You don’t forget the first time you’re left in charge of someone else’s chaos. For me, it was a suburban living room full of Goldfish crumbs and sticky Legos. I was 13. My older sister—a seasoned babysitter with a Rolodex of wealthy neighborhood clients—was passing the torch. I asked the question every first-timer asks.“What do […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/pexels-kampus-7414391-1.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-08-01 09:02:132025-08-14 00:46:55What a 13-year-old babysitter taught me about financial leadership
By Someone Who’s Been Held Hostage by a Circular Reference Since 2020 At some point in the past ten years—no one’s exactly sure when—therapy got outsourced to Google Sheets and SaaS dashboards. The budget got cut, the benefits evaporated, and suddenly your emotional stability was being maintained by a locked cell and a conditional format. […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-serpstat-177219-572056-1-2.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-24 17:30:412025-08-14 00:46:577 Excel Functions That Will Replace Your Therapist (and Probably Your Job Too)
LinkedIn DMs are where nuance goes to die. You’ve got your bro-y sales pitches dressed in empathy. Cold intros from people who haven’t read your job title, let alone your work. And every now and then, a robotic flinch of curiosity—“just wanted to connect with like-minded leaders”—before they pivot to a 17-slide funnel about how […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2-3-768x960.jpg-1-e1752842923229.webp514768Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-18 08:44:142025-08-14 00:46:59Coaching Without the Crutch: What I Learned from Marla Bace
You ever watch someone calculate margin while actively lying to themselves? It’s a spiritual experience.There’s this faint look of serenity—like a monk in a burning building—while they insist that yes, this customer is profitable, and no, of course the CSM isn’t secretly doing onboarding, support, and three calls a week of emotional labor because “they’re […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-gabby-k-5635106-1.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-14 18:00:582025-08-14 00:47:00Cost to Serve: The Line Item You’d Rather Ghost Than Model
The worst forecast I ever delivered was also the most “accurate.”It hit the board with a 1.2% variance to actuals. Applause. Confetti. CFO high-fived me in the hallway.And yet—I knew, standing there with my little Excel trophy—I had failed. Because what didn’t happen? We didn’t see the customer flight risk.We didn’t reroute spending early enough […]
Running your entire FP&A process in Excel is like flying a commercial airline with Google Maps. It’ll get you off the ground. But you’ll crash the minute conditions change. Let’s get something straight:This is not an anti-Excel piece. This is a pro-sanity one. Excel is the most powerful modeling tool in finance. No question. But […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pexels-natri-792199.jpg8011200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-08 18:00:042025-08-14 00:47:01We Tried Running a $100M Forecast in Excel—Here’s What Broke First
If your finance team still chases “variance explanations” like it’s CSI: Miami, you don’t have an FP&A function. You’ve got forensic accounting in a lab coat. Let’s just say it: variance analysis is one of the most glorified distractions in corporate finance. Sure, it sounds important. Precise. Like you’re doing something serious. But most of […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-n-voitkevich-6919757-1.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-07 17:30:352025-08-14 00:47:02Stop Chasing Variances: Why Your FP&A Team is Solving the Wrong Problem
It’s not just you—the AOP is broken. By the time your operating plan is finalized, conditions have already changed. Yet every finance team still rolls out the same rigid framework, convinced that precision equals control. But the smartest CFOs know that an AOP built for static reality won’t survive dynamic conditions. This post unpacks why […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pexels-thecoachspace-2977565-1.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-05 18:03:082025-08-14 00:47:02Why Most Annual Operating Plans Are DOA by Q2 (And What Smart CFOs Are Doing Instead)
Most companies don’t scale because they lack capital. They stall because they never designed an operating system strong enough to handle the weight of growth. And the finance team? They’re often the last to get one. Instead of operating like a product org with sprints and a clear roadmap, or like sales with a CRM […]
https://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-cowomen-1058097-2041627-1-1.jpg8001200Sarah Schlotthttps://sarahgschlott.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/icon-10c-two-blob-light_clearspace-1030x1030.pngSarah Schlott2025-07-04 18:07:412025-08-14 00:47:04Designing Your Finance Operating System: The Hidden Lever Behind High-Performance Companies
There’s a silent saboteur inside every FP&A model. Not bias.Not bad inputs.Not even the politics. It’s time. Not as in timing—that’s obvious.As in calendar drift: the misalignment between when things are supposed to happen and when they actually do. At first glance, it looks like nothing. Your sales team says Q3 will close $4M.Great—you drop […]
What a 13-year-old babysitter taught me about financial leadership
You don’t forget the first time you’re left in charge of someone else’s chaos. For me, it was a suburban living room full of Goldfish crumbs and sticky Legos. I was 13. My older sister—a seasoned babysitter with a Rolodex of wealthy neighborhood clients—was passing the torch. I asked the question every first-timer asks.“What do […]
7 Excel Functions That Will Replace Your Therapist (and Probably Your Job Too)
By Someone Who’s Been Held Hostage by a Circular Reference Since 2020 At some point in the past ten years—no one’s exactly sure when—therapy got outsourced to Google Sheets and SaaS dashboards. The budget got cut, the benefits evaporated, and suddenly your emotional stability was being maintained by a locked cell and a conditional format. […]
Coaching Without the Crutch: What I Learned from Marla Bace
LinkedIn DMs are where nuance goes to die. You’ve got your bro-y sales pitches dressed in empathy. Cold intros from people who haven’t read your job title, let alone your work. And every now and then, a robotic flinch of curiosity—“just wanted to connect with like-minded leaders”—before they pivot to a 17-slide funnel about how […]
Cost to Serve: The Line Item You’d Rather Ghost Than Model
You ever watch someone calculate margin while actively lying to themselves? It’s a spiritual experience.There’s this faint look of serenity—like a monk in a burning building—while they insist that yes, this customer is profitable, and no, of course the CSM isn’t secretly doing onboarding, support, and three calls a week of emotional labor because “they’re […]
The Cult of Forecast Accuracy: Why Chasing Precision is Wasting Everyone’s Time
The worst forecast I ever delivered was also the most “accurate.”It hit the board with a 1.2% variance to actuals. Applause. Confetti. CFO high-fived me in the hallway.And yet—I knew, standing there with my little Excel trophy—I had failed. Because what didn’t happen? We didn’t see the customer flight risk.We didn’t reroute spending early enough […]
We Tried Running a $100M Forecast in Excel—Here’s What Broke First
Running your entire FP&A process in Excel is like flying a commercial airline with Google Maps. It’ll get you off the ground. But you’ll crash the minute conditions change. Let’s get something straight:This is not an anti-Excel piece. This is a pro-sanity one. Excel is the most powerful modeling tool in finance. No question. But […]
Stop Chasing Variances: Why Your FP&A Team is Solving the Wrong Problem
If your finance team still chases “variance explanations” like it’s CSI: Miami, you don’t have an FP&A function. You’ve got forensic accounting in a lab coat. Let’s just say it: variance analysis is one of the most glorified distractions in corporate finance. Sure, it sounds important. Precise. Like you’re doing something serious. But most of […]
Why Most Annual Operating Plans Are DOA by Q2 (And What Smart CFOs Are Doing Instead)
It’s not just you—the AOP is broken. By the time your operating plan is finalized, conditions have already changed. Yet every finance team still rolls out the same rigid framework, convinced that precision equals control. But the smartest CFOs know that an AOP built for static reality won’t survive dynamic conditions. This post unpacks why […]
Designing Your Finance Operating System: The Hidden Lever Behind High-Performance Companies
Most companies don’t scale because they lack capital. They stall because they never designed an operating system strong enough to handle the weight of growth. And the finance team? They’re often the last to get one. Instead of operating like a product org with sprints and a clear roadmap, or like sales with a CRM […]
The Silent Killer of FP&A Accuracy: Calendar Drift
There’s a silent saboteur inside every FP&A model. Not bias.Not bad inputs.Not even the politics. It’s time. Not as in timing—that’s obvious.As in calendar drift: the misalignment between when things are supposed to happen and when they actually do. At first glance, it looks like nothing. Your sales team says Q3 will close $4M.Great—you drop […]