https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Management-Reporting-Pack-—-Finance-Team-Reviewing-Reports-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-10-01 09:49:062026-10-01 09:49:06Management Reporting Pack: What CFOs Actually Need Every Month
There is a particular kind of monthly Finance meeting where every variance gets treated like it has committed a crime. Travel is $8,000 over budget. Explain it. Software is $11,000 under. Explain it. Office supplies are $3,700 over. Apparently we need closure. Meanwhile, revenue is $2.4 million below plan and somehow we’ve allocated roughly the […]
I need to disclose something before we begin. I like Excel. A lot. I’ve spent enough of my career in Excel that I’m probably entitled to some kind of common-law marriage. So when somebody tells me Finance needs to “get out of spreadsheets,” I don’t immediately nod thoughtfully and start scheduling software demos. I usually […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-vlada-karpovich-7433919-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-30 07:56:262026-10-01 02:44:08FP&A Software vs. Excel: When Has Finance Actually Outgrown Spreadsheets?
FP&A has a branding problem. Tell someone you work in Accounting and they have a general idea what you do. Tell them you’re in Sales and they definitely have an idea what you do. Tell someone you work in Financial Planning & Analysis and there is usually a small pause. Then: “So…finance?” Yes. Technically. That […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-yankrukov-7691694-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-30 07:47:002026-10-01 02:41:15What Is FP&A? A Practical Guide to Financial Planning & Analysis
I like software. I also like buying things. Amazon has documented this extensively. So you might assume I’d be very supportive when someone tells me their Finance team needs a new FP&A platform. Not necessarily. In fact, one of the first questions I’d ask is probably the least exciting one: What problem are you trying […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-thirdman-7653473-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-30 07:38:512026-10-01 02:43:20FP&A Software: When Does Your Finance Team Actually Need It?
I get suspicious when someone tells me they have 47 drivers in their forecast. At that point, I don’t think you have drivers. I think you have a very complicated spreadsheet. There is a difference. Driver-based forecasting is one of those FP&A ideas that sounds almost impossible to disagree with. Instead of taking last year’s […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-yankrukov-7693246-modified-1-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-30 07:28:282026-10-01 02:42:27Driver-Based Forecasting: How to Find the Right Business Drivers
I have never understood why companies spend enormous amounts of time building sophisticated forecasts and then use essentially the same forecasting method for everything in them. Revenue? Historical growth plus an adjustment. Travel? Historical growth plus an adjustment. Software? Historical growth plus an adjustment. Headcount? Last year plus the people we think we’re hiring. Coffee? […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pexels-yankrukov-7693246-modified-scaled.jpg17072560Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2026-09-29 19:51:192026-10-01 02:42:23Financial Forecasting Methods: How to Choose the Right One
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 14:48:272026-10-01 02:43:03Financial 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 14:28:132026-10-01 02:43:42AI 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
Management Reporting Pack: What CFOs Actually Need Every Month
A practical guide to building a monthly management reporting pack that explains what changed, updates the outlook, and helps CFOs make decisions.
Budget Variance Analysis: How FP&A Finds What Actually Matters
There is a particular kind of monthly Finance meeting where every variance gets treated like it has committed a crime. Travel is $8,000 over budget. Explain it. Software is $11,000 under. Explain it. Office supplies are $3,700 over. Apparently we need closure. Meanwhile, revenue is $2.4 million below plan and somehow we’ve allocated roughly the […]
FP&A Software vs. Excel: When Has Finance Actually Outgrown Spreadsheets?
I need to disclose something before we begin. I like Excel. A lot. I’ve spent enough of my career in Excel that I’m probably entitled to some kind of common-law marriage. So when somebody tells me Finance needs to “get out of spreadsheets,” I don’t immediately nod thoughtfully and start scheduling software demos. I usually […]
What Is FP&A? A Practical Guide to Financial Planning & Analysis
FP&A has a branding problem. Tell someone you work in Accounting and they have a general idea what you do. Tell them you’re in Sales and they definitely have an idea what you do. Tell someone you work in Financial Planning & Analysis and there is usually a small pause. Then: “So…finance?” Yes. Technically. That […]
FP&A Software: When Does Your Finance Team Actually Need It?
I like software. I also like buying things. Amazon has documented this extensively. So you might assume I’d be very supportive when someone tells me their Finance team needs a new FP&A platform. Not necessarily. In fact, one of the first questions I’d ask is probably the least exciting one: What problem are you trying […]
Driver-Based Forecasting: How to Find the Right Business Drivers
I get suspicious when someone tells me they have 47 drivers in their forecast. At that point, I don’t think you have drivers. I think you have a very complicated spreadsheet. There is a difference. Driver-based forecasting is one of those FP&A ideas that sounds almost impossible to disagree with. Instead of taking last year’s […]
Financial Forecasting Methods: How to Choose the Right One
I have never understood why companies spend enormous amounts of time building sophisticated forecasts and then use essentially the same forecasting method for everything in them. Revenue? Historical growth plus an adjustment. Travel? Historical growth plus an adjustment. Software? Historical growth plus an adjustment. Headcount? Last year plus the people we think we’re hiring. Coffee? […]
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 […]