FP&A Today

From Farm to FP&A: How California Dairies delivers 17 billion pounds of milk each year 05.07.2026 51dk

We take a deep dive into the finances behind the agricultural and food beverage sector with Brad Mooney, Director of FP&A at California Dairies. FP&A drives success at California Dairies which produces 40 percent of California’s milk (300 family-owned and operated members ship 17billion pounds of high quality milk annually) and is a manufacturer of quality butter, fluid milk products, and milk powders (including Challenge and Danish Creamery and milk powder brand, DairyAmerica). In this episode former Marine Corps turned FP&A leader Brad Mooney talks: Building the plane as we flew it building FP&A The metrics of “Timing yield and supply” at California Dairies The Four Ps in finance building Effectiveness of planning and forecasting in a supply-driven business My view of FP&A Development FP&A as therapist

From Ports to the Deal Table: How FP&A Earned a Seat at Peel Ports 23.06.2026 45dk

In our first FP&A Today episode to cover the shipping, ports and haulage sector, we look at the FP&A powering Peel Ports Group, the second largest port operator in the UK, which manages the vital gateways powering the UK. Alex Roche has built the FP&A team at Peels Ports, based in Liverpool, England, which generates £800M spread across 10 divisions. The group has invested over £1.5 billion over the past decade in advanced logistics, cranes, warehouses, and terminal upgrades. Highlights of his nearly decade time at Peel Ports include Co-building the Group's FP&A function for a £400m-EBITDA multi-site, and developing formal evaluation models for two major commercial deals totalling £100m+, enabling better-informed investment decisions and a £7.5m increase in realised deal value In this episode: The importance of volume in ports and how KPIs revolve around the metric M&A at Peels Port and setting up the FP&A team and building models FP&A recommendations around vertical integration with a new haulage business The power of teaching others coming up in finance and accounting Why Simon Sinek was right and FP&A should start with why Board on Peace Brigades International UK as a finance trustee Two favorite Excel functions

Scaling FP&A at RingCentral: Dan Newman 14.06.2026 47dk

Dan Newman heads FP&A at RingCentral, a $2.5B public SaaS company (a platform for business phone, SMS, contact center, workforce engagement management, video collaboration, and messaging) , where he has overseen a period of 10X growth. Discussing a career comprising consulting, being a financial analyst at Salesforce, private-equity-backed startups, Dan discusses building financial models towards a sale, navigating the shift from 30% growth to efficiency, and AI processes. In this episode Building the FP&A team at SchoolMessenger and pivoting to a sale Joining RingCentral at a $250m run rate and a six-person FP&A team towards $2.5billion Why revenue is rarely as simple as it looks Business partnering in an age of efficiency in SaaS

Transforming FP&A at Fannie Mae into an “enterprise intelligence engine” 02.06.2026 42dk

Caroline McAuliffe is Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Finance (FP&A and Procurement) at Fannie Mae. In its Q1 2026 results, the government-owned mortgage giant boasted 33 consecutive quarters of profitability and $3.7B in net income in the quarter—delivered by a team of 7,000 employees. In this episode Caroline reveals the FP&A mindset and processes behind this success. The career progression from audit to controllership, and FP&A Combining procurement and FP&A Shifting from an annual budget cycle to a 2-year rolling forecast How AI is transforming repetitive low value work including AI “flash reports needed supporting 50 officers at Fannie Mae Secrets to being a CTA (Challenging Trusted Advisor) at Fannie Mae

Marketing vs FP&A: adventures in business partnering 18.05.2026 49dk

In the third in our series on finance business partnering we are joined by David Manela, who has had the role of CRO and CMO at Fiverr, Ideei, and Vivre. As managing partner and co-founder of Violet Growth he is in high-demand at some of the hottest scaling companies, designing a growth operating system that “speaks the CFO’s language from day one”. It is tailored to companies spending more than $10m annually on marketing and sales - with digital as the main growth channel.“Spending a dollar in marketing is no different than spending a dollar in infrastructure, on say a forklift that you might need for your warehouse. You need a return on a specific schedule, and you need a percentage of returns on that schedule. Don't start with a campaign, start with a financial goal.” In this episode on the highlights and lowlights of the FP&A relationship with marketing, David talks: His background from audit to marketing and P&L responsibility at companies Marketing as an “investment” not a “cost” The power of getting a marketing forecast based on cohort behavior Payback period and capital constraints at Fiverr Disconnected and expensive mistakes in business partnering The power of AI in marketing and finance

Sales vs. Finance: What Great Business Partnership Really Looks Like 07.05.2026 53dk

Swati Bagri, head of FP&A for a major global FMCG company was told early in her career: “Either you are sales or you are helping sales”. In this second in our series of finance business partnership Swati, representing finance, is joined by Stephanie Troy, VP of Sales at Datarails, for a candid conversation with host Glenn Hopper about what sales leaders actually need from FP&A, and what great revenue-producing partnerships look like. In this special episode: The dynamics of sales vs finance needs Pipeline communication challenges The problems with forecasting Where lack of communication hurts sales and finance What finance needs from sales leaders in budget season Dealing with the Office of No

Finance Business Partnering, part 1: lessons from Ontex, P&G, and Gillette 30.04.2026 52dk

Today on the show, we're launching a special series on finance business partnering - exploring different facets of modern finance business partnering. Today’s special guest is Tunc Tezel VP group FP&A, Ontax, bringing 30-years of lessons from Ontex, Pladis, British American Tobacco, Procter & Gamble, and Gillette - business partnering with marketing, sales, and operations to reach common goals and bringing some of the most popular CPG products to market. From “spy” to “strategist” in business partnering Secrets to storytelling Embedded vs. centralised FP&A business partnering Working capital as a partnering tool Breaking bad news in business partnering When business partnering breaks down

“If the data's wrong, it doesn't matter how advanced your model is" - Tom Hinkle on AI and data strategy in FP&A 21.04.2026 54dk

Tom Hinkle, senior leader in data and analytics at TIAA, has built his career at the intersection of finance, technology, and strategy. He also has a budding YouTube channel (Tom's Data World, which includes instructional videos on Excel, SQL, and AI). He's worked extensively with Excel (is a Microsoft MVP) and SQL, as well as Tableau and Power BI, and has worked with major financial institutions, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and TIAA. "Nobody really gets excited about spending money on data governance. They get excited about machine learning, about AI, about data storytelling — everybody wants seminars on that. But data governance? At the end of the day, you're coming up with something you thought was right anyway, and then you're asking someone to spend more money just to make sure it's right." Why data governance is the foundation of AI Trust but verify challenges The two sides of data governance: master data management vs. data quality and controls How FP&A teams should think about their role as downstream consumers of data Why domain expertise is still non-negotiable in the age of vibe coding Tom's Minesweeper-in-Excel story, and what it taught him about prompting

From Rice Paper to AI: FP&A Lessons from 30 Years at the Top of Global Finance - Sébastien Privel 13.04.2026 52dk

What does it actually take to move FP&A activities into a shared service organization at Coca-Cola— and then transform how a global marketing giant manages billions in spend? Sébastien Privel, Senior Director Financial Services FP&A, has done both. Sébastien Privel career spans pharma controllership in late-'90s Beijing to country CFO for France, being involved in the implementation Coca-Cola's global FP&A shared services from scratch, before leading a multi-year marketing finance transformation In this episode Building finance infrastructure from scratch in 1990s China — from rice paper ledgers to SAP, with floppy disks in between. Business partnering and being the finance voice in multi functions projects (including Coca-Cola buying Tropico an iconic French brand) Driving transformation in the FP&A area standardizing processes and moving key activities to a shared service organisation Experimenting with AI including baseline forecasting and the real impact

More than 12 ERP implementations later…Cindy Vindasius 01.04.2026 53dk

Cindy Vindasius is the founder and CEO of Vindasius Advisory, and former Corporate Controller, and has spent more than 30 years helping high growth and enterprise companies build scalable finance systems. She's led more than a dozen ERP implementations across platforms like NetSuite, SAP, and Oracle, and has supported multiple IPOs, M&A transactions, and global compliance efforts. Her interview provides a wealth of information for FP&A professionals Why FP&A need to be involved in ERP implementation for enhanced reporting New wave of AI-driven ERPs: what I really think The ROI of an ERP Implementation ERP Mastery Program 6 video course: https://www.vindasius.com/mastery-program

Riding the roller coaster of finance: Mykola Chyzhevskyi, Merlin Entertainment 19.03.2026 40dk

Mykola is Finance Business Partner at Merlin Entertainments – offering some of the most popular attractions in the world including LEGOLAND Resorts, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. Merlin welcomes more than 62 million guests annually to its diverse global estate in over 20 countries. Before Merlin, Mykola spent several years as a finance director at a fast-growing law firm, where the business tripled in size in just a few years. In this episode: Finance in a law firm - getting from technical finance to business partnering Reducing risk as the Ukraine war started The business of Merlin Entertainment - from forecasting to cost control Working with procurement on validation of costs key metrics including attendance, guest spends and promotion The power of business partnering: consistency, curiosity and understanding your business

From Creation of Accounting Standards to Building an AI tool - Adam Hibbs 16.03.2026 57dk

Adam Hibbs has pretty non-linear paths into finance:New Zealand telecom regulator, OfCom, Vodafone, Cable & Wireless, UK Ministry of Defense, and now Global Director of Commercial Strategy at AICPA & CIMA. Financial modeling, commercial contracts, cloud infrastructure, and leadership across blue-chip organizations was preparation for building Josie, that is AICPA & CIMA's generative AI tool for accounting and auditing. In this episode: What makes Josie genuinely different from ChatGPT or Claude for technical accounting work Curated dataset of 40,000 pieces of proprietary IP, real-time updates to FASB, PCAOB, and auditing standards Josie ($550 per subscriber) named after Josiah Wedgwood and a new form of cost accounting CGMA vs CPA Where AI and finance intersect in the next 12-24 months

FP&A vs Accountants in an AI era - with Accountant Emily Feinstone 12.03.2026 52dk

Emily Feinstone is an accounting manager at Eventus Advisory Group and unusually tech-forward in how she works. Emily spends her days building better processes, automating repetitive finance workflows, and making high volume operational data usable. And instead of opting for a traditional CPA first route after 20 years of experience, she is pursuing a degree in data science: “ I want to be the one that teaches the AI and not the one that is replaced by AI. I want to be the one that knows how to use it the best to my advantage.” Emily also talks about accounting vs FP&A: You don't even see overhead. It's allocated…but you don't know that it took me two, two and a half hours to prepare that entry and another two hours to key it in.” In this episode: Blurring of lines between data analysts and accountants The future of the accounting profession in an AI era Transforming an Excel based invoice and commission process Keeping raceability and controls + automation Why I wont trust AI to do my accounting journal entries

After the Gold Rush: The $75M Operation behind America's Hockey Champions 23.02.2026 47dk

The history-making USA Hockey won golds (and millions of fans in the process) at Milan’s Olympic Games. But behind the on-ice glory is a $75 million organization with a finance function as disciplined as its players. Kelly Mahncke , CFO of USA Hockey, joins Glenn Hopper and FP&A Today to pull back the curtain on what it takes to fund the gold-winning national hockey program — with business interests from memberships and sponsorships to restaurants and insurance. Kelly traces her own journey from center ice to chasing the bottom line, explaining how a hockey career shaped her instincts as a finance leader. She walks us through four-year "quad budgets" and the typical annual cycle, and what it took to weather COVID's financial shock, from cash management to the logistical nightmare of paused travel programs. She also gets into the digital transformation underway at USA Hockey. And why she believes curiosity is the defining trait of great FP&A professionals. Catch this fascinating look at finance leadership — at the peak of Hockey USA's Olympic moment.

How to ignore the loud numbers and listen for the quiet risks: Sahil Kamani 20.02.2026 53dk

Sahil Kamani, is a Berlin-based senior finance leader and FP&A professional at Ellie (Volkswagen Group), Starting at a credit rating agency in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis — inspired, fittingly, by a fascination with the documentary Inside Job — Sahil moved through regulation, capital markets, and an MBA before pivoting into operational finance In this episode: Being the person handing out credit ratings Cash burn and the KPIs that matter most in a turnaround What bankers and regulators instinctively look for How the CFO you work influences your storytelling Being CFO of Berlin's fastest-growing pickleball club. Sahil R Kamani on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahilrkamani/

What an AI-Native General Ledger Means for FP&A: John Glasgow 16.02.2026 51dk

John Glasgow, is the founder, CEO and CFO of Campfire AI native ERP with more than $100m in funding, built to help high growth companies close faster, get richer visibility from their accounting data, and scale. John brings his insights as an operator who has spent time in FP&A and strategic finance, including at Adobe and an executive at Invoice To Go, leading that finance company to a $625 million sale to bill.com. Campfire came out of firsthand frustration with legacy ERPs and a need to rebuild the general ledger for the AI era. In this episode: My years in FP&A and strategic finance at Adobe before becoming a founder CFA Certification Invoice to Go acquisition what I learned The frustration and origin story of frustration and why Campfire was set up Why building our own AI model makes sense Key quote: “If you slap AI on top of an ERP with summarized revenue data, then you’re essentially gonna get no insights that are of any value.”

Perspectives from Controller, FP&A, CFO and Gartner: Marko Horvat 05.02.2026 1sa 4dk

Marko Horvat has been a public accountant, Controller, head of FP&A and CFO, as well as VP in Gartner's research and advisory practice, specializing in topics most relevant to CFOs and finance transformation. In this episode he talks: Interplay IT and CISO and organizational politics (“if it runs on electricity, it’s ours”)CFO skillsets gap Real change in CFO’s Office with AI (audit pattern recognition to forecasting) Last mile transformation in finance Mindset, skillset, toolset transformation Treating forecast as in perpetual beta The power of the subtotal function Recommended books: There's Got to Be a Better Way: How to Deliver Results and Get Rid of the Stuff That Gets in the Way of Real Work Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

35 Years in Finance and constant change: Troy Anderson CFO at Kelly Services 29.01.2026 45dk

Troy Anderson is CFO of Kelly Services, a staffing solutions provider to various industries, who has spent his career driving transformation across some of the most complex business environments. Before joining Kelly, he served as CFO at Universal Technical Institute, where he helped double revenue over five years through a mix of organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Earlier in his career, he held senior finance leadership roles at Conduent, a $6billion player (bought by Xerox). Conduent life cycle a $6b public company acquired by Xerox Investor relations at Xerox as a game-changer for my career Making finance a partner across the value chain Business Process Outsourcing vs AI The need for a deep understanding of your business Catch the full transcript below

The Future of the AI-Native ERP Stephen Hedlund, Rillet 21.01.2026 49dk

Stephen Hedlund is head of finance at Rillet, an AI-native ERP which has raised over $100million from Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. In Steven’s words Rillet is “building the modern NetSuite.”In this episode: How Isaac Asimov’s Foundation helped me discover finance Experience from enterprise at Walmart to building startups Go-to-market (marketing) to Head of Finance Gillet The moat for leading ERPs and our strategy Being the ICP and marketing voice for Rillet “To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.”― Isaac Asimov, Foundation

Building back Trust Between CFOs and CROs: Eddie Reynolds 11.01.2026 52dk

Eddie Reynolds, CEO of UnionSquare Consulting, opens up about the often-fraught relationship between CFOs and CROs. Eddie shares insights from his unique journey—from banking and private equity to being an account executive at Salesforce which forecast within 5% accuracy despite 30%+ growth. The conversation tackles the critical disconnect between finance and go-to-market teams: Why do CFOs struggle to trust CRM pipelines? What breaks when companies hit $50-100M in revenue? In this episode: How Salesforce was able to forecast with 5% accuracy, The role of FP&A and CROs in go to market strategy and efficiency The issues with LTV to CAC ratio in SaaS Biggest challenges of the CFO/CRO relationship Bottoms up annual planning working with finance