SouFBP

I can help Finance Teams  train their storytelling and presentation skills

Thanks to a wisely crafted training program, your FP&A team can learn how to
- prepare their message: get the main insight from their analysis
- prepare the story: use a framework to deliver a clear and convincing story
- prepare their visuals: learn design techniques and tools to build clean slides and graphs
- prepare themselves: master the delivery of a presentation and switch to discussion facilitator when needed

Founder

Proximus

Responsible of Strategic Finance for the Consumer Business Unit, I helped
- building our 5 years strategic plan
- designing key objectives in our priorities: Fiber, 5G, market share
- working on innovative projects (eHealth, eEducation,...)

All that with transversal teams composed of Finance, Marketing, Sales and Strategic advisors

Finance Manager Strategic Projects CBU

	Budgeting and Forecasting (Short to Long Term): new modelization including business assumptions
	Monthly Reporting and Variance Analysis vs Budget/Forecast/Last Year
	Assistance and review of Business Cases (New product Launch, Investments,…)
	Business Strategic KPI’s Settings and Follow up 
	Development of Automatic and Comprehensive Reports (usable for all Stakeholders)

Finance Business Partner EBU Mobile at Proximus

Deloitte Belgium

Manager

Leisure and Travel Industry (Zwijnaarde): Business Controller
Plastics Manufacturing (Kontich): Cost Controller
Leisure and Hotels (Brussels): Financial Controller
Gas (Vilvoorde): Financial Professional
Manufacturing (Aalst): Treasury Officer
Consultancy (Diegem): Treasury Responsible

Experienced Senior

Groupe Vlan

•	Follow-up of general costs and production costs (printing, paper, set up and distribution)
•	Follow-up of commissions charged and turnover granted by national advertising distributor
•	Monthly analysis of reportings per product (titles)
•	Follow-up of legal updates (Accounting Law, Corporate Law, Taxes,…)
•	Participation to yearly budgets 
•	Setting up of Closing Procedures
•	One-off requests (Business Object queries, financial calculations,…)

Financial Controller

PricewaterhouseCoopers

•	Industry department: Main Clients: Sodexo Pass Belgium, Bosch, European Air Transport (DHL), Pharma Belgium,…
•	Organisation of audit engagements as in-charge and coach of junior members
•	Specialised in revenue recognition of services companies
•	Assignments both in French and in Dutch

Senior Auditor

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

𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

As the leader of The Finance Circle, I am passionate about transforming the role of finance professionals into strategic business partners. 

With over a decade of experience in corporate finance, I specialize in bridging the gap between technical expertise and essential soft skills. 

My mission is to empower finance teams with advanced financial modeling, FP&A tools, and statistical forecasting techniques, while also emphasizing business acumen, communication, storytelling, and leadership.

At The Finance Circle, we offer tailored training programs that cater to both large teams and individuals. 

Our initiatives, including the Financial Storytelling Program, are designed to enhance your team's ability to influence and drive business success. 

Our approach has been trusted by leading organizations, and we continue to make a significant impact through workshops, speeches, and personalized coaching sessions.


Key Trainings:

- Financial Storytelling Program / The Finance Stage: Learn Storytelling for Finance
- The Finance Copilot: Make your Finance Team a real Business Partner
- The Finance Window: Finance for Non-Finance Teams
- Slides and Visuals Design: Learn how to use Excel and PowerPoint to build your slides

Soufyan Hamid

A great slide does 3 things:
1️⃣ It’s quick to read
2️⃣ It’s easy to trust
3️⃣ And it stays in your mind

But when I look at the first draft of the finance teams who follow my program, most miss all 3

Too many look like dashboards: typical information overload to make sure we don't miss anything

The result is that it IS exhausting for most people

But did you know that part of this is not even due to the quantity of information that is shared?

Design matters in slides as much as the way you prepare your meal on a plate

So, no matter how good your insights are, if you want to get the attention of your audience, here's how:

✅ Consistency
Keep the same layouts, fonts, and titles
Your audience shouldn’t have to solve a puzzle at every slide

✅ Balance
Distribute text, visuals, and white space evenly
A slide has a center, so start from it

✅ Contrast
Guide the eye
Use color, bold text, or shape to highlight what matters

✅ White space
The human eyes need space to digest
If everything is important, nothing is important

✅ Pattern
Follow a simple layout logic
It helps people navigate faster and remember more

✅ Hierarchy
Start with the message
Then show the data that proves it

✅ Simplicity
It's not only a question of style, but of acceptance
If it takes 30 seconds to understand, it’s too slow

✅ Alignment
Even one misaligned box changes perception
And trust me, perception is everything

✅ Variety
Choose visuals that serve your point
Sometimes a simple table has more effect than a chart

Remember: your slide isn’t there to contain everything you know

This part is the backend

But making sure the message is heard, understood and acted upon is the ultimate goal

If you had to choose, which of these principles is the one you struggle the most with?

I trained 1.235 Finance Pros in Storytelling | EMBA Lecturer | Keynote Speaker

Every week in my training, we do the same exercise: actuals < budget

And 80% of the room says, “The budget is wrong” or “Finance made a mistake”

I know, I speak of my “Finance for Non-Finance” training and we cannot expect everyone to be fair to our work, but there is a thing to learn here

Budgets and forecasts are tools to discuss drivers that haven’t happened yet

When there’s a variance, our assumptions are to be checked

Which one slipped?
- Volume we expected but didn’t convert
- Price we thought we could hold
- Mix that shifted
- Timing that moved
- Capacity or productivity that never showed up

Assumptions must be co-owned

Sales, product, ops, finance ... we build them together.

And yes, they’re often stretched. That’s fine

But once they’re in the system, we accept them as the basis for execution

If reality disagrees, we don’t blame “the budget.” We revisit the thinking, update the driver, and learn

Next time you see a gap, ask:
- Which assumption broke?
- What changed in the market or in behavior?
- Who owns the driver?
- What are we changing now?

Don’t shoot the forecast
Fix the assumptions

That’s how finance becomes a partner in decisions

Most people expect answers from FP&A

What if leadership was more about the questions

If you want Monday to feel different, cross the gap:

•  Shape the question before it’s asked. Don’t wait for a request and frame the discussion
• Model to support a decision (so think of it first)
• Explain variance by what happens next
• Design every slide to play with consequences
• Set the agenda early and bring scenarios
• Create ownership in others
• Get alignment in advance
• Challenge the business model
• Be the thought partner they call first
• Earn your seat in strategic conversations by being relevant

The truth is simple: technical skill is the base

What moves you forward is mixing business with finance, helping the company choose, and challenging the status quo

Useful > Accurate

Read this today but what I want from you on Monday: 

Pick one shift, one meeting, one decision

...and work on it 

Because your career depends more on the steps you take than on the choices that are made for you

Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs had an edge in presentations

So let’s learn what we can from him and apply it to finance:

But before doing it, it's important to know that I am not asking anyone to become a TED talker or an inspirational leader

Our business updates have a different goal: help leaders grasp what changed, why it matters, and what we do next

So here is how I translate six of his core presentation rules to FP&A work:

1️⃣ Clarity beats complexity

Ask yourself: can a non-finance leader grasp my point in 10 seconds? If not, strip the slide to the essentials and name the decision it supports.

2️⃣ Numbers inform but stories transform

Turn “Q3 margin down by 8%” into a short storyline: pricing lag, mix shift, energy spike, and the fix we control next quarter. 

Use the 3 What: what happened, why it matters, what we do next.

3️⃣ Your voice is the real slide

Slides do not drive change. People do. Rehearse tone and pacing so your presentation leads to engagement....and discussions

4️⃣ Less text -> More impact

One idea per slide. One message per chart. If they read more than they listen, you have already lost them.

5️⃣ Rehearse like a partner

Your goal by rehearsing won't be to know everything by heart. 
Instead, know your structure, detect when something goes wrong, anticipate the CEO’s first question. 
But more importantly, refine transitions, so you won't have to say "on the next slide, ...

6️⃣ Command the room, even virtually

Own the narrative with purposeful pauses, direct headlines, and clear next steps.

A simple checklist I use with teams:
• Headline first, chart second
• One decision per slide
• Driver table before variance waterfall
• “What we’ll change” on the final page
• Rehearse answers to the five hardest questions you expect

Yes, I know, many of his craft weren't directly applicable to Finance

But the outcomes are transferable and learnable, and they work in finance

Let’s make our updates shorter, sharper, and more useful to the business

 Steve Jobs’ 6 Rules of Presentations — Applied in FP&A

Control is an illusion in Finance

Focus where it actually counts 🎯

There are tons of things you can't change as a CFO 
- Market changes (who could have guessed today)
- Political decisions (we know about that in 2025)
- The mood of a board member (I hope you can't)

Of course, that doesn't mean you have to see things coming

I plan for it, then I put my energy here:
• How I simplify complex stuff
• My confidence and consistency
• The tools I choose to make ideas land
• The link to purpose, priorities, and next steps
• The story that is tailored to who you have in front
• Human insight leaders can act on (with info they get)
• My integrity in presenting facts and context (no cheating)
• My understanding of what the audience actually cares about

This is the work

Even if you predict, you can't control all reactions

Building a story that travels well enough to survive them

Whatever it is: month-end, QBRs or Earnings prep

Discipline and integrity are what you control

Let the uncontrollables be uncontrollable

What are you putting in your circle of control this week?

You open Excel

There are hundreds of chart options

And somehow… none of them look right

We’ve all been there: you try one, then another, then tweak the colors…

...and twenty minutes later, you still have a chart that no one understands

I know it hurts, but you need to hear this:

You don't need 100 charts in Finance
You only need 7

7 charts that, when used and designed properly, can explain 95% of what we do in FP&A

And the problem is that most people don’t use them right

They let Excel decide the colors, keep the gridlines, and end up with visuals that confuse instead of clarify

In my new video, I’ll show you:
👉 The 7 charts every finance professional should master
👉 When to use each one (and when not to)
👉 And how to design them beautifully in Excel

🎥 Watch it here → https://lnkd.in/edyBbmqZ

Because charts are like jokes

If you need to explain them, they're probably not so good

Story first then charts

But most experts will give "exploratory" tips

While I want you to also think "design"

Because most “default” Excel charts are...

...how can I put this delicately: UGLY

They mix weird colors
They hide the message
They feel designs from the 90s

The problem is that it costs attention, credibility and time

But no, I won't tell you that you need a new tool for that

You just need a better way to use the one we all open every day

Here’s the bar I set when I build finance charts in Excel:
• Use the company palette so people recognize the story as ours
• Remove decoration that doesn’t inform: borders, gridlines, clutter
• Put the message on the chart, an idea, a headline
• One idea per visual

A few small moves change everything:

📈 Line charts
• Smooth the line (it's more pleasant)
• Adjust the y-axis bounds if it helps the point land clearly

📊 Bar charts
• Set gap width to roughly three quarters so the bars breathe and read fast.
• Add data labels and simplify the axis so the eye doesn’t work twice.

🥧 Pie charts
• Keep it simple, use “inside” labels, and let the colors carry the logic
• Don't listen to the haters: they're great too

🫗Waterfalls
• Build them clean so drivers read in order and the labels come from your story
• Avoid the famous "connectors" 😣

Most finance teams still live in Excel and that’s fine

What matters is how intentional you are with the design

🎥 Yesterday I published a new video where I walk through, step by step, the best practices for seven charts every finance team needs

Go have a look, then share it with someone who needs help

 Steps to Creating the Perfect Finance Chart

I still remember the day my CFO said I sucked at presenting

Not exactly formulated like that but I took it personally

Not because he was wrong...
...but because he was right

My slides were good (and so was the design) 

And the analysis behind was impeccable 

But there was no story, no structure, no point

Which made it so that no one understood and remembered it

That day, I decided to prove him wrong

I studied how people listen

I learned how to build tension, simplify insights, and land a message that sticks

I practiced. A lot.

Until one day, people stopped seeing me as “the finance guy with slides”

They started asking me to teach what I was doing differently

That moment changed everything

Today, I help finance teams across Singapore, the US, Europe, and Africa tell stories that move business forward

And I speak in front of hundreds of finance professionals who share the same challenge I once had

And the same determination to overcome it

Because here’s what I’ve learned along the way:
- Being susceptible is not a weakness. It can be your fuel
- There’s nothing in the world that can’t be trained
- Sometimes, one harsh comment is all it takes to start your whole journey

You just need to listen, and decide what you’ll do with it

The best strategy is one your team can actually execute

It’s easy to hear that and think:

“So… let’s aim low”

But that’s not what I mean with that

There is a difference between "easy" and "achievable"

Looking for "achievable" is what I recommend because I know that, little by little, the results are more sustainable and move people in the same direction

The proof is that I’ve seen it often when discussing budgets with teams

When a target is difficult, people sigh, maybe whisper a bit… but they get to work

When it’s impossible, that spark disappears

Because people we work with can tell the difference between hard and hopeless

I'm certainly not the one who will allow sandbagging (my ex-colleagues will confirm that) in a budget/forecast process

But if you have to choose, go for the high but realistic path

One that searches for your team's performance without breaking them

Ambition is giving people the belief (and the means) to make progress

If people don't understand Finance, it's our fault

Because they DO want to understand

But the problem is that we limit the education to 
- T-shaped balance sheet (they never see that)
- Debits and credits (they never book anything)
- Examples of a grocery store (they work in big corporates)

Somehow, it's normal to find our colleagues lost in finance

But it doesn't have to be like that

Because we need the rest of the company to
- understand our reports
- extract observations and analyse
- participate to budget/forecast exercises
- make decisions based on financial outcome

That's how I thought my "Finance for Non-Financials" course

Roles in which Non-Finance people have a real impact

And to do so, the training is
1️⃣ Tailored: I'm not speaking of a SaaS to a Manufacturer
2️⃣ Active: Adults don't want to be back at the university bench
3️⃣ Engaging: People take a full day off their work, and I respect that

Dounia said it herself: these 6 hours are probably the most well invested in training for years

And I'm not done with it!

In the next year, I want to train at least 1.000 more people to understand and use Finance in their jobs

So, my fellow finance leaders, if you want your colleagues to finally understand finance in your company

➡️ Contact me 😉

In any career, there are boosters and traps

If you want to be tactical, be intentional about these

Careers in FP&A accelerate when you treat them like a roadmap

You identify the boosters, avoid the potholes, and drive with intent every week

Promotions tend to follow momentum

Here are ten tactical choices that build momentum.

1️⃣ Combine output with ease

Deliver what you promised and make collaboration smooth. The fastest way to gain trust is to hit deadlines while removing friction from meetings and handoffs

Obstacle to avoid: smart work that feels heavy to everyone else

2️⃣ Own your market value

Keep a running log of wins that tie to concrete results. I tracked cycle time reduced, forecast accuracy gained, and the margin moves my team enabled.

Obstacle to avoid: thinking people will notice your work

3️⃣ Be selective with effort

Choose problems that matter to the P&L (and cash-flow). No one expects you to be an expert in everything.

Obstacle to avoid: perfect outputs on low-value questions

4️⃣ Layer capabilities

Numbers first, then data modeling, then communication, then influence. There is no point in becoming a storyteller if your input is a mess.

Obstacle to avoid: trying to go directly to the top of the pyramid

5️⃣ Manage stakeholders upward

Great CFO updates are short and sharp. What was requested, what changed, the decision needed, and the risk if we wait. No suspense. Clean choices.

Obstacle to avoid: status for the sake of status

6️⃣ Lean into your edge

Maybe you see patterns in messy data. Maybe you stay calm in tense reviews. Double down on what makes you distinct because distinct sticks.

Obstacle to avoid: trying to be great at everything

7️⃣ Stay out of noise

Complaint threads drain credibility. Energy spent on solutions builds it.

Obstacle to avoid: the coffee machine's negative chit-chat

8️⃣ Protect mental clarity

Close is a marathon each month. Sleep, boundaries, and clean files keep judgment sharp. Foggy brains miss the quiet risks.

Obstacle to avoid: treating heroics as a plan

9️⃣ Make people feel seen

Great analysts learn the field reality before they challenge the plan. Sales and Ops follow people who respect their constraints.

Obstacle to avoid: drive-by finance

🔟 Invest in others

Your legacy is the careers you help lift. When your team grows, so do you.

Obstacle to avoid: direct all attention to you

I know some of these look selfish or even Machiavellian

But if you want your career to depend on no one else but you, you will have to deal with them

So for this week, ask yourself: which area should I turn into a differentiating edge?

I built a CFO clone to present in my place

Should you?

Quarterly town halls are where momentum is made… and lost

People drop off after 30 seconds of "underlying result", "EBITDA" and other "Guidance" stuff

Sometimes, it's due to education, others to simple language differences (try motivating people in Madrid when you speak in English)

Yes, I could learn the 12 languages of my group, but that would take some time. 

So I tried something different: a HeyGen avatar of me delivering the same message in multiple languages and a consistent tone

It's a new way of thinking your all-hands presentations if your group is split into different regions and time zones

But if this is feasible, it’s also a risk

Deepfakes, impersonation, “urgent transfer” scams

I couldn't simply show you the trick without warning of the risks...and exploring solutions

In the new video, I show:
👉 When an avatar helps for quarterly results (and when it shouldn’t)
👉 Step-by-step build: avatar, voice, script, scenes, languages
👉 The guardrails every finance team needs

🎥 Watch it → https://lnkd.in/gnDnnVzs

Tried avatars already? Powerful, weird… both?

Tell me how it felt (and what you’d want me to test next)

You know that moment in a meeting when you’re explaining a number…

and you see eyes glazing over?

That’s the exact second Finance loses the room

And it happens to smart people: because we confuse “being clear” with “being precise”

But here’s what I’ve learned after four years of teaching non-finance people about finance

👉 When we’re not understood, it’s because we don’t want to be understood

Non-finance colleagues are ready to learn
They want to understand.
They just don’t want a lecture.

In my new video, I break down how to speak finance so business people actually listen

An this, without dumbing it down, and without losing yourself in the process

🎥 Watch it here → https://lnkd.in/eKg_fUat

That’s the difference between being the finance person who reports numbers…

...and the one people call before they make decisions.

26% of finance pros regularly use AI in their job

That's better than LY but that means 74% are missing something

🚨 And tomorrow 28/10 at 5PM CET, you can learn about this in Nicolas Boucher's free webinar "How to Become an AI CFO" (register here https://lnkd.in/eARHiA9g)

Because AI won't solve every problem, and certainly not the most important ones in your job

But it will help you with these common issues
- lack of time
- lack of a clear structure
- lack of presentation skills

Last week, I showed what could be done at a conference in Amsterdam and even did a masterclass for the AI Finance Club beginning of this month

I can't remember such a surprise when the audience saw what could be done with tools you use every day

So, if you want to use your time efficiently as a Finance Business Partner

Come to the free "How to Become an AI CFO" webinar

📅 Tuesday, Oct 28
🕔 5PM CEST | 12PM ET
🔗 Register here https://lnkd.in/eARHiA9g

I'll be there

Will you?

---------

If you want to go deeper, here are three ways I can help you:

📘 I put together a free Financial Storytelling Starter Pack — you can grab it here: https://lnkd.in/eadSXhKp

🤝 And if you want to explore solutions for your team, you can plan a call with me here: https://lnkd.in/eKTff5s2

In the real world, “storyteller” means everything and nothing at the same time. 

I’ve been 
- the FP&A lead who wrote the board narrative at 2 a.m.
- the controller who had to explain a variance clearly
- and the guy in the room when sales and marketing could not agree 

The story changes shape every time, because the need changes

Some days you are the Architect
You design the structure of the story, following who will hear it and the amount of information you have

Other days you are the Translator
You make sure that everyone will understand, from the call center operator to the director

You become the Connector
You link numbers to people so they see how their real-life is impacted

You step in as the Strategist
You shape direction with a clear “what changed, why, what next”, just like an internal super consultant

Sometimes, you roll up sleeves as the Builder
You turn insights into plans, owners, and dates so someone takes accountability

And many more roles

That’s why “storyteller” is not a skill but a chameleon skill set

I don't know if I can count myself as one of them, but the best finance leaders I’ve worked with swap roles without ego 

So, if you lead a finance team, build this range. 

Hire for it
Coach it
Reward it

Because the right story, in the right role, at the right moment, moves the business.

Which role did you play this week?

Paul Barnhurst

The FP&A Guy

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

Paul Barnhurst, The FPandA Guy

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

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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"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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"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
 
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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

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