Understanding Quantitative vs. Qualitative Budgeting: When Numbers Alone Aren’t Enough Picture this: Your meticulously crafted budget, built on five years of historical data and precise financial models, falls apart just three months into the fiscal year. When this happens, it’s typically because financial plans rely solely on quantitative budgeting without considering the strategic insights from…
How Supporting Schedules Improve Clarity in Financial Models Without well-structured supporting schedules, 3-statement financial models can quickly become cluttered, difficult to audit, and prone to errors. These schedules help organize complex calculations, ensuring financial models remain accurate, transparent, and easy to modify. What are Supporting Schedules and How Do They Work? A supporting schedule (or…
GRR vs. NRR: Measuring Sustainable Growth in SaaS What’s the real measure of a thriving SaaS business — keeping customers or expanding their accounts? When measuring revenue retention, two key metrics dominate the conversation: Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) and Net Revenue Retention (NRR). While both track recurring revenue, they serve different purposes: GRR focuses solely…
Why Strategic Financial Planning Matters for a Career in FP&A As an FP&A professional, strategic financial planning is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. It goes beyond budgeting and forecasting, ensuring that a company’s financial strategy aligns with long-term business goals and supports real decision-making. You may already understand FP&A’s core role…
In this episode of Corporate Finance Explained, we break down the fundamentals of financial statement analysis—a vital skill for corporate finance professionals, investors, and business leaders. We start by exploring the three core financial statements: Income Statement – Reveals a company’s profitability by detailing revenues and expenses over a specific period. Balance Sheet – Provides…
In this episode of CFI’s podcast, Ayesha Zain shares her inspiring journey from a background in public administration and philosophy to her current role in venture capital. She discusses the importance of mentorship, her experience with CFI’s FMVA program, and the challenges of breaking into the finance industry. Ayesha emphasizes the value of networking, both…
Mastering the Stakeholder Balancing Act Imagine you just finalized this quarter’s financial forecast when leadership announces a shift in priorities. Now, your manager needs updated models, department heads want impact assessments, and the CFO expects revised forecasts by the end of the week. Your usual deadlines remain unchanged. You need to prioritize these stakeholder requests…
Decoding Budget vs. Forecast vs. Projection Have you ever thought that finance terms like “budget,” “forecast,” and “projection” must be interchangeable? While these tools might appear similar at first glance, they serve distinct roles in financial planning. Understanding these components of financial planning and their differences is essential for your day-to-day work in corporate finance….
What Does a CFO Do? The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the key executive leader responsible for overseeing a company’s financial strategy and ensuring long-term financial health. They lead finance and accounting departments, oversee financial strategy, and guide high-level corporate financial decision making. If becoming a CFO is one of your career goals, understanding the…
In this episode of What’s New at CFI, Meeyeon and Ryan Spendelow discuss the importance of stakeholder management in various professional settings, especially in the context of remote work. They explore how stakeholder management has evolved with the rise of virtual teams, the significance of understanding stakeholder expectations, common mistakes finance professionals make, and strategies…
