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

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?

taplio