To most FP&A professionals and accountants there is confusion and a lack of consensus on how to allocate costs to products and service lines. I refer to this as “a mystery in a box to accountants”. To solve this mystery here are three lectures to accounting students from a skilled and experienced accountant – me – that explains the problem and how to solve it. For those who have already graduated from college and may even have a CPA, I encourage you to sit in the back of the lecture hall and audit these classes.

Excel is still a popular tool when it comes to preparing financials or analysis. However, we often hear financial professionals complaining about how inadequate Excel can be. So why have we not “rid” ourselves of this seemingly “inadequate” tool. This article explores the pros and cons of using spreadsheets. There are a few best practice tips that may be helpful to the vast majority of spreadsheet users.
 

The UK emerged from its teens into a new decade this month, on a wave of optimism about the future. The removal of the political turmoil and the alleviation of Brexit uncertainty have added to the feel good factor at the start of a new year. Sentiment is up and there is a widespread view that Britain is at a turning point.

The title of my LinkedIn profile is “Finance Influencer.”  My LinkedIn profile summary contains the titles of accountant, lecturer, and writer.  One could conclude that I do not need another title however a situation has arisen in which another title is necessary.  The situation is the criticism of budgets.  The criticism has presented an opportunity to assume the title of defender and as a defender I would like to defend budgets.