Here’s a hard truth most finance professionals avoid: AI won’t replace you. But it will expose you if you don’t know how to think strategically. Today reminded me why this matters more than ever. AI-Powered Valuation: Smarter, Not Easier I started the day wrestling with valuation multiple justification. Not the sexy kind you read about […]
Here’s the truth most FP&A leaders won’t say out loud: the majority of financial models aren’t built for decision-making. They’re built for optics. They exist to be opened in board meetings, skimmed over by execs, and bookmarked as evidence that Finance is doing its job. But when Sales wants to run a hiring scenario or […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-gustavo-fring-4975637-scaled-e1747874826891.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-21 21:11:242025-05-21 21:11:24How to Build a Driver-Based Model That Actually Supports Decision-Making
Here’s the truth no one wants to admit: most 13-week cash flow forecasts are just glorified guesswork. We treat them like gospel because they’re standard. Safe. Palatable. But if you’ve ever had to explain a sudden shortfall to your CEO or board, you already know: Thirteen weeks is not a crystal ball. It’s a snapshot. […]
Let’s start with a blunt truth most leaders don’t want to admit: You’re not going to predict the future. Not with that pristine forecast. Not with that 50-tab spreadsheet. Not even with your new AI-powered tool that’s supposed to “learn” the business. And that’s okay. Because scenario planning isn’t about guessing right. It’s about being […]
Let’s skip the pleasantries. If you’re in strategic finance and still fumbling around with basic formulas, you’re wasting time, missing insights, and burning credibility. I’ve seen it firsthand: high-performing FP&A teams with broken models, inconsistent logic, and bloated files that barely run. The fix? It’s not another dashboarding tool or AI-powered platform. It’s mastering the […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-leeloothefirst-5561913-scaled-e1747444484811.jpg8011200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-20 21:54:372025-05-20 21:54:373 Excel Functions Every Strategic Finance Team Should Master
Let me say this up front: Month-end reporting doesn’t have to feel like an endurance sport. We all know the drill. You build your reporting pack. You double-check numbers. You chase down last-minute actuals from operations. You rebuild links that broke since last month. You massage charts to be board-ready. And somewhere along the way, […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-rdne-7947716-scaled-e1747790397288.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-20 21:54:352025-05-20 21:54:35How Small Excel Tweaks Can Save You Hours in Month-End Reporting
Let me be honest: budgets are broken. At least, the traditional kind. You know the one: twelve-months-in-advance, set-it-and-forget-it, rooted in last year’s numbers, built to please the board rather than steer the business. I’ve built those. I’ve torn them apart, too. Rolling forecasts, when done right, aren’t just a better planning tool—they’re a better way […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-rdne-7947999-scaled-e1747790424274.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-20 21:54:332025-05-20 21:54:33Rolling Forecasts vs. Budgets: What High-Performing Teams Get Right
Financial models are fragile beasts. They look solid—clean lines, smart formulas, pristine formatting—but it only takes one wrong input or overconfident growth assumption to turn that glossy forecast into a cautionary tale. We’ve all seen it: one bad board question and the model unravels like a sweater caught on a nail. The real test of […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-leeloothefirst-5561913-scaled-e1747444484811.jpg8011200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-16 21:16:132025-05-16 21:16:13How to Stress Test Your Model Without Breaking It
I used to think we could scale our finance team with grit, hustle, and spreadsheets. And for a while, we did. Forecasts were living documents (in five tabs). We tracked cash burn on whiteboards. The budget was something I explained out loud more than I ever wrote down. Eventually, I realized that if we were […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-tima-miroshnichenko-6693647-scaled-e1747318862740.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-15 10:22:162025-05-15 10:22:30The Hidden Edge: Why Growing Companies Need FP&A Before They Think They Do
I remember the moment I realized our FP&A team had become a reporting machine. It was a Tuesday. 7:43 p.m. I was still in the office. Someone from ops had just Slacked me asking for a version of the Q2 forecast that accounted for a 5% shift in headcount timing. I was on version 17 […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/pexels-padrinan-3785927-1.jpg7981200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-14 22:29:012025-05-21 14:51:26How to Make Your FP&A Function a Strategic Partner, Not a Reporting Machine
Financial modeling, when it’s good, is like jazz—dynamic, structured, and intentional. When it’s bad, it’s a car crash on the freeway: you can’t look away, and everyone’s pretending it’s still moving forward. I’ve reviewed hundreds of models in my career, from scrappy startup decks to nine-figure buyout scenarios. Some were elegant. Many were… not. The […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-10-2025-10_28_47-PM.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-10 22:35:562025-05-13 19:36:17The 5 Most Common Mistakes I See in Financial Models—and How to Fix Them
Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) sounds like one of those things consultants throw into the air like a glitter bomb: shiny, disruptive, and mostly theoretical. But trust me—when done right, it’s not just buzzword bingo. It’s a radical clarity tool. And if you’re in FP&A like me, you know the annual budget ritual has devolved into a […]
It’s been said a hundred times in every boardroom I’ve ever sat in: “We need to be more strategic with our planning.” Great. But what does that actually mean in a world where financial planning and analysis (FP&A) is still, in many places, little more than spreadsheet jockeying dressed in quarterly PowerPoint suits? I’ve watched […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-7-2025-09_49_44-PM.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-07 21:42:342025-05-07 22:07:09Top 10 Principles for Transforming FP&A Towards Long-Term Value Creation
Somewhere between the endless waves of hedge fund quants and Silicon Valley’s dopamine engineers, finance quietly fell in love with artificial intelligence. Not the kind that makes TikToks or generates emails. I’m talking about AI in finance—technology that can out-predict, out-price, and outmaneuver legacy systems that once defined Wall Street. I’ve watched it happen. At […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A_digital_graphic_design_image_features_the_bold_-e1746586058647.png8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mountains.pngSarah Schlott2025-05-06 22:49:072025-05-06 22:50:22Mastering AI in Finance: Building Expertise for a Data-Driven Future
Building Smarter, Not Bigger: Finance Strategy When Budgets Shrink
Here’s a hard truth most finance professionals avoid: AI won’t replace you. But it will expose you if you don’t know how to think strategically. Today reminded me why this matters more than ever. AI-Powered Valuation: Smarter, Not Easier I started the day wrestling with valuation multiple justification. Not the sexy kind you read about […]
How to Build a Driver-Based Model That Actually Supports Decision-Making
Here’s the truth most FP&A leaders won’t say out loud: the majority of financial models aren’t built for decision-making. They’re built for optics. They exist to be opened in board meetings, skimmed over by execs, and bookmarked as evidence that Finance is doing its job. But when Sales wants to run a hiring scenario or […]
Cash Flow Forecasting: Why 13 Weeks Isn’t Always Enough
Here’s the truth no one wants to admit: most 13-week cash flow forecasts are just glorified guesswork. We treat them like gospel because they’re standard. Safe. Palatable. But if you’ve ever had to explain a sudden shortfall to your CEO or board, you already know: Thirteen weeks is not a crystal ball. It’s a snapshot. […]
Scenario Planning in Uncertain Times: A Practical Framework
Let’s start with a blunt truth most leaders don’t want to admit: You’re not going to predict the future. Not with that pristine forecast. Not with that 50-tab spreadsheet. Not even with your new AI-powered tool that’s supposed to “learn” the business. And that’s okay. Because scenario planning isn’t about guessing right. It’s about being […]
3 Excel Functions Every Strategic Finance Team Should Master
Let’s skip the pleasantries. If you’re in strategic finance and still fumbling around with basic formulas, you’re wasting time, missing insights, and burning credibility. I’ve seen it firsthand: high-performing FP&A teams with broken models, inconsistent logic, and bloated files that barely run. The fix? It’s not another dashboarding tool or AI-powered platform. It’s mastering the […]
How Small Excel Tweaks Can Save You Hours in Month-End Reporting
Let me say this up front: Month-end reporting doesn’t have to feel like an endurance sport. We all know the drill. You build your reporting pack. You double-check numbers. You chase down last-minute actuals from operations. You rebuild links that broke since last month. You massage charts to be board-ready. And somewhere along the way, […]
Rolling Forecasts vs. Budgets: What High-Performing Teams Get Right
Let me be honest: budgets are broken. At least, the traditional kind. You know the one: twelve-months-in-advance, set-it-and-forget-it, rooted in last year’s numbers, built to please the board rather than steer the business. I’ve built those. I’ve torn them apart, too. Rolling forecasts, when done right, aren’t just a better planning tool—they’re a better way […]
How to Stress Test Your Model Without Breaking It
Financial models are fragile beasts. They look solid—clean lines, smart formulas, pristine formatting—but it only takes one wrong input or overconfident growth assumption to turn that glossy forecast into a cautionary tale. We’ve all seen it: one bad board question and the model unravels like a sweater caught on a nail. The real test of […]
The Hidden Edge: Why Growing Companies Need FP&A Before They Think They Do
I used to think we could scale our finance team with grit, hustle, and spreadsheets. And for a while, we did. Forecasts were living documents (in five tabs). We tracked cash burn on whiteboards. The budget was something I explained out loud more than I ever wrote down. Eventually, I realized that if we were […]
How to Make Your FP&A Function a Strategic Partner, Not a Reporting Machine
I remember the moment I realized our FP&A team had become a reporting machine. It was a Tuesday. 7:43 p.m. I was still in the office. Someone from ops had just Slacked me asking for a version of the Q2 forecast that accounted for a 5% shift in headcount timing. I was on version 17 […]
The 5 Most Common Mistakes I See in Financial Models—and How to Fix Them
Financial modeling, when it’s good, is like jazz—dynamic, structured, and intentional. When it’s bad, it’s a car crash on the freeway: you can’t look away, and everyone’s pretending it’s still moving forward. I’ve reviewed hundreds of models in my career, from scrappy startup decks to nine-figure buyout scenarios. Some were elegant. Many were… not. The […]
Implementing Zero-Based Budgeting in FP&A: A 10-Step Guide
Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) sounds like one of those things consultants throw into the air like a glitter bomb: shiny, disruptive, and mostly theoretical. But trust me—when done right, it’s not just buzzword bingo. It’s a radical clarity tool. And if you’re in FP&A like me, you know the annual budget ritual has devolved into a […]
Top 10 Principles for Transforming FP&A Towards Long-Term Value Creation
It’s been said a hundred times in every boardroom I’ve ever sat in: “We need to be more strategic with our planning.” Great. But what does that actually mean in a world where financial planning and analysis (FP&A) is still, in many places, little more than spreadsheet jockeying dressed in quarterly PowerPoint suits? I’ve watched […]
Mastering AI in Finance: Building Expertise for a Data-Driven Future
Somewhere between the endless waves of hedge fund quants and Silicon Valley’s dopamine engineers, finance quietly fell in love with artificial intelligence. Not the kind that makes TikToks or generates emails. I’m talking about AI in finance—technology that can out-predict, out-price, and outmaneuver legacy systems that once defined Wall Street. I’ve watched it happen. At […]