There’s this idea floating around that forecasting is a young company’s game. Fast, agile startups pivoting on a dime. Old companies? Too slow. Too political. Too stuck in their ways. I used to believe that too. Until a friend of mine who works at a 120-year-old manufacturing company told me how they completely transformed their […]
Let me tell you something about forecasting that doesn’t make it into the glossy investor decks: it’s less art, more street fight. Forecasting is what happens when you’re locked in a room with imperfect data, an impatient executive team, and the ticking clock of a quarterly board meeting. I’ve lived that loop more times than […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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