Paul Barnhurst

The FP&A Guy

Founder

FP&A Tomorrow

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.

Podcast Host

Financial Modeler's Corner

Hosting a world-class podcast all about Financial Modeling.  The podcast is for anyone who wants to listen to and learn from the best financial modelers in the world.

Future Finance

Future Finance is the podcast show that illuminates the future of finance through the lens of AI, innovation, and technology.  I co-host the show with the amazing Glenn Hopper.

Co-Host

The FP&A Hub

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

Co-Founder

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...

Advisory Board Member

Operators Guild

The Operators Guild is an independent, invitation-only group, home to the world’s top finance and operations (high growth and technology) leaders.

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.

Member

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

The Finance technology landscape is evolving faster than ever. More FP&A, Excel (Vibe Working), and ERP solutions exist than ever before. 

The rapid growth of AI tools SaaS-based platforms has created an ecosystem that is more complex and dynamic than ever. 

With that in mind I have put together three market maps to help people segment and understand finance tools. 

 𝐅𝐏&𝐀 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 - For FP&A tools the market is segment by small, medium, and large as well as tool functionality from a plug-in to your spreadsheet to full enterprise scalable platforms.  The tools vary from tight integration with excel to spreadsheet replacements including BI planning solutions.  

𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 - With the rapid rise of AI the number of spreadsheet solutions striving to support vibe working is crazy.  Microsoft just got into the space with its launch of Excel Agent and these tools have tremendous promise.  My market map is segment by Excel Add-ins, Google Ad-ins, and AI spreadsheets.  The next step is to segment by focus area. Many are finance focused but not all. 

𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐬 - $600M+ and counting invested in the latest round of ERP software.  The market has heated up over recent weeks with several big funding rounds and these tools are excited.  That being said in general these AI native- ERP tools are not ready to meet the needs of large enterprise customers or those with the need for inventory modules. Despite the limitations as they build and scale they are capable of doing a lot. 

In today's world finance leaders are more confused than ever about what is available for the tech stack and how they should think about it.  I am hopeful these market maps will help. 

Let me know what would be helpful to see as a next step with these market maps. 

If you are a vendor and want to be added or believe your position should be changed DM Me.  If you are a company and need help selecting your FP&A tool, feel free to DM me.

We are the First AI-Native Finance …

If I had a dollar for every time I saw someone post they are the first AI-Native tool for Excel, Spreadsheets, FP&A, ERP, Operations etc. I would be rich. 

I am staring to wonder if there is a software left that is not AI first in the finance world :)

I think watching them market their tools I have decided to change my business name presenting 

The First AI-Native FP&A Guy

With this announcement I will be raising all my prices 40% to represent this new accomplishment so get your products today like my Advanced FP&A Course taught next week.  

After next week it will be more expensive and named:

The first AI-Native Advanced FP&A Course brought to you by The First AI-Native FP&A Guy

Let me know in the comments what do you expect from the world’s first AI- Native FP&A Guy?

Paul Barnhurst, The FPandA Guy

I am a passionate teacher and creator of FP&A content. I love helping FP&A professionals become better creators of value. 

Today I provide training on important subjects such as FP&A, Excel, Power Query, Data Visualization, Storytelling, and more. 

I host two popular podcasts called FP&A Today and Financial Modeler’s Corner where we bring you the best and brightest people in the field of finance and FP&A. 

I am also a big advocate of FP&A tools and share research on FP&A software and publish The 3rd Generation FP&A Market Guide. 

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

It is official Excel has always been a database!!!!

Notice what it says on the cover that it is a Complete Spreadsheet with Business Graphics and Database. 

40 years later it is still one of the most used databases ever and some people even use it as a spreadsheet 🤣

No alternative text description for this image

Campfire today announced a Series B raising $65M to go with the $35M Series A ten weeks ago. 

It is exciting to see another tool raise in this space and we are all winners when the competition and development heats up. 

Building an ERP is a long process and requires patience. 

I am excited to watch John Glasgow and the Campfire team grow and scale. I will be joining the team at the end of the month to attend the campfire AI summit and I am excited to have them as a sponsor of the podcast FP&A Unlocked for the next six months. 

Read the PR announcement on the funding raise here:

https://lnkd.in/gMmRtkMG

graphical user interface, text, application

What I am most proud of after nearly 4 years in business:

➡️ Health Conversations -Making a difference when it comes to the stigma around talking about health in particular mental health. On a regular basis people reach out thanking me for sharing my stories and tell me there’s. 

➡️ Friendship - I have met and made friends in real life off the LinkedIn platform. The friendships I have made have enriched my life

➡️ Authenticity - When I ask people to describe my brand the number one word people use is authentic. Today someone said after meeting me for the first time. You are the same person on and off the platform. 

➡️ Helping Othets - I love all the notes I get telling people my podcast or post or training helped them in there job. 

I am filled with gratitude today and want to take a minute to thank all those who have supported me on my journey. I am excited for many more great moments to come as I continue to build The FP&A Guy into the top resource globally for all things FP&A.

Do you want Excel to Auto-complete your formulas for you?

Microsoft on the web is starting to roll out auto-complete formulas. 

Last week I started writing an Xlookup and it finished it for me. I had only done the lookup value and it guessed the rest right based on my workbook. It was a super simple workbook but I was still intrigued. 

Here are my thoughts. 

The Good

➡️ Makes it much easier for users to use new formulas and shorten the learning curve

➡️ Nice for a formula you might not use very often


The Bad

➡️ Not helpful for people writing complex formulas with several functions but you can turn it off

➡️ It could get the function wrong 

➡️ Worry it could harm learning for some and increase hidden errors if abused

So what do you think yeah or nay?

graphical user interface, application, table, Excel

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲?"
 
When companies ask Khaled to implement AI solutions, his first question is simple: "What decision would you make differently?"
 
If the answer is "nothing," he walks away.
 
I've known this weeks guest on Future Finance for year Khaled Chowdhury, he is a finance and data analytics professional. Today, he runs Data Crafters, helping finance teams own their data and decision-making.
 
Here's what every FP&A professional needs to understand about the AI revolution happening right now:
 
→ 𝐖𝐡𝐲 95% 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 (𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲): Companies try to skip straight to prediction without fixing their descriptive and diagnostic foundations. As Khaled put it brilliantly: "If your data model design is bad, Copilot doesn't look at the lipstick - it goes straight to the pig."
 
→ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐱 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧: 100 years ago, factories installed electricity but kept steam engine layouts, killing productivity. Today, companies install AI but keep old processes. You can't electrify a steam engine process and expect transformation.
 
→ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲: Skip from SQL Server to Fabric? Absolutely. Skip from bad data to AI-driven predictions? That's how you "produce shit at an unimaginable pace" (Khaled's words, not mine ﻿﻿ ).
 
→ 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭: You can pilot Power BI Copilot for ~$300/month. Test it on YOUR models. If you have 20 measures called "sales" and 12 columns called "territory," you'll quickly see why it fails.
 
→ 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 ≠ 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲: The goal isn't making all decisions based on data (which is always backward-looking). The goal is making your gut instinct more informed.
 
Khaled's journey from finance director in 2016 (not even knowing what BI stood for) to data expert is one worth listening to. Listen to the full episode for Khaled's practical "tap and plumbing" framework that delivers value while building infrastructure.
 
Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gDgn4i98

 
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🧔 Follow the Co-Hosts at Paul Barnhurst, The FPandA Guy ​and Glenn Hopper
📺 Check out the podcast on our YouTube Channel at https://lnkd.in/gaudpc_G

"Can AI build a deferred revenue schedule?" We asked Tracelight this question and several others as we tested the tool.
 
I uploaded 270 customer records with contract amounts, start dates, and end dates. Hit go. Four minutes later, I had a schedule with monthly revenue recognition formulas and validation checks.
 
The formulas were mathematically correct. The totals balanced. But something felt... off.
 
Instead of creating dynamic formulas it hard-coded dates into every single cell. The column headers showed one date while the formulas referenced "2026."
 
This was something Ian Schnoor, CFA, CFM, Giles Male happening a few different times while testing Tracelight for an entire episode of @Financial Modelers Corner.
 
Our feedback:
 
→ The tool nailed simple, well-defined tasks. Price-volume-mix variance analysis? Done perfectly in under a minute. Finding hidden Excel sheets? Flawless.
 
→ Model selection matters: Giles ran the same Excel challenge on Claude Opus (scored 929/1000) and Claude Sonnet (scored under 100). This creates a challenge as not only do we have to get the prompt right, we have to select the best model for the job. In most cases, it would be ideal if the model were selected for us.
 
→ AI is confidently wrong. When Ian's test model had a balance sheet error in the working capital calculation, AI spent minutes analyzing, then declared with exclamation marks that it found the issue... in the fixed assets. Wrong. It then "fixed" a correct formula by breaking it. When it was done the B/S was more out of balance then when we started "fixing" it.
 
→ Best practice - The tool struggled to follow some fundamental modeling principles - hard-coded numbers, misaligned columns, and non-dynamic formulas. Every answer required experienced review. We recognize that with time and better prompts, some of this can be overcome.
 
→ Complex tasks still need human architects. We asked it to build a five-year three-statement model. It created the structure in 6 minutes (impressive!) but the balance sheet didn't balance, the revolver logic was flawed, and it was not presentation-ready.
 
Reality is: I've been in FP&A for years, and I would use an AI agent like Tracelight to help with specific tasks. But only because I have the experience to spot when it's wrong, fix its mistakes, and redesign its outputs to meet best practices.
 
A junior analyst without those skills? They'd be in trouble.
 
As Ian put it during testing: "The best users are going to have to use AI as their partner - someone to bounce ideas around with, someone that can give you ideas, but you can push back and say, that's not right."
 
What's your experience been with AI modeling tools?
 
🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dijks3zf
 
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🎓 ​ Earn your Advanced Financial Modeler accreditation from the Financial Modeling Institute (FMI) at https://lnkd.in/gQV55MxS (Use code Podcast to save 15%)
📺 Check out the podcast on our YouTube Channel at https://lnkd.in/gxZ45zXN

Future Finance went unscripted this week:
 
Glenn Hopper and I did something different this episode: we tested tools live, examined real AI conversations from my custom AI Assistant (built on 4 million words of my content), and broke down Microsoft's brand-new Excel agent, released the same week as Excel's 40th anniversary.
 
Key Takeaways:
 
→ The Excel agent built a working DCF model with minimal instructions—projections, terminal value calculations, and present value formulas all functioning. But it had hard-coded values and used unnecessarily complex nested formulas that violated modeling best practices. Glenn wondered aloud why the AI chose such a convoluted path when simpler human logic exists. We train AI on countless spreadsheets, yet it produces solutions that don't match the best practices we'd find in any of them. It's functional but foreign
 
→ My custom AI agent has handled 300+ conversations from FP&A professionals asking everything from "How do I transition from accounting?" to "What's the #1 criterion for hiring analysts?" The answers are helpful, but often miss the nuance of how I'd actually respond.
 
→ The gap between "it works" and "it's right" is everything. AI needs human judgment to turn functional outputs into trustworthy business insights.
 
Glenn shared a framework for AI.
 
When consulting with finance teams on AI adoption, he maps everything to a scoring matrix:
 
→ Complexity
→ Risk
→ Scalability
→ Frequency
 
Start with quick wins to build organizational buy-in. Document processes end-to-end before choosing tools. And most importantly—map AI initiatives to strategic objectives FIRST, just like you would when hiring employees.
 
🎧 Watch our full episode to learn more. https://lnkd.in/gdsMZmSg
 
What AI experiments are you running? I'd love to hear what's working—and what's not.
 
🎓 Check out our sponsor @QFlow.ai at https://lnkd.in/gWYnU9uz GTM Finance CoPilot

"One of my biggest pet peeves, Variance Commentary, I would do away with it. I mean mostly." - Todd Niemann, CFA
 
Agree or disagree let me know in the comments
 
This week on FP&A Unlocked, I was joined by Todd Niemann, CFA, a seasoned FP&A professional who has worked for several startup banks, and my interview did not disappoint. We covered several comments, including his view on why more FP&A professionals should use Python, why variance commentary is often a waste of time, and what great FP&A is.
 
Speaking of variance commentary, he went on to say: "I've been at some organizations where they want quarter over quarter, and they want year over year, and they want year to date versus year to date, and then everything versus the plan, and then everything versus the prior plan. And you end up doing like 12 different variance analyses. And I don't think they add value."
 
Key Takeaways:
 
→ Speed trumps perfection: "Any FP&A process that takes a week to get through is probably not that good." Todd's models allow rapid iteration - the difference between running one scenario or running twenty.
 
→ The efficiency gap is massive: "You can give two analysts the exact same task. One takes 8 hours, the other takes 2 hours. That's a huge value add." learn to be more efficient automation, keyboard shortcuts, learn Python, etc.
 
→ Learn Python for automation and advanced analytics - Start with free resources (Coursera, Kaggle, books) and dedicate 2-3 weeks to master basics. Focus on automating routine tasks like monthly updates, connecting multiple data sources via APIs, and handling large datasets that Excel can't manage. The payback period is typically just 1-2 months.
 
Speaking of Python, Todd said: "There are literally times when analyses that used to take me hours will take 5 to 10 minutes. Now, of course, it did take me a couple of days to build out the code initially to do that, but the payback on some of this I found is super short. I mean, within a month or two you're time ahead.".
 
His advice for learning Python? Start with the boring, repetitive stuff. Automate your monthly close process. Connect to APIs instead of manual downloads. GitHub Copilot now catches those frustrating syntax errors that used to eat up hours.
 
🎧 Listen to hear Todd's specific Python use cases, his take on what makes great FP&A, and so much more. https://lnkd.in/gEPuETCz
 
 
 
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📰 Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter and get a free FP&A Business Partnering Digital Course Module at https://lnkd.in/g5H4YsvH
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We discovered $13 million in “missing” revenue over the course of one year. 

The new billing team discovered customers who had not been billed, who had not paid, and even funds on the balance sheet that had not been accounted for properly. 

This experience taught me the critical importance of the 3 Ps: People, Processes, and Platforms.

➡️ Wrong people managing our Cash-to-Collections (C2C) process, all to save a few bucks
➡️ Poor processes from start to finish 
➡️ Ineffective systems - We were using spreadsheets and Access databases to manage much of the process

"The lesson? Good people and processes help, but true efficiency requires the right technology."

 A good tech stack for C2C should include:

➡️ CPQ - Quote generation, automated approvals, CRM sync
➡️ Billing - Automated monthly billing based on CRM and usage data
➡️ AR Management - Clear visibility and follow-up on aging receivables
➡️ Metrics & Reporting - Key insights without endless spreadsheets

The reality is that, throughout much of my career, poor C2C processes were all too common, and this ultimately led to revenue leakage. 

The truth is that having a good tech stack makes a huge difference, allowing FP&A to focus on what is truly important. One company that automates this entire process for SaaS companies is Maxio, including CPQ, billing, metrics, reporting, and AR management.  Learn more about Maxio and their new CPQ product at https://www.maxio.com/cpq

What is the biggest “hidden” revenue discovery you have experienced in your career?

Brand partnership • Helping FP&A Professionals provide value to their businesses | Founder of The FP&A Guy | Host of 3 popular Finance podcasts | Microsoft MVP | Cofounder The FP&A Hub | Sheetcast Ambassador

Meeting in Real Life

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Guillaume Jouvencel and Hussam Ali of GHA Marketing.  These two men are the founders of GHA Marketing the company that makes the trailers for my podcasts that everybody loves. 

I have been working with them for the last two years on my three podcasts and they were in Vegas for a conference.  When I told them I could not make it down to see them, they said that is fine and they hopped in the rental car and drove to Salt Lake Just to see me.   

They got in at 9 PM and we went for dinner at a famous Utah Mexican Restaurant Red Iguana and then I took them on a brief tour of the city.  The next morning, we grabbed a late breakfast and then they headed back to Vegas. 

I am lucky to have such a great team supporting my podcast.  I am just one of over 100 clients they work with in a given year but yet they wanted to meet me enough to drive more than 6 hours each way to meet in person.  Running your own business becomes a lot easier when you have companies like GHA Marketing supporting you. 

The best part of the weekend was that we were able to make some memories, share some laughs, and have some great food. 

Grateful to have two friends support the podcasting work I do.  If you are thinking of starting a podcast and need help getting started check out GHA Marketing.

"𝐖𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 $60,000 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 $25,000 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞."
 
This was shared during our discussion on sales commission, which was one of the many topics covered in my interview with Matt Brattin.
 
Matt spent 20 years in the trenches of FP&A and analytics before becoming a CFO, and now he's building tools to solve the problems he lived through. That is why it was awesome to sit down and chat with him. Let me say he did not disappoint.
 
Key quotes:
 
💡𝐎𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐏&𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: "A good team spends 20% of their time doing the normal work, letting the machine crank out the things that need to be cranked out, and then 80% of their time really laser focused on being a thought partner with the business."
 
Most teams have this backwards—and that's why they're stuck in spreadsheets instead of sitting at the table.
 
💡 𝐎𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: "Nobody gives a crap about your model. They want the story. Do I believe it? Do I believe you? What is the story telling us?"
 
As Matt puts it, your job is to sell—and the higher you go, the more important the narrative becomes. Technical excellence is just table stakes.
 
💡𝐎𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲: "Sometimes salespeople can take advantage of or exploit the plans, but this goes back to the psychology piece—what are the behaviors we're reinforcing? Of course they're going to do the thing you made them do. The only person to be mad at is the plan designer."
 
🔥 We love to blame salespeople for "gaming the system," but if our incentives create bad behavior, that's on us.
 
💡 𝐎𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: "Whatever simple looks like in your head, cut it in half."
Whether it's commission plans, financial models, or reporting processes—start simple and let complexity find you. The business will complicate things naturally; if you start complex, you'll end up with an unmanageable monster.
 
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR CONVERSATION:
 
→ The average commission run takes 89 hours per month of employee time—simplifying this creates massive value
→ Simple commission plans lead to 3% better sales performance
→ When inheriting new responsibilities, use your "newbie window" to ask every question without judgment
→ Authentic leadership beats trying to be someone else—bring your whole self to work → Document everything, especially when no process documentation exists
 
🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gvSMYqRc
 
FP&A Unlocked is sponsored by Campfire. Campfire 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/g6fGd5Dw


Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter and get a free FP&A Business Partnering Digital Course Module https://lnkd.in/g5H4YsvH
Check out the podcast on our YouTube Channel https://lnkd.in/ejtkdsQd

In this episode of FP&A Unlocked, host Paul Barnhurst talks with Matt Brattin, a former CFO who’s now building solutions to cut down on the complexity

Open article: The Complexity Trap in Finance for FP&A Pros to Escape Using Simpler Tools & Strategy - Matt Brattin by Paul Barnhurst • 3 min read

The Complexity Trap in Finance for FP&A Pros to Escape Using Simpler Tools & Strategy - Matt Brattin

Training is changing

One thing that is becoming more and more clear to me is the need to update all of my trsining training courses to incorporate how to think about and use AI. 

I will be working over the next few months to update all my training where appropriate to incorporate AI. 

With that in mind I would love to know how would you like to see AI incorporated in the training you take?

Acreditations

During an M&A transaction many people working on the deal had an accreditation the lawyers, the accountants, etc. but the person building the model had nothing.

This is changing and it is one reason why I love the Financial Modeling Institute (FMI) program and whar Ian Schnoor, CFA, CFM and team have done.  

Having a program to validate your modeling skills through a proctorted test where all you do is build a best-in-class integrated 3-statement model was long overdue.

It's benefit goes far beyond M&A modeling and is something that I regularly encourage FP&A people to do especially when working with smaller companies where you build all 3 statements in FP&A. 

If I see it on a resume it gives me greater confidence that the person can model than a training certificate because I know they passed a rigorous test doing the actual work. It is like when you see someone with a CPA vs an accounting course it is different. 

This is not to say training and certificates are not important they are and many great programs exist and I have several close friends in this space who train. 

This leads to my poll question so vote and comment on what you think about the value of a modeling accreditation.

Do you believe a financial modeling accreditation is necessary for finance professionals?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

Vibe working is here. Microsoft has introduced it for Excel. 

I have tested it in Excel several times and it is impressive and has many use cases. 

My question is do you think it will improve the quality of work the average Excel user produces or cause more problems because people will produce spreadsheets they do not understand and have errors they do not catch? 

Follow up question do you think it impacts the level of Excel knowledge we need to have?

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