"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY

Want your FP&A and Marketing Teams to combine forces to drive company results?

Seek common ground in your company's financial performance.

Learn how we did just that to improve revenue and profit performance to help you with your FP&A journey.

Show Notes

* 00:20 - Marketing does NOT want to hear “NO, NO, NO" from FP&A

* 01:25 - Marketing is about generating interest

* 03:15 - Driving sales with efficient spend is critical to Marketing success

* 03:50 - Marketing spend starts with purchase orders, know the details 🫵

* 04:55 - Ask WHY a bunch of times to understand Marketing spend

* 06:45 - Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) helps companies big and small

* 07:55 - Understand your COCA (cost of customer acquisition), yay acronyms

* 09:55 - Favorable marketing spend (aka savings) is not always a good thing

* 11:50 - Take initiative and understand what Marketing does

What Does Marketing Do?

There are a million ways to market your company’s products or services.

Social media, billboards, paid search, newspaper ads…you name it.

Your Marketing Team figures out which marketing channels make sense.

With the primary goal of driving awareness (insanely important).

🔥TIP: Set up a purchase order process to track marketing spend.

Why Does Marketing Matter?

Your company could be the best in the world at what it does.

But what if no one knows your company exists?

HINT: NO SOUP SALES FOR YOU.

That’s why your company MUST be good at marketing.

Make sure you show your Marketing Team the money.

And help them spend it efficiently and effectively (that’s important too).

Things FP&A Can Do To Make Marketing Friends

Building a great relationship takes time and baby steps.

* Learn what Marketing spends money on by diving into their purchase orders

* Sit down with Marketing and ask WHY, let them teach you their ways

* Stand up a CLTV model to help them attract the ideal prospect

🔥TIP: Read this to learn how to do CLTV analysis.

REMEMBER, don’t lead with that word.

Conclusion: Marketing Is In Your Friend Zone

Help Marketing help your company by using your financial (and Excel) skills.

Your Marketing Team will thank you for demystifying their marketing spend.

And for helping your company achieve its goals.

Keep learning and having fun.

Resources

▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey

▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY

Want to reduce the time it takes to do your profit and cash forecast?

Learn how two FP&A veterans got their forecast time down to 2 days.

While increasing quality and minimizing late-night hours.

Show Notes

00:40 - We turned around a profit forecast in 2 days (for real)

01:30 - What a first-time forecaster in a F100 FMP program looks like

03:59 - Efficient profit forecasts take into account data, people, and process

04:55 - Don’t let too many people edit the forecast, sh#t gets confusing

05:29 - Use your accounts to assign ownership of spending drivers

06:48 - Marketing spend is the Wild West, but it can be tamed

08:09 - Having a globally distributed team is a BIG advantage to save time

09:35 - Give people the roadmap of the forecast process, it’s empowering

11:15 - Ask “why” you do things, will help remove wasteful time

12:45 - Mind mapping is INSANELY useful to visualize a profit forecast process

14:25 - Ultimately the stakeholder is your CFO and CEO, help them help you

15:35 - Big finish summarizing how to shorten the time it takes to forecast

What is a Profit and Cash Forecast?

Is your business going to achieve its revenue, profit, and cash goals?

The only way to know is by doing a monthly (or quarterly) profit and cash forecast.

It’s the process of adding up all your financial results.

And figuring out where your financial results will likely land in the future.

🔥TIP: Learn how to set your company’s KPIs and metrics

Why Does a Profit and Cash Forecast Matter?

Making business decisions is tough when you have no idea how much money your company will make.

Is revenue and profit going to be higher than expected next quarter?

If yes, what can you do with the surplus of cash?

FP&A is front and center helping businesses make timely investment decisions.

Ways to Reduce the Time It Takes to Forecast

A forecast is super stressful because it can take weeks to complete.

It can have way too many cooks in the kitchen.

And requires too many people to get relevant info.

Do these three things to reduce your profit forecast time (and stress levels):

Do NOT let dozens of people input forecast assumptions directly in your forecasting system, keep it to your FP&A team only

Minimize the number of department owners you work with to review forecast assumptions

Assign an FP&A team member to each major account group (like people costs, marketing)

This will help make you a faster forecaster and standout finance business partner.

Read our articles below to help you crush business partnering:

🔥How to business partner with Marketing successfully

🔥How to impress executives with quarterly sales performance reviews

🔥How to use bubble charts as the ultimate customer renewals tool

Conclusion: You Just Leveled-up Your Forecast Game

You can make your right-of-passage forecasting role way better.

And reduce the time it takes to do it.

By improving the process, assigning ownership, and simplifying things.

Keep learning and having fun.

Resources

▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey

▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY

Today's episode is on spreadsheets and how they can make you invisible.

Learn how to go beyond the spreadsheet to get noticed and help your business partners.

Show Notes

* 00:25 - Avoid being an invisible FP&A team member

* 02:00 - Break the business partner ice with boomerang talk

* 03:15 - Some people hate numbers (seriously)

* 06:22 - Market segmentation can help you be seen

* 08:00 - Do a cool analysis AND seek feedback 😎

* 09:45 - It’s on you to learn the business proactively

* 11:52 - Cars provide inspiration for practical analysis

* 12:24 - Closing statement, your business partners want your help

What is Going Beyond a Spreadsheet About?

Downloading, formatting, and emailing data with ZERO insights.

That’s the opposite of going beyond the spreadsheet.

There is nothing wrong with reporting.

The trick is to make the data you have useful via analysis.

And tell people about the useful analysis you have to spark actionable insights.

Why Does Leaving the Comfort of Spreadsheets Matter?

Your business partners desperately want your help.

You know numbers.

They know your business.

That one-two punch will ensure your company’s daily operations achieve your audacious financial goals.

Key Takeaways From You Being Seen and Heard

You will build relationships, those relationships could turn into future job opportunities.

🔥TIP: Here’s how to ace your next FP&A interview.

You will learn about your business, key knowledge that will help you move up the ranks or be marketable elsewhere.

You will have an impact on your company’s performance, great for performance-based bonus payouts.

Conclusion: Be Seen By Helping Others Do Good Work

You can have a positive impact on your business partners’ daily work.

Ask someone in Sales, Marketing, Product, or Operations to tell you about what they do.

Or try doing an analysis and seeking feedback on it.

Doing those things can make you a very visible FP&A team member.

Keep learning and having fun.

Resources

▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn here

▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY

Want to increase your chances of being successful in your FP&A career?

Land an internship to get experience and hire interns often to find the best talent.

Learn how two CFOs and founders got their start as interns.

Show Notes

* 00:15 - Internships are an FP&A career cheat code

* 01:50 - Internships help you compete against the best

* 03:30 - How the fastest person in Excel got their start

* 05:45 - Learn Excel AND walk the production floor

* 08:05 - Internships are the most thorough interview process

* 11:05 - Yarty got his edge by putting himself out there AND following up

* 13:10 - Careers are daunting, internships are great stepping stones

* 15:00 - Closing thought and why internships are freaking awesome

What is an internship?

School and education are important.

But the real world of FP&A jobs is a whole different animal.

Do you know what the best way to learn a job is?

Doing the job (insert internship).

Internships offer students the chance to gain experience in short-term jobs.

Why do Internships and Interns Matter?

How do you know you like a career if you never worked in it?

That’s a big roll of the dice.

Same with hiring.

Does a 1-hour interview guarantee someone can do the job?

Instead, try hiring an intern first.

You’ll spend more time with them than your family (sad but true during work days).

And you’ll learn EXACTLY what they’re capable of.

🔥TIP: FP&A could be a good career choice for you.

What Interns Should Focus On

Try a bunch of different things.

🔥TIP: Role rotation is a thing for interns and full-time FP&A jobs.

Figure out what you like and double down on it (having fun is important).

Find what you don’t like, and learn to avoid that job in the future.

Have a continuous learning mindset.

What Managers of Interns Should Focus On

Assess their hustle (show up first, leave last).

Challenge them (see what they’re capable of).

Get them in front of co-workers and spreadsheets to grow their skills.

🔥TIP: Teach them Excel lookups on day 1.

Be their mentor (you’ll build a forever relationship).

Conclusion: Internships are FP&A Career Making Machines

Jump-start your FP&A career by doing an internship.

You’ll be miles ahead of those who don’t (no matter where they go to school).

And hire interns to support your team.

You’ll make more informed hiring decisions as a result.

Keep learning and having fun.

Resources

▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey

▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY

Today's episode is on FP&A's favorite topic: Financial Close 😉

We'll focus on how to slash your close time to prevent FP&A burnout with tips and tricks.

Show Notes

▪️ 0:20 - What the financial close is all about

▪️ 1:00 - Our experiences with the close

▪️ 2:30 - How collaboration improves the close process

▪️ 4:50 - Don’t fling spreadsheets around to check boxes

▪️ 7:45 - Treat the close like a sport

▪️ 9:30 - Review your board decks to learn your business

▪️ 11:30 - Create a list of questions to ask the business

▪️ 12:50 - Taylor Swift is awesome

▪️ 13:30 - The big “close”

What is the Financial Close?

The financial close process produces your financial (and non-financial) results.

Think of it like the scoreboard of your company.

Your friendly neighborhood accountants are the primary owners of this process.

🔥TIP: Accountants make great FP&A professionals too.

And it generates results…and some surprises.

Why the Financial Close Matters

Results are best served with actionable insights from your amazing FP&A team.

But most FP&A teams have ZERO time because of fire drills related to surprises.

Time to go on offense and make sh#t better.

How to Improve the Financial Close Process

Your goal is to save precious time.

So you can do actionable analysis.

And maybe get home on time for once in the thick of quarter end.

#1 Be Fast in Excel

Excel is your work surface in FP&A.

Lose the mouse.

🔥TIP: Learn Excel shortcuts to crush your FP&A requests

#2 Communicate with Accounting

Accountants are the keepers of journal entries.

Learn and understand what they mean.

Teach them the Excel skills you’ve acquired as well.

#3 Perform Daily Variance Analysis

Don’t call us insane.

We explain in more detail in the podcast.

It helps a ton in speeding up the close.

🔥TIP: Learn how to perform variance analysis here.

Conclusion: Your Close Doesn’t Have to be a Time Suck

Get the close done faster.

While increasing the quality (aka no errors and last-minute surprises).

It will help you prevent FP&A career burnout.

Keep learning and having fun.

Resources

▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn here

▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com

Welcome to our first podcast episode of…

“Rise Above The Numbers”

Every week, FP&HEY co-founders Drew and Yarty dive deep into world of FP&A and uncover the key insights and skills to help you grow your careers. All with a touch of humor.

These are the things we wish we knew earlier in our career. (Don’t make our mistakes.)

Topics include:

* How to budget and forecast the smart way

* Excel skills to crush through your workflows

* FP&A skills such as VMaP, QTD sales reporting, and waterfall variance analysis

* Ramping up in your new role

If you have any topics or questions for future episodes we can cover, feel free to reach out to us at “info [at] fpandhey.com”.

And if you need immediate help with your FP&A career, be sure to check out our website at fpandhey.com. We have over +40 articles plus additional resources to crush your job.

Let’s crush FP&A together. 👊

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com