I have trust issues with scenario models. Not because I don’t like scenarios. I do. I’ve built plenty of them. I’ve also sat in meetings where we had so many scenarios that I started to suspect we were using Excel to avoid making a decision. You know the meeting I’m talking about. Base case. Upside […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-vlada-karpovich-7433860-1-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-29 14:48:272026-09-29 14:48:27Financial Scenario Planning: How FP&A Can Build Scenarios That Actually Help Management
There is a meaningful difference between AI helping with Finance and AI doing Finance. We are crossing it. Until fairly recently, most of my conversations about AI in Finance sounded something like this: Can it write the variance commentary? Can it summarize this report? Can it help with the forecast? Can it analyze this file? […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-tara-winstead-8849295-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-29 14:28:132026-09-29 14:28:13AI Agents in Finance: What Should CFOs Actually Let Them Do?
What would you do if you walked into a five-year-old company with more than 170 legal entities, roughly 10,000 budget lines, no FP&A planning system, department heads who had never worked with a structured P&L, and tax rules capable of changing while you were still building the budget? I think I’d need coffee first. Probably […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/1709237720171-modified.jpeg406800Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-29 14:13:042026-09-29 14:17:25Building FP&A From Absolute Zero: Katelyn Stienen on Budgets, Business Partnership, and the Stories Behind the Numbers
Every company seems to be saving thousands of hours with AI. I would like to know where everyone is keeping them. Because apparently AI wrote the email, summarized the meeting, analyzed the data, drafted the presentation and saved Brenda six hours on Tuesday. Fantastic. What happened Wednesday? I ask because companies are getting very good […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-silverkblack-36733366-modified-scaled.jpg14402560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-29 00:24:412026-09-29 00:24:41How to Measure AI ROI: A Practical Guide for CFOs and Finance Teams
I wouldn’t have written this article a few years ago. Mostly because nobody was asking me whether I trusted the financial forecast built by a robot. Finance has changed. Now AI can analyze historical results, identify patterns, generate baseline forecasts, flag anomalies, help build scenarios and explain variances. Some newer systems are moving toward something […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-pavel-danilyuk-8439093-modified-scaled.jpg17092560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-29 00:16:222026-09-29 00:16:22AI in FP&A: Can You Trust an AI-Generated Financial Forecast?
If you’re building an FP&A team, I have one request. Please don’t start with the org chart. I know it’s tempting. CFO at the top. VP of FP&A underneath. Director. Manager. Senior Analyst. Analyst. Look at that. We have a department. We haven’t figured out what any of these people are doing yet, but the […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-mikhail-nilov-6592700-1-modified-scaled.jpg17052560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-28 21:29:422026-09-28 21:29:42FP&A Team Structure: Who Should You Hire and When?
I have a complicated relationship with revenue growth percentages. Not because they’re useless. Because they have a tendency to arrive before the explanation. “Revenue grows 10% next year.” Okay. Why? “Well, we grew about 10% this year.” That is certainly information. It is not yet a revenue forecast. One of the easiest ways to build […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-hikaique-116029-modified-scaled.jpg14402560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-28 21:20:122026-09-28 21:20:12How to Build a Revenue Forecast That Doesn’t Start With Last Year + 10%
Rolling Forecast: What It Is, How It Works, and When to Use One I have never understood why December 31 gets so much authority over financial planning. Apparently the calendar changes and Finance is supposed to lose interest in what happens next. It’s October. We have a three-month forecast remaining. Very useful. Management is making […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-yankrukov-7698796-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-28 21:10:182026-09-28 21:10:18Rolling Forecast: What It Is, How It Works, and When to Use One
I don’t think a company wakes up one morning and suddenly needs FP&A. There usually isn’t a ceremony. Nobody cuts a ribbon. What happens instead is that the CEO asks a question that used to take ten minutes to answer, and three days later Finance is still working on it. Someone wants to know what […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-silverkblack-23496867-modified-scaled.jpg14402560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-28 21:05:422026-09-28 21:05:42When Does a Company Need FP&A? 11 Signs You’ve Outgrown Basic Finance
I can usually tell when a company has confused its budget with its forecast. It’s September. The business has changed. Sales are running below plan. Hiring moved. A product launch slipped. A large customer expanded unexpectedly. Marketing changed its spending. And somehow the forecast still looks remarkably similar to the budget everyone approved nine months […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pexels-rdne-5915236-modified-1.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-28 15:29:402026-09-28 15:29:56Budget vs. Forecast: What’s the Difference and When Should You Use Each?
Financial Scenario Planning: How FP&A Can Build Scenarios That Actually Help Management
I have trust issues with scenario models. Not because I don’t like scenarios. I do. I’ve built plenty of them. I’ve also sat in meetings where we had so many scenarios that I started to suspect we were using Excel to avoid making a decision. You know the meeting I’m talking about. Base case. Upside […]
AI Agents in Finance: What Should CFOs Actually Let Them Do?
There is a meaningful difference between AI helping with Finance and AI doing Finance. We are crossing it. Until fairly recently, most of my conversations about AI in Finance sounded something like this: Can it write the variance commentary? Can it summarize this report? Can it help with the forecast? Can it analyze this file? […]
Building FP&A From Absolute Zero: Katelyn Stienen on Budgets, Business Partnership, and the Stories Behind the Numbers
What would you do if you walked into a five-year-old company with more than 170 legal entities, roughly 10,000 budget lines, no FP&A planning system, department heads who had never worked with a structured P&L, and tax rules capable of changing while you were still building the budget? I think I’d need coffee first. Probably […]
How to Measure AI ROI: A Practical Guide for CFOs and Finance Teams
Every company seems to be saving thousands of hours with AI. I would like to know where everyone is keeping them. Because apparently AI wrote the email, summarized the meeting, analyzed the data, drafted the presentation and saved Brenda six hours on Tuesday. Fantastic. What happened Wednesday? I ask because companies are getting very good […]
AI in FP&A: Can You Trust an AI-Generated Financial Forecast?
I wouldn’t have written this article a few years ago. Mostly because nobody was asking me whether I trusted the financial forecast built by a robot. Finance has changed. Now AI can analyze historical results, identify patterns, generate baseline forecasts, flag anomalies, help build scenarios and explain variances. Some newer systems are moving toward something […]
FP&A Team Structure: Who Should You Hire and When?
If you’re building an FP&A team, I have one request. Please don’t start with the org chart. I know it’s tempting. CFO at the top. VP of FP&A underneath. Director. Manager. Senior Analyst. Analyst. Look at that. We have a department. We haven’t figured out what any of these people are doing yet, but the […]
How to Build a Revenue Forecast That Doesn’t Start With Last Year + 10%
I have a complicated relationship with revenue growth percentages. Not because they’re useless. Because they have a tendency to arrive before the explanation. “Revenue grows 10% next year.” Okay. Why? “Well, we grew about 10% this year.” That is certainly information. It is not yet a revenue forecast. One of the easiest ways to build […]
Rolling Forecast: What It Is, How It Works, and When to Use One
Rolling Forecast: What It Is, How It Works, and When to Use One I have never understood why December 31 gets so much authority over financial planning. Apparently the calendar changes and Finance is supposed to lose interest in what happens next. It’s October. We have a three-month forecast remaining. Very useful. Management is making […]
When Does a Company Need FP&A? 11 Signs You’ve Outgrown Basic Finance
I don’t think a company wakes up one morning and suddenly needs FP&A. There usually isn’t a ceremony. Nobody cuts a ribbon. What happens instead is that the CEO asks a question that used to take ten minutes to answer, and three days later Finance is still working on it. Someone wants to know what […]
Budget vs. Forecast: What’s the Difference and When Should You Use Each?
I can usually tell when a company has confused its budget with its forecast. It’s September. The business has changed. Sales are running below plan. Hiring moved. A product launch slipped. A large customer expanded unexpectedly. Marketing changed its spending. And somehow the forecast still looks remarkably similar to the budget everyone approved nine months […]