Tips for Building Trust as an FP&A Analyst

Fractional CFOs and FP&A advisors constantly hustle and chase new business. That can work. But the best form of marketing is so much easier. Be the consummate professional — the epitome of the type of person people want to do business with. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔? 𝐀. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 - Understand your clients' needs and goals, meet expectations, and communicate with them regularly. - Offer personalized service, not just off-the-shelf solutions. Demonstrate that what you’re delivering is unique to them and differentiated in the marketplace. - Be responsive and accessible, treating clients with the respect they deserve. No, that doesn’t mean bending over backwards and being available 24/7. Example: I provide clients with recurring analytics and meeting summaries. They don't ask for them but they still get the reports because they help. 𝐁. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 - Share industry trends, what you're seeing and hearing with other clients, and why it matters. - Offer educational resources, articles, white papers, webinar recordings, books and insights you found valuable. They’ll likely find them valuable too. - Tell clients when you're thinking about them. Be in touch because it’s thoughtful, not just when you’re working together or you need something. Example: When I come across industry reports or news articles, I think about who might benefit. If given a free resource, I share it. If I read a great book, I let others know. Give, give, give. 𝐂. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 - No one likes bad news. But even fewer people like to be surprised by bad news. Be honest, open, and proactive even if it's not what people want to hear. - Act in clients’ best interests. Ideally they should align with your own. If they don’t, you may be working with the wrong clients. - Be candid about results. There’s little that’s more disappointing than high expectations that can’t be met. Example: A young woman reached out to me and asked whether my advanced business modeling intensive was the best program for furthering herself in FP&A. Given her career aspirations, I told her not to join. If you focus on communication, being a giver, and delivering exceptional service, you're more likely to be seen as reliable and referable. You’ll still need to hustle. But clients and colleagues will help grow your company for you. --------------- We talk about this and more in the live Fractional CFO Power Skills Mastermind. The next cohort begins tomorrow. --------------- #seidmanfinancial

The most common mistake FP&A people make is: → They focus on the data and reports. Yes, we all need to focus on those, but that’s scratching the surface. Instead, focus on these 3 areas: 1. Understand the business. FP&A pros must build expertise in sales, marketing, and operations, not just finance. This offers well-informed input drawn from across the organization. 2. Master the systems. Because data volumes are growing so quickly, FP&A needs skills in technology, modeling, and analytics. This helps see patterns in the data. 3. Deliver value. FP&A must drive accountability and performance across the company, providing the context for the business to make better decisions. It’s not about "reporting.” It comes down to this: 1. Don't just present reports and models. 2. Use your capabilities to provide decision-making insights. This means FP&A must: - Model different scenarios. - Identify opportunities and risks. - Influence strategy and planning. - Communicate insights effectively. - Become a trusted advisor to the business. This is how effective FP&A works.

The best FP&A professionals I know focus on 5 things: 1. Forecast accuracy. A key role of FP&A is to predict financial outcomes. Accuracy in these predictions is vital. It builds credibility and trust in the FP&A team and provides valuable insights for other departments. When FP&A teams accurately forecast financial trends, the entire company can make more informed decisions about budgets, investments, and growth strategies. 2. Time outside finance. Daily interactions with departments outside finance are important. These can be status updates or sharing a new insight. FP&A teams must not work in isolation but actively seek out and contribute to the broader business strategy. Regular communication builds a collaborative environment. When financial insights are shared as stories and feedback is received, it leads to more aligned and effective business strategies. 3. Automation. FP&A teams must add automation. When you let software handle repetitive tasks like report generation, you can save tons of valuable time. Use this time for deeper financial analysis, forecasting future trends, and forming strong partnerships with other business areas. Automation is about saving your intellect for more strategic work. 4. Strategic advisory. Think beyond traditional reporting. . . FP&A teams can become strategic business partners. Get into the broader business context and work closely with the CFO and Board to influence strategic decisions. By playing a more advisory role, you can impact the company's revenue. 5. The 'why' behind numbers. Think of yourself like detectives—form a theory about what might be causing a trend and then dive into the data to test the hypothesis. This way, you can uncover the real factors affecting financial outcomes and lead your company to profitable decisions. Get started. 🦒