What does Carmen Turner love about FP&A? “Being able to provide businesses the insights they need to make great business decisions.”
 
The Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Carmen Consulting Group who has managed the FP&A business partnerships at top companies such as McGraw Hill, says: “I work to help the businesses manage their budgets to target and understand their financial story.”
But she started her career not in finance (or through a traditional route).
She began her career as an electrician.
But programming robots and wiring facilities saw her gain skills which have been used daily in her 14-year finance career - not least troubleshooting, problem solving, collaboration, communication and the ability to educate others on complex (financial) wiring. 
In this week’s podcast Carmen provides insights into how FP&A teams can give business the appropriate insights to deliver great decision-making. 
This episode covers:
Carmen’s definition of FP&A as a primary educator in the business
How doing an MBA switched her on to FP&A as a passion
How she built the first FP&A certification more than a decade ago and how it helped her understand how processes differ across industries and companies
Putting her finance-first thinking to the test when starting her FP&A consulting business
Her four step approach to mastering sales-FP&A business partnerships
How to effectively build a sales compensation strategy that works
Why she advocates for rolling forecasts 
The importance of adopting a risk and opportunities approach in budget and forecasting 
The importance of a buffer in place when it comes to budget deadlines 

Watch the full show on YouTube
Read the full transcript and blog
Follow Carmen Turner  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