FP&A Today

Chris Reilly: Simplifying Private Equity, FP&A, and Financial Modeling


Listen Later

Chris Reilly's first finance experience was historic. He worked on the Lehman bankruptcy at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 unwinding the investment bank's portfolio with "sights of empty offices and employees being laid off". This period at management consultancy FTI Consulting occupied days and nights dealing with the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Following his consultancy days, Reilly moved to  Hilton Worldwide  in a more traditional FP&A treasury senior analyst role. Here he learned to love private equity and ended up pursuing middle market PE in Denver for nearly a decade. In 2020, made his "pipe dream" of setting up his own consultancy business a reality, founding Mission Capital Consulting where he provides custom built M&A and FP&A models. He also runs a successful course Financial Modeling for Private Equity ("I started saying to myself, I wish I could have coached myself or coach an analyst or something like that on how to do this the right way because of all the sleepless nights I spent doing it the wrong way.")

Chris is a leading voice in finance on LinkedIn, providing his more than 25,000 followers with insights and practical advice each day.

In this episode he talks to Paul about:

  • How he became skilled in finance through “sink or swim”  encounters that taught him modeling and FP&A
  • How mastering the Three Statements changed his career trajectory 
  • The brutal response from a boss that changed his attitude to financial modeling forever 
  • His worst model? (Or why is still haunted by 7,000 rows on multiple tabs)
  • Why every financial model starts with the end user in mind (and how to do this practically) 
  • Why the model itself should not be considered only a means to a “conversation”.
  • Why building a model of their own lives” can be the most powerful  beginning training 
  • His new courses including financial modeling for private equity which have attracted five-star reviews
  • How he went from fine arts and Spanish double major to a career in finance
  • Watch the full show on YouTube

    Read the full transcript and blog

    Show Links

    Link to Chris's course: financial modeling for private equity

    Follow Chris Reilly on LinkedIn

    Follow Paul Barnhurst on LinkedIn

    Follow Datarails on LinkedIn

    FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails.

    Datarails is the financial planning and analysis platform that automates data consolidation, reporting and planning, while enabling finance teams to continue using their own Excel spreadsheets and financial models.

    Get in touch at www.datarails.com

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    FP&A TodayBy Glenn Hopper

    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    45 ratings


    More shows like FP&A Today

    View all
    The McKinsey Podcast by McKinsey & Company

    The McKinsey Podcast

    390 Listeners

    PwC's accounting podcast by PwC

    PwC's accounting podcast

    180 Listeners

    HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

    HBR IdeaCast

    1,826 Listeners

    CFO THOUGHT LEADER by The Future of Finance is Listening

    CFO THOUGHT LEADER

    129 Listeners

    TED Business by TED

    TED Business

    1,110 Listeners

    M&A Science by Kison Patel

    M&A Science

    127 Listeners

    Wall Street Breakfast by Seeking Alpha

    Wall Street Breakfast

    1,030 Listeners

    Inside the Strategy Room by McKinsey & Company

    Inside the Strategy Room

    168 Listeners

    FT News Briefing by Financial Times

    FT News Briefing

    676 Listeners

    Making Sense by J.P. Morgan

    Making Sense

    59 Listeners

    Thoughts on the Market by Morgan Stanley

    Thoughts on the Market

    1,289 Listeners

    Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart

    Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

    804 Listeners

    WSJ's Take On the Week by The Wall Street Journal

    WSJ's Take On the Week

    145 Listeners

    FP&A Unlocked by Paul Barnhurst

    FP&A Unlocked

    24 Listeners

    Financial Modeler's Corner by Paul Barnhurst AKA The FP&A Guy

    Financial Modeler's Corner

    17 Listeners