Not figuratively. Literally — the workbook crashed, the links went dark, and the ARR bridge pulled a vanishing act two hours before the deck was due. I stared at the screen like a pilot watching the dashboard flicker mid-flight. Here’s the part nobody writes about: the panic isn’t just technical. It’s existential. You start questioning […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pexels-pavel-danilyuk-7868972-1-modified-1.jpg8011200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-13-2025-06_43_17-PM.pngSarah Schlott2025-10-10 07:30:382025-10-05 16:27:33The night before the board meeting, my forecast broke.
It wasn’t the numbers that were wrong. It was the definition. Logo churn. Revenue churn. Gross churn. Net churn.Everyone in the room had a different interpretation, and somehow all of them were “right.” That’s the SaaS finance trap — you can’t manage what ten people define ten different ways. Our model looked great until we […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pexels-leeloothefirst-5561913-modified-1.jpg8011200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-13-2025-06_43_17-PM.pngSarah Schlott2025-10-09 07:30:202025-10-05 16:27:57We rebuilt our churn reporting last quarter—because it burned us in a board meeting.
Every SaaS CFO knows the feeling — twelve Excel tabs open, four Slack threads buzzing, an ERP sync failing in the background, and a board deck flashing “final_v8.” We call it “multitasking.” But really, it’s a slow bleed of attention disguised as productivity. Context switching is the silent killer of strategic thinking. It’s like trying […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pexels-artempodrez-6779567-2-modified-1-1.jpg6751200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-13-2025-06_43_17-PM.pngSarah Schlott2025-10-08 07:30:172025-10-05 16:31:18Your calendar isn’t full because you’re important. It’s full because you’re reactive.
Every SaaS CFO hits this point — the system that was supposed to automate reporting now argues with itself every close. ARR doesn’t match CRM. Billings lag revenue. And the “integration” feels like a long-distance relationship. The board call where ARR missed by 10%? That wasn’t a forecast issue. It was your ERP whispering sweet […]
Last quarter, I watched a SaaS CFO defend a $1.5M ARR miss with a 30-tab model that looked like a Vegas light show. The formula math was flawless. The logic was delusional. Pipeline coverage was “strong.” Churn was “stable.” And bookings? “Seasonally delayed.” Translation: we built a castle on assumptions nobody questioned. I’ve seen SaaS […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pexels-artempodrez-6779567-2-modified-1.jpg6751200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-13-2025-06_43_17-PM.pngSarah Schlott2025-10-06 07:30:152025-10-05 16:29:21Your forecast isn’t wrong. It’s just lying to you politely.
Just read a LinkedIn post from: Kai Blakeborough That started with … “If you’re using an AI tool for free, you’re not the customer.You’re the product.” – Kai Blakeborough That’s not cynicism — it’s the modern business model. This week proved it beyond doubt: Meta announced plans to serve ads based on what users say […]
Why a Government Furlough Should Worry CFOs The headline reads:“U.S. market regulators begin furloughs as federal funding lapses, curtailing oversight and delaying IPOs.” On the surface, it’s Washington politics.But the ripple effect is economic. When regulators go silent: IPOs freeze. Investor confidence falters. Transparency evaporates. It’s not that companies stop operating. It’s that the referee […]
Why AI for Account Reconciliations Speeds Up Month-End Close Every controller knows the pain: reconciliations eat hours. Skip them, and the fallout is immediate — trust erodes with executives, auditors, and even your own team. AI isn’t replacing reconciliations. It’s making them faster, cleaner, and more audit-proof. What ChatGPT Adds to Account Reconciliation Workflows Unlike […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/pexels-goumbik-590022-1-modified-1.jpg7951200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-13-2025-06_43_17-PM.pngSarah Schlott2025-10-01 08:37:482025-10-01 08:37:48AI for Account Reconciliations: Automating Month-End Close with ChatGPT
Every CFO has lived this nightmare: You spend weeks on the annual plan.By March, it’s useless. The issue isn’t poor forecasting. It’s that traditional planning cycles weren’t designed for today’s pace. Forecasts die young because the tools are static while reality is dynamic. This article breaks down a new solution: AI-powered forecasting prompts that keep […]
The first time I killed the old annual planning cycle, I thought I was solving my biggest headache. No more department wish lists stacked like Jenga blocks.No more 80-page plans that went stale by March.No more pretending the future was predictable. I rebuilt the system into something alive: driver-based, rolling, and operator-ready. And for about […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/pexels-goumbik-590022-2.jpg7951200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ChatGPT-Image-May-13-2025-06_43_17-PM.pngSarah Schlott2025-09-29 11:30:052025-09-29 09:18:02From Annual Planning to Rolling Forecasts: What Really Changes
The night before the board meeting, my forecast broke.
Not figuratively. Literally — the workbook crashed, the links went dark, and the ARR bridge pulled a vanishing act two hours before the deck was due. I stared at the screen like a pilot watching the dashboard flicker mid-flight. Here’s the part nobody writes about: the panic isn’t just technical. It’s existential. You start questioning […]
We rebuilt our churn reporting last quarter—because it burned us in a board meeting.
It wasn’t the numbers that were wrong. It was the definition. Logo churn. Revenue churn. Gross churn. Net churn.Everyone in the room had a different interpretation, and somehow all of them were “right.” That’s the SaaS finance trap — you can’t manage what ten people define ten different ways. Our model looked great until we […]
Your calendar isn’t full because you’re important. It’s full because you’re reactive.
Every SaaS CFO knows the feeling — twelve Excel tabs open, four Slack threads buzzing, an ERP sync failing in the background, and a board deck flashing “final_v8.” We call it “multitasking.” But really, it’s a slow bleed of attention disguised as productivity. Context switching is the silent killer of strategic thinking. It’s like trying […]
Your ERP isn’t scaling. It’s gaslighting you.
Every SaaS CFO hits this point — the system that was supposed to automate reporting now argues with itself every close. ARR doesn’t match CRM. Billings lag revenue. And the “integration” feels like a long-distance relationship. The board call where ARR missed by 10%? That wasn’t a forecast issue. It was your ERP whispering sweet […]
Your forecast isn’t wrong. It’s just lying to you politely.
Last quarter, I watched a SaaS CFO defend a $1.5M ARR miss with a 30-tab model that looked like a Vegas light show. The formula math was flawless. The logic was delusional. Pipeline coverage was “strong.” Churn was “stable.” And bookings? “Seasonally delayed.” Translation: we built a castle on assumptions nobody questioned. I’ve seen SaaS […]
The Hidden Cost of “Free” AI: What You’re Really Trading Away
Just read a LinkedIn post from: Kai Blakeborough That started with … “If you’re using an AI tool for free, you’re not the customer.You’re the product.” – Kai Blakeborough That’s not cynicism — it’s the modern business model. This week proved it beyond doubt: Meta announced plans to serve ads based on what users say […]
Market Regulator Furloughs: Lessons for FP&A Oversight
Why a Government Furlough Should Worry CFOs The headline reads:“U.S. market regulators begin furloughs as federal funding lapses, curtailing oversight and delaying IPOs.” On the surface, it’s Washington politics.But the ripple effect is economic. When regulators go silent: IPOs freeze. Investor confidence falters. Transparency evaporates. It’s not that companies stop operating. It’s that the referee […]
AI for Account Reconciliations: Automating Month-End Close with ChatGPT
Why AI for Account Reconciliations Speeds Up Month-End Close Every controller knows the pain: reconciliations eat hours. Skip them, and the fallout is immediate — trust erodes with executives, auditors, and even your own team. AI isn’t replacing reconciliations. It’s making them faster, cleaner, and more audit-proof. What ChatGPT Adds to Account Reconciliation Workflows Unlike […]
How to Keep Your Forecasts Alive Beyond Q1
Every CFO has lived this nightmare: You spend weeks on the annual plan.By March, it’s useless. The issue isn’t poor forecasting. It’s that traditional planning cycles weren’t designed for today’s pace. Forecasts die young because the tools are static while reality is dynamic. This article breaks down a new solution: AI-powered forecasting prompts that keep […]
From Annual Planning to Rolling Forecasts: What Really Changes
The first time I killed the old annual planning cycle, I thought I was solving my biggest headache. No more department wish lists stacked like Jenga blocks.No more 80-page plans that went stale by March.No more pretending the future was predictable. I rebuilt the system into something alive: driver-based, rolling, and operator-ready. And for about […]