Wharton Online

About the Program:

➣ It’s an 8-week cohort-based online program

➣ Upon passing the exam, participants earn a certificate in FP&A from Wharton.

➣ Learn everything you need to transition into FP&A or grow your career: 
- Planning
- Forecasting
- Analysis
- Modeling
- Business Partnering
- Reporting and Storytelling
- Using cutting-edge tools like AI and Machine Learning

➣ Learn technical FP&A skills from the faculty of Wharton and real-world practical skills, delivered by FP&A practitioners.

➣ For FP&A beginners and seasoned professionals who want to learn best practices.

Explore the program here:
https://wallstreetprep.wharton.upenn.edu/financial-planning-and-analysis-certificate/

Director - FP&A Certificate Program

FP&A Prep

Managing Director & Lead Instructor

WHAT I DO: 

I help finance teams develop their FP&A skills through customized in-person and virtual training. 

HOW IT WORKS: 

I provide tailored FP&A training programs that delve into the breadth and depth of planning, business partnering, financial storytelling, and analysis, with a strong emphasis on your business context.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY:

➢ The accounting and advisory firm Wiss hired me to train their 22-person FP&A advisory team.
    
”Thank you for facilitating a great training session with the team! The content, Q&A sessions, self-study component, and individual learning lessons were all excellent and exactly what we were looking for.This was a very successful training for our team. Happy to be a reference for you in the future.”
    
    -Travis Miskowitz , Partner  at Wiss.com
    
➢ The education company Chegg engaged me to train their 25-person global FP&A team.
    
“Thanks for running the workshop this week. The feedback was OVERWHELMINGLY positive - it was a home run! Great job.”

-Roberto Leao, VP of Finance at Chegg Inc.

➢ The gaming company Take-Two Interactive Software enrolled their 13-person FP&A team in my training program.
    
“This program was extremely informative about many aspects of FP&A. The different platforms used (Kahoot, breakout rooms, case studies) kept everyone engaged.”
    
 - Mary B., Senior Manager, FP&A at Take-Two Interactive

Learn more about FP&A Corporate Training here:

https://www.fpaprep.com/training

FP&A Corporate Training for Finance Teams

WHAT IT IS:
FP&A Bootcamp is a live online course where you'll learn FP&A best practices together with a group of peers. In six workshops over two weeks, you’ll learn via exercises, small group discussions, and guided brainstorming sessions.

We cover best practices on:

➢ Financial Storytelling
➢ Business Partnering
➢ Budget Management
➢ Planning & Forecasting
➢ Financial Modeling

WHAT MY STUDENTS SAY:

“The course takes you through a practical approach to FP&A and you walk away with ideas and strategies you can begin to utilize in your business right away.”

-Anthony L., VP of Finance at Smokey mos BBQ

“If you are new to FP&A, or have been doing it for years, this is a great course to ensure you are on the correct path. The time commitment isn't so much that you take too much time away from work, but enough that you feel you are getting plenty of resources to take back to your job.”

-Sara B., Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Mosaic

“This is both a good refresher for seasoned professionals and a good introduction for individuals with less experience. Time went by very fast as it was an enjoyable course.”

-Steve D., CFO at WAFLA

Learn more about FP&A Bootcamp here:

https://maven.com/fpaprep/fpa-bootcamp

FP&A Bootcamp - live online training for individuals and small teams

WHAT IT IS:

Get your message in front of my 20,000+ audience. You can sponsor a text-based ad in the “FP&A Tuesday” newsletter.

And we can organize a webinar together where Christian shares educational content and promotes the webinar to his 90,000+ LinkedIn followers and email subscribers.

WHAT CLIENTS SAY:

“As the Head of Marketing at E78 Partners, I have had the pleasure of working with Christian Wattig through various sponsorships. Our experience has been nothing short of outstanding!

FP&A Tuesday has served as an invaluable resource, providing insightful and engaging content, and E78 has seen tremendous results from our sponsorships. 

Whether we're promoting an event or sharing valuable insights, the newsletter consistently drives high-quality engagement and fosters meaningful connections with our target audience. In short, FP&A Tuesday has been a game-changer for our marketing initiatives.”

-Scott Raspa, Head of Marketing at E78 Partners

Learn more about becoming a sponsor here:

https://www.passionfroot.me/fpa-tuesday

For Advertisers: Newsletter Ads & Sponsored Webinar

WHAT IT IS:

A free weekly newsletter with insights and actionable advice to build your Financial Planning & Analysis skills. 

Join 20,000+ finance and accounting professionals and receive:

-3 insights from me

-2 ideas from others, and

-1 FP&A infographic

… every Tuesday.

WHAT READERS SAY:

“Excellent information. Easy-to-read format. One of the best emails I get each week.”

-Josh B., Director of Finance at Spire

Sign-up to the newsletter here (free):

https://www.fpaprep.com/fpa-tuesday

Newsletter: FP&A Tuesday

WHAT IT IS:

 You’ll learn the T.A.C.T. framework to improve your forecast accuracy, navigate budgeting with ease, and have more impact as a finance professional.

HOW IT WORKS:

It’s an online course with 45 short lessons covering budgeting, metric selection, forecasting techniques, and reporting frameworks. It includes case studies and hands-on exercises so you can anchor your learning. We cover forecasting for revenues, expenses, headcount, and cash flow.

WHAT MY STUDENTS SAY:

“This is a goldmine for me. I have been through a significant amount of budget processes. I have picked from here a lot of the challenges we experienced. This information would improve our budget process tremendously. The questions and answers provided is excellent”

-Ernestina L.

“Great approaches to both the planning and forecasting process that I can take back to my company.”

-Tom I., VP of Finance at Slingshot Aerospace

“Even if you aren’t in FP&A, getting a baseline for the forecasting process will help in other parts of the business. Having more people understand the forecasting and planning processes will help everyone make better-informed decisions. And this class will certainly help with that.”

-Dan D., Financial Analyst at Perform CB

Learn more about “The Art & Science of Forecasting” here:

https://forecastingmastery.com/

The Art & Science of Forecasting - self-paced online learning

Datarails

Create and lead professional development training programs, externally for customers and internally for employees.

Head of Training

Lead a team of FP&A experts who consult customers on process improvements and implement automation projects.

FP&A Solution Architect

Squarespace

- Lead Financial Planning and Analysis for Marketing and Growth

- Partner with the Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Creative Officer, and VP for Business-to-Business sales

Financial Planning & Analysis Lead

Maven

I was selected to join the Maven Course Accelerator. It's a six-week intensive program to learn how to build cohort-based courses under Wes Kao.

Maven Course Accelerator

Unilever

- Lead financial planning and analysis for the North American freight and warehousing operations

- Partner with Senior Leadership in Logistics, Procurement and HR to provide visibility on risks and opportunities

- Lead a team of seven direct reports, managing their daily tasks and professional development plans

Senior Finance Manager - FP&A Logistics North America

- Lead financial planning and analysis for marketing investments company-wide for the US business.

- Partner with Senior Leadership in Marketing and Procurement to provide visibility on risks and opportunities in Marketing budgets, including 3rd party vendor budgets.

- Lead a team of five direct reports, managing their daily tasks and professional development plans.

Finance Manager - FP&A Marketing Finance & Analytics

- Responsible for financial planning and analysis for the global Hair business of Family Value Brands

- Lead innovation business case development and analysis

- Lead a direct report, managing their daily tasks and professional development plans.

- Lead a team of three to develop and present trainings on Productivity Management and MS Excel for the North American Finance team.

Finance Manager - FP&A Global Hair Care

- Supply Chain innovation analysis for the Beverage category in North America

- Close collaboration with Supply Chain, Procurement, R&D, Engineering, Plant Finance and Brand Marketing across time zones

Associate Finance Manager - FP&A Supply Chain Refreshments

Avon

- Management reporting, month-end accounting and process optimization at the global headquarter. Temporary assignment.

Senior Financial Analyst - FP&A North America Marketing (Consulting)

Procter & Gamble

- Recommended strategic product, pricing and promotion changes in close collaboration with cross-functional team. 

- Financial analysis for new product initiatives. Analysis of sensitivities on net present value, gross margin, revenue & profit via creating financial models to consolidate inputs of all functions.

FP&A Financial Analyst - Fabric Care Middle East & Africa

- Management reporting and financial analysis for all P&G categories in Switzerland

- Partnered with sales teams to deliver on joint goals with major Swiss customers.

Customer FP&A Financial Analyst

📌 Struggling to Master FP&A? You’re Not Alone.

FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis) is one of the most challenging areas in finance to break into or excel at—especially if you’re learning on the job or stepping into a new leadership role.

Books and videos alone can’t teach you the real-world skills that matter most, like financial storytelling and effective business partnering. That’s where I come in.

With 15+ years in FP&A leadership roles at Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Squarespace, and Datarails, I’ve developed a deep understanding of what works—and I’m here to pass those insights on to you.

Over 1,000 mid-career finance professionals have enrolled in my online FP&A training programs.

I’m also the director of the Wharton School's FP&A certificate program. 

And I regularly get hired to uplevel the FP&A skills of teams in top companies such as Lowe's, Merck, Google, and many others.

In fact, Google hired me to train 96 Googlers across four FP&A workshops. 

This was their feedback:

“We were initially hesitant about piloting a portion of Christian Wattig's FP&A skills program. However, after experiencing the workshops, we found that his core content and delivery were indeed strong.
We would recommend Christian as a corporate trainer. He possesses a strong foundation in FP&A, excellent content development skills, and a clear ability to facilitate engaging sessions.”

 David Mitchell, Finance Academy Manager at Google


📌 How I Can Help You

I offer FP&A training through four avenues:

1️⃣ Free Newsletter: Subscribe to “FP&A Tuesday” and join 30,000+ Finance and Accounting pros for actionable advice on budgeting, forecasting, and more.
👉 Subscribe here: FPAprep.com

2️⃣ Self-Paced Learning: Explore my engaging and exercise-based online course portfolio.
👉 Learn more here: courses.fpaprep.com/portfolio

3️⃣ Live Online Bootcamp: A six-session program covering Financial Storytelling, Business Partnering, Budgeting, Planning, and Financial Modeling. Perfect for individuals and small teams.
👉 Learn more here: maven.com/fpaprep/fpa-bootcamp

4️⃣ Corporate Training: Tailored workshops for larger teams (10+), offered virtually or in person.
👉 Email hello@fpaprep.com to learn more.

If you are interested in a marketing collaboration, email hello@fpaprep.com.

Budget Checklist for FP&A Teams

👉 Download the full checklist for Word here (free):
https://lnkd.in/e8AiGKNY

1️⃣ Pre Kick-Off Phase

📌 Review previous year’s plan
🔲 Process pain points
🔲 Usefulness of variance analysis
🔲 Qualitative Learnings

📌 Implement process improvements
🔲 Speed
🔲  Accuracy
🔲 Trackability (!)

📌 Create Planning Roadmap
🔲 Timeline
🔲 Deliverables
🔲 Ownership structure
🔲 Use RACI to streamline
 (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)

2️⃣ Joint Planning Phase

📌 Finance/ Leadership creates the Top-Down
🔲 Starts with the desired end state
🔲 Sets expectations
🔲 Links Mission and Strategic Plan
🔲 On business-driver level
🔲 Internal and external factors

 📌 Business Teams create the Bottom-Up
🔲 Start from scratch, ideally on project level
🔲 Shows how strategies link with tactics
🔲 Evaluates uncertainty
🔲 Links with top-down plan

 📌 Use multiple budgeting approaches together
🔲 Percentage Adjustments
🔲 Zero Based Budgeting
🔲 Driver-based Forecasting
🔲 Statistical Methods
🔲 Expert Judgement
🔲  Machine Learning
🔲  Scenario Planning

📌 FP&A and business teams compare scenarios
🔲  Discuss variance of bottom-up and top-down
🔲  Understand the range of possible outcomes
🔲  Identify what’s missing to close the gap 

📌 FP&A assesses risks and opportunities
🔲 Use Socratic method to test understanding
🔲 Employ back-of-the-envelope math to challenge
🔲 Run sensitivities to identify break-even points
 
⚠️ LinkedIn has a limit of only 3,000 characters per post.

"Phase 3: Consolidation", "Phase 4: Iteration", and "Phase 5: Final Alignment" didn't fit in the post.

👉 Get the full checklist for Word here (complimentary):
https://lnkd.in/e8AiGKNY

Christian Wattig

FP&A Onsite Training & Online Courses for Finance Teams | Director, Wharton FP&A Program | Past in-person training clients include: Merck, Lowe’s, Google, Liberty Bank

Does size make a difference when it comes to annual planning?

📌 Small Companies
($0-$50mm revenue)

Characteristics:
• Limited resources
• Fewer employees
• Smaller market presence

Planning Focus:
✔Cash flow management and short-term survival
✔Agile and adaptive budgeting to respond to immediate market changes

Challenges:
×Limited data for forecasting
×Reliance on owner-driven strategies

📌 Medium Companies
($50mm-$1bn revenue)

Characteristics:
• More resources
• Larger workforce
• Growing market influence

Planning Focus:
✔Structured budgeting processes
✔Departmental budgets and performance tracking
✔Balancing short-term results with long-term strategic goals

Challenges:
×Aligning departmental objectives with overall company goals
×Managing growing complexity

📌 Large Companies
($1bn+ revenue)

Characteristics:
• Significant resources
• Extensive workforce
• Major market impact

Planning Focus:
✔Comprehensive long-range planning integrated with global market trends
✔Detailed and complex budgeting involving multiple departments and stakeholders
✔Emphasis on data-driven decision-making and predictive analytics

Challenges:
×Bureaucracy
×Slower decision-making
×Managing vast amounts of data

Does your company fit this description? Comment below. 👇

-Christian

P.S.: My goal with these one-pagers is to break down complex FP&A topics into easy-to-understand lessons. 

You can get a collection of my 10 most popular one-pagers here (free): https://lnkd.in/eihTAhTW

Excel Copilot just got a major upgrade. 

If you lead FP&A, this webinar shows how to turn it into leverage—not busywork.

Master Excel Copilot’s Latest AI Features (with me, sponsored by Drivetrain) 

🗓️ Tuesday, October 14, 2025 
⏰ 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET

You’ll learn how to: 

• Generate financial models with Agent Mode 

• Build forecasts in minutes by combining ChatGPT + Python + Excel
  
• Pick the right AI tool and avoid common pitfalls

Perfect for: 
Finance leaders and FP&A pros who want less manual work and more time for analysis & strategy.

👉 Register: https://lnkd.in/egMTyrr9

Question for you: What’s the one Excel task you’d love to automate first?

Top-Down versus Bottom-Up Planning

📌 Top-Down Planning

•Starts with the end result in mind
•Sets expectations
•Links with Mission & Strategic Plan
•On the business driver level 
•Considers internal and external factors

Versus

📌  Bottom-Up Planning

•Starts from scratch
•Output is the sum of several sub-plans
•Shows how to execute against given strategy
•On project level
•Evaluates uncertainty to enable contingency planning
•Links with Top-Down Plan

Why should you prepare both, a Top-Down and a Bottom-Up plan?

#1  Compare and de-bias

Top-down plans are likely aggressive-leaning because they are prepared by executives. 

Bottom-up plans tend to be conservative because they are done by business teams that want to exceed expectations. 

Comparing both helps find an unbiased scenario.

#2  Foundation for providing challenge

The difference between the two is a good starting point for challenging the assumptions to estimate the inherent risk.

- Refer to the infographic for more details -

-Christian

P.S.: If you liked this infographic, you will love my top 10 most popular FP&A one-pagers (free): https://lnkd.in/eZt8u_Ar

I asked Excel's new Agent Mode to build a model. Here’s what happened.

It didn’t nail everything—but it did the boring parts frighteningly well.

𝙲𝙾𝙿𝙸𝙻𝙾𝚃() cleaned my messy export, Agent Mode drafted a 3-statement skeleton, and I had a first-pass forecast in minutes.

The real win? 

I spent my time on assumptions and judgment, not VLOOKUPs.

Join me live to see how I did it step-by-setp:

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 — 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁’𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 (𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻)

 🗓️ Tue, Oct 14, 2025 • 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET

What we’ll cover:

• COPILOT() for rapid data cleaning & analysis
  
• Agent Mode to spin up financial models from zero
  
• Fast forecasting with ChatGPT + Python + Excel
  
Who should attend: 

Finance leaders and FP&A pros aiming to automate repeatable tasks and focus on strategy.

Save your seat ➜ https://lnkd.in/egMTyrr9

Your biggest blocker to trying Copilot: 

1) access, 2) training, 3) trust?

I'm curious. Comment below. 👇

Most FP&A teams spend 80% of their time on data cleanup.

The other 20%? Actually analyzing it.

After leading FP&A at Squarespace, P&G, and Unilever, I learned this backwards ratio kills decision quality.

So I created a framework that flips it.

In my latest video, I break down the 5 fundamental building blocks every FP&A professional needs:

1. Data Organization That Actually Works
→ Why unique identifiers matter more than perfect spreadsheets
→ The chart of accounts review that saves weeks of analysis

2. The Clean Data Reality Check
→ My embarrassing story about conflicting "website visitor" definitions
→ How it almost derailed a critical leadership presentation

3. The 5 Financial Ratios Categories
→ From liquidity to market value
→ Which ones actually influence decisions (hint: not all of them)

4. Choosing Metrics That Matter
→ My 6-step process for working backwards from strategy
→ Why tracking everything = tracking nothing

5. Variance Analysis That Drives Action
→ The "What, Why, So What" framework
→ Real example: How we saved $267K on audit fees

The best part?

This isn't theoretical. 

These are the exact frameworks I teach at Wharton and use with Fortune 500 clients like Google, Merck, and Lowe's.

Watch the full breakdown here on YouTube:
https://lnkd.in/eCUS5Mdd

P.S. In the video, I also share how to get my 10 most popular FP&A one-pagers free. These frameworks have helped 100K+ finance professionals level up their analysis game.

Which one of the four aspects of financial analysis do you enjoy the most or the least (1. Data Organization, 2. Raising Data Quality, 3. Metric Selection, 4. Variance Analysis)? 

Drop it below 👇

Open video: Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Financial Analysis for FP&A on youtube.com

Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Financial Analysis for FP&A

Finance must play the role of “challenger.”

Why? 

Because we operate outside of narrowly defined incentives. 

And we can connect the dots between local optimization and global goals. 

Challenge ≠ cynicism. 

It’s clarity in service of outcomes. 

Agree or disagree?

-Christian Wattig

No alternative text description for this image

Zero-Based Budgeting
Get my top 10 FP&A one-pagers here: https://lnkd.in/eZt8u_Ar

The value isn’t “AI for ZBB.” 

It’s ZBB that sticks - because AI reduces the friction.

Free webinar. 

Sponsored by Paystand. 

Earn 1 CPE credit*. 

Wed, Oct 29 at 10:00 AM PDT. 

Zero-Based Budgeting in the Age of AI.

What ZBB is - and isn’t. 

When it beats incremental budgeting. 

A simple roadmap for your first cycle. 

Pitfalls to avoid. 

How ChatGPT, Gemini, and co. stress-test assumptions. 

How they surface outliers and speed analysis. 

How smart approvals enforce discipline.

Register: 

https://hubs.ly/Q03MZ_tN0

*CPE details in session.

See you live on Wednesday!

-Christian

P.S. Can't make it live? Register to receive the recording.

We tried “cut 10% across the board.” 

It backfired in 2 weeks. 

What worked: prove the first dollar. 

That’s ZBB—made sustainable when AI reduces friction. 

On Oct 29, I’ll show: 

• When ZBB beats incremental
  
• The low-drama rollout
  
• How AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) finds hidden assumptions and outliers. 

Free, 1 CPE, sponsored by Paystand. 

Save your seat:

https://hubs.ly/Q03MZ_tN0

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