In the second of a 3 part series on scaling your FP&A capability, Paul Barnhurst, the FP&A Guy, and Catherine Marks, head of FP&A and team training at GrowCFO, join Kevin Appleby to discuss FP&A tools. They discuss scaling finance operations with a focus on infrastructure and choosing the right FP&A tools for growing organizations.



Paul is a Finance Professional with 12+ years of finance and FP&A experience, including business unit CFO roles. He earned a business bachelor's degree from BYU and an MBA and Master of Science in Information Management from Arizona State University. He is known for his deep understanding of the FP&A software planning space and has recently published an FP&A software market guide. Paul runs his own business providing training services, is a content creator, and hosts two popular finance podcasts FP&A Today and Financial Modeler’s Corner. He provides consulting services for small and mid-sized companies.



Paul provided insights on getting infrastructure right and selecting the right planning tools, including




Future-proofing FP&A systems with agility, flexibility, and consideration of future needs and strategies. The importance of data organization and having an end-user champion was emphasized.



Thoroughly selecting the right business planning tool by considering factors like market size, industry, systems integration needs, and process complexity. Excel limitations and risks were discussed.



Implementing performance management systems through a focus on pre-work like defining KPIs and metrics, and experimenting with machine learning/AI capabilities.



Keeping processes efficient through a growth mindset, documentation, and continuous innovation as organizations scale.



Successfully transferring planning processes to new tools by focusing on design improvements rather than just porting spreadsheets over.



Practical advice is to start small, do homework on requirements and avoid being swayed by new tool features without clear needs.









https://youtu.be/IFMQB81jk2A




Links




Catherine Marks on LinkedIn



Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn



Paul Barnhurst on LinkedIn



The FP&A Guy



A guide to 3rd Generation FP&A tools



Episode 174 Scaling FP&A 1 Building Your FP&A Team



GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework



GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp




Timestamps



Scaling finance and operations with a focus on infrastructure. (0:12)



FP&A tools and strategies for growth-stage organizations. (1:21)



Future-proofing FP&A systems with agility and flexibility. (6:30)



Selecting the right business planning tool for growing companies. (7:43)



Selecting and implementing a performance management system. (15:48)



AI adoption, process efficiency, and growth mindset in business. (23:12)



Implementing new financial planning tools and processes. (26:54)



Financial planning and acquisition strategies. (33:40)



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