce accounting errors and improved insight into key business expenses and vendors.
•	Provide support to NA CFO for $500M+ SaaS business to include preparing decks, providing ad-hoc analysis, and attending various leadership meetings.
•	Coordinate consolidation of forecasts and monthly results for 3 North American business units
•	Co-Led team effort to select software financial planning system and led effort to select consulting company to implement TM1 panning tool.
•	Worked closely with accountants to improve balance sheet reconciliation reporting for prepaid and capitalized software projects allowing business to have a clearer picture of actual spend on software & software projects.
•	Supported various accounting improvement initiatives resulting in improved accounting processes, to include reconciling over $4M of unreconciled balance sheets.

FP&A Manager

Founder of The FP&A Guy | Providing training and content that helps FP&A and Finance Professionals be better at their job today and tomorrow.

I am a passionate teacher and creator of FP&A content. I enjoy helping FP&A professionals become more effective creators of value for their businesses. Today, I provide content and training on important subjects, including FP&A, Excel, Power Query, Data Visualization, Storytelling, and more. 

I host three popular podcasts, FP&A Tomorrow, Future Finance, and Financial Modeler’s Corner, which bring you the best and brightest people in finance and FP&A. 

I am a Microsoft MVP and have earned the AFP FP&A Certification and the FMI Advanced Financial Modeler Certification. 

I am a big advocate of FP&A planning tools and share research on FP&A software. I have also published several market guides to help buyers understand the landscape. 

☛ Feel free to contact me – Pbarnhurst@thefpandaguy.com

Paul Barnhurst, The FPandA Guy

Who wants to invest in The FP&A Guy?

I get one of these every few weeks on LinkedIn. Anyone else want to invest in The FP&A Guy?

Offering shares for the low/low price of $1,499.00 per share mine have the Beard premium think of it like the Buffett premium.

"If you don't know what a LET function is or what variables are, how are you going to debug this formula?"
 
=ROUND(200/(LET(
mvpPos,XLOOKUP(G240,'Dancers + Formations'!$T:$T,'Dancers + Formations'!$U:$U),
dancerPos,INDEX(XLOOKUP(G240,'Dancers + Formations'!$T:$T,'Dancers + Formations'!$T:$BM),1,MATCH(H240,'Dancers + Formations'!$U$1:$BM$1,0)),
mvpRow,VALUE(RIGHT(mvpPos,LEN(mvpPos)-1)),
mvpCol,CODE(LEFT(mvpPos,1))-64,
dancerRow,VALUE(RIGHT(dancerPos,LEN(dancerPos)-1)),
dancerCol,CODE(LEFT(dancerPos,1))-64,
rowDiff,ABS(mvpRow-dancerRow),
colDiff,ABS(mvpCol-dancerCol),
diagonals,MIN(rowDiff,colDiff),
straights,rowDiff+colDiff-2*diagonals,
diagonals*1.4+straights)),0)
 
Giles Male asked this question during our latest AI tool test, and it perfectly captures the paradox FP&A professionals face with AI-powered Excel tools.
 
This week on The ModSquad, we tested Tab AI—and the results were both impressive and sobering.
 
The standout moment? TabAI crushed our trial balance analysis test, creating comprehensive dashboards with charts, KPIs, and financial ratios. It was genuinely the closest thing to "presentation-ready" output we've seen.
 
But here's where it gets interesting...
 
→ Structured tasks (PVM analysis, deferred revenue schedules): Solid performance, fast results
 
→ Complex modeling (five-year forecasts): 30+ minutes of processing and still no usable output. Really struggled
 
→ Formula quality: Correct answers, but often using obscure functions or hard-coded values
 
Ian Schnoor, CFA, CFM made a crucial observation: "You might spend a couple of hours learning and understanding what AI did to confirm it's right, as opposed to building a simpler solution that would take longer but you'd know exactly what you're doing."
 
The reality? AI tools are accelerating specific finance workflows significantly. But they're not replacing the need for financial modeling expertise—they're actually increasing the Excel skills you need to properly validate their output.
 
Want to see exactly how we tested Tab AI across multiple real-world scenarios then check out the episode: https://lnkd.in/gbX8qM7x
 
What's your experience with AI in FP&A? Are you seeing similar patterns?
 
 
 
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎓 ​ Earn your Advanced Financial Modeler accreditation from the @Financial Modeling Institute (FMI) at https://lnkd.in/gQV55MxS (Use code Podcast to save 15%)
📰 Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter and receive access to a free FP&A Business Partnering Digital Course Module - https://lnkd.in/g5H4YsvH
📺 Check out the podcast on our YouTube Channel at https://lnkd.in/gxZ45zXN

A "Star was Born" 👇
 
A finance leader told me, "A star was born" during their planning system implementation. The person they assigned to project manage it knocked it out of the park, smooth implementation.
 
I've watched the opposite scenario: companies select the cheapest software, the cheapest implementation partner, and six months later spend an extra $100,000+ cleaning up a project that never properly launched.
 
This week on FP&A Unlocked, Glenn Snyder and James Myers joined for a discussion on FP&A software implementation.
 
Here's what stood out:
 
→ "New technology plus old processes equals expensive, broken old processes."
 
Don't replicate your Excel workflows in new software. James shared a story about a company that copied their process into a modeling solution and couldn't even run a monthly forecast because they ignored how the new platform worked.
 
→ Run a proof of concept with YOUR data:
 
Demos always work perfectly with vendor data. Test 2-3 months of real data with their actual use cases. It reveals limitations before you're locked into a multi-year contract.
 
→ The implementation partner matters as much as the software:
 
If you're not 100% comfortable with the implementation partner, ask for a different one or choose another software vendor. These are bespoke tools requiring specialists. A great tool with a mediocre implementer leads to failure.
 
→ Don't base decisions solely on Software subscription price:
 
Look at total cost of ownership—licenses, professional services, training, ongoing support etc. Glenn shared a great example of a CFO who insisted on an enterprise solution for a mid-market company because "it's the best one everyone talks about"—but its cost was 5x more than necessary.
 
→ Build cross-functional teams from day one:
 
Include your business partners. They'll surface requirements you haven't considered, and when they're involved from the start, adoption skyrockets.
 
→ Negotiate for value beyond price:
 
Consider pushing for additional modules, extra consulting hours post-launch, recorded training sessions for new hires, and flexibility to scale users gradually. You don't need 200 licenses on day one if you'll only have 30 active users
 
🎧 Give it a listen—you'll save yourself time, money, and headaches next time you implement a software
 
https://lnkd.in/gvC786Nd
 
Campfire sponsors FP&A Unlocked. It is the AI-first ERP powering next-gen finance & accounting teams. General ledger, revenue automation, close management, and so much more—all on one unified platform. Learn more https://lnkd.in/dKxnyDNV 
 
 
⭐⭐⭐
📰 Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter for more great content at https://lnkd.in/g5H4YsvH
📺 Check out the podcast on YouTube https://lnkd.in/ejtkdsQd

In this episode of FP&A Unlocked Paul Barnhurst welcomes James Myers , a financial systems and planning expert known for helping organizations moderni

Open article: Best Practice Tips to Successfully Implement FP&A Software with James Myers by Paul Barnhurst • 2 min read

Best Practice Tips to Successfully Implement FP&A Software with James Myers

Learning to say no

One of the best decisions you can make in business is learning to say no. 

Dealing with a health scare this summer has made it a lot easier to say no and focus on the most important pars of my business. 

In the last week I have turned down 4 revenue opportunities because they did not fit with my business or with what was most important. 

It use to be painful but today it is getting much easier to say no and focus on my core strengths.

Bringing value daily, regardless of audience size, with wisdom and by being authentic. 

Being authentic - some of my favorite people to follow on LinkedIn are those who are authentic and constantly bring value, despite having smaller audiences. 

A few people I like to follow whom I have met in real life and found to be the real deal, both on and off screen. 

I recommend following them even though none of them have huge audiences. However, they always deliver incredible value. 

➡️ Glenn Hopper - No person in finance knows and delivers as much value as Glenn when it comes to AI. His books, courses, podcasts, and newsletter are second to none. 

➡️ Ron Monteiro, CPA, CMA - He is always super positive, no matter what challenges he faces, and he brings a ton of wisdom to his posts and life. Well worth following, and he is a fantastic finance teacher. Plus he Loves Mondays. 

➡️ Duke Heninger, CPA - Duke brings excellent content for Fractional CFO types. He is one of the nicest people I have met, and he always offers me great advice in person, just as he does for others on LinkedIn. 

➡️ Lauren Elizabeth Pearl, her excitement for life is contagious. Every time I talk to her, I cannot help but laugh. She has a unique perspective and a unique background, and brings a ton of value as a Fractional CFO

I could keep going and list others, but instead, I will ask you: Who is someone that might not have a big following, but you love to follow because they are authentic and bring real value to the content they share?

We are Shortcut, we solve Financial Modeling World Cup cases "10𝐱 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬." We also find it acceptable to leave a B/S with an out-of-balance error of $1.3 million.
 
This week, we tested Shortcut against its bold claims and found that it does not live up to them, but it did perform several tasks very well.
 
My co-host Giles Male and I tackled Shortcut without Ian Schnoor, CFA, CFM 😢 , who was traveling back from London, and our honest, no-hype feedback is below.
 
Shortcut is the AI spreadsheet tool that went viral, claiming to solve Financial Modeling World Cup cases "10𝐱 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬." and today it makes the bold claim on its website to be
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘐
 
The results?
 
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝:
→ Best visual formatting we've seen—color coding, layout, separate assumption tabs
→ Solved 5 of 7 intermediate Excel esports challenges correctly
→ Built a three-statement model structure that looked incredibly professional
 
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐬:
→ Created custom number formatting that literally REVERSED positive and negative signs (We've never seen this in our careers)
→ Built a model with an unbalanced balance sheet, then rationalized why a $1.3M variance was "acceptable" and said it was not going to fix it.
P.S. This would get you fired if you told your boss this was acceptable.
→ Hard-coded calculations instead of using dynamic formulas
→ When we asked to solve Excel Esport cases, it didn't even attempt the bonus questions that other tools tackled without us having to prompt it.
 
𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: Solid tool that fails to live up to its bold claims
 
Giles and I disagree on which tool we like best for different reasons, but we are aligned on one thing:
 
AI is not ready to take a modeler's job. In fact, Giles said this moment is "the most dangerous moment in Excel financial modeling, and he expects it will only get better from here"
 
It is so dangerous because the outputs look SO professional. A junior analyst could easily submit this work without catching the fundamental errors hidden beneath the polished surface.
 
My take for FP&A professionals: This isn't about whether AI tools work—they absolutely can enhance productivity. But the marketing hype claiming these tools replace expert modelers is dangerously premature. You need strong foundational skills to catch what AI gets wrong.
 
Listen here:
https://lnkd.in/gTA-H6kY
 
⭐⭐⭐
🎓 ​ Earn your Advanced Financial Modeler accreditation from the Financial Modeling Institute (FMI) at https://lnkd.in/gQV55MxS (Use code Podcast to save 15%)
📰 Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter https://lnkd.in/g5H4YsvH
📺 Check out the podcast on YouTube https://lnkd.in/gxZ45zXN

The truth about Microsoft Excel Agents!!!

Next week, I will be sharing my frank, unfiltered, and candid thoughts on AI Spreadsheet agents.  

When we can use them, when we should not, and why Excel skills are as critical as ever. 

I have spent hours testing multiple Microsoft AI tools, including Microsoft's Excel AI agent, and they are incredible.

They can make us more productive, but they have limitations, and we must understand how to work with these limitations if we hope to benefit from these agents. 

We are in the early days of what many have termed Vibe Working, and many of the data outputs leave something to be desired. 

That is why I am excited to bring you a webinar sponsored by Drivetrain and co-hosted with my good friend Kirk K. focused on reality, not hype, even though the webinar title has some hype :)   

Master Excel Agents with Paul Barnhurst: What Works, What Doesn't & What's Next

Date: November 20th, 2025
Time: 10 AM PT, 1 PM ET
Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gHiKXUmG

During the webinar, we will focus on the following:

1. How to work with the current Excel AI tools - where they work, where they do not

2. Three examples with AI Agent: price volume mix analysis, headcount schedule, and smart chart selection

3. Why Excel and modeling skills are as important as they have ever been

I look forward to having you join me as I walk through several use cases and share my thoughts, along with those of other professionals, on how to get the most out of these AI spreadsheet agents.

Paul’s beard alone has more industry credibility than most SaaS startups.

AI Roasts The FP&A Guy- Since everyone uses AI for everything I figured I would get in on the fun. 

I asked AI to do a mean-spirited roast of me but every model said it could not that. One even said I might lose my credibility. It did however say it could do a light-hearted roast. Which AI did best?

Claude

🔥 LinkedIn Roast Draft (Safe but Savage)

“Paul Barnhurst calls himself The FP&A Guy. Translation: he’s the dude who can make a 200-slide deck about why your budget still sucks. He’s the only person who thinks Excel pivot tables are a personality trait. 

Honestly, if FP&A were a sport, Paul would be the guy keeping score while everyone else plays the game… and then charging you for the scoreboard subscription.”

“But hey, at least he rebranded his podcast to FP&A Unlocked — because apparently the only thing locked was his sense of humor. Follow him if you want to learn FP&A, or if you just enjoy watching someone argue with spreadsheets like they’re sentient beings.”

---
ChatGPT

🔥 Friendly Roast of Paul “The FP&A Guy” Barnhurst 🔥

(Completely safe… but still spicy enough for LinkedIn!)

If spreadsheets had a spirit animal, Paul Barnhurst would be it.

This is the only man who can turn a simple budget question into a 47-slide deck, three metaphors, a webinar, and a poll asking which FP&A meme best represents your Q4 forecast.

Paul’s beard alone has more industry credibility than most SaaS startups.

Honestly, if his facial hair ever launches its own newsletter, it’ll probably get more subscribers than his podcast—and the podcast is already really good.

And let’s be honest: Paul is the only person who can walk into a room and make everyone suddenly feel guilty about not updating their rolling forecast.
He’s basically the Santa Claus of FP&A—except instead of gifts, he leaves behind KPIs you didn’t ask for but definitely needed.

---

CoPilot

🔥 LinkedIn Roast Draft (Safe but Savage)

“Paul Barnhurst calls himself The FP&A Guy. Translation: he’s the dude who can make a 200-slide deck about why your budget still sucks. He’s the only person who thinks Excel pivot tables are a personality trait. Honestly, if FP&A were a sport, Paul would be the guy keeping score while everyone else plays the game… and then charging you for the scoreboard subscription.”

“But hey, at least he rebranded his podcast to FP&A Unlocked — because apparently the only thing locked was his sense of humor. Follow him if you want to learn FP&A, or if you just enjoy watching someone argue with spreadsheets like they’re sentient beings.”

I liked the beard roasts best myself :) Happy Friday and please use AI responsibly. 

As for the image it was so bad I had to share.

No alternative text description for this image

Vibe working is here, and yes, you can build a model in 5 minutes 👇 



However, the hype videos fail to tell you the real story, in the words of one of the smartest financial modelers I know:

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯...'𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘩'—𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴.”

This is why it is more important than ever to have strong Excel and modeling skills, not less important. 

But it's not all doom and gloom vibe working, and Excel agents are here to stay, and if you use them correctly, they can make a huge difference. 

That is why I am excited to partner with Drivetrain and Kirk K. for a webinar this Thursday: 

Excel Agents: What Works, What Doesn't & What's Next

In this webinar, I will share lessons learned from testing several Excel and spreadsheet AI tools on the market today.  

I will share:

➡️ What tools are available today, and how can you prepare for the Excel future of tomorrow
➡️ How to navigate the tools today and ways to work with current limitations
➡️Show real-world use-cases including PVM analysis, smart chart selection, and headcount schedules


Date: Thursday, November 20th, 2025
Time: 1 PM ET
Register Here: https://lnkd.in/gHiKXUmG

Let me know in the comments how you Vibe Work responsibly?

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