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FP&A Data Visualization: Don’t Skip ANY of These Questions!

By Randall Bolten, longtime Silicon Valley CFO, author of "Painting with Numbers: Presenting Financials and Other Numbers So People Will Understand You” and adjunct professor at U.C. Berkeley Extension.

RANDALL BOLTEN grew up in Washington, D.C., the son of a CIA intelligence officer and a history professor. He is passionate about the importance of presenting financials and other numerical information in a cogent and effective way, and in his current life is the author of Painting with Numbers: Presenting Financials and Other Numbers So People Will Understand You (John Wiley & Sons, 2012).

He is a seasoned financial executive, with many years directing the financial and other operations of high-technology companies. His experience includes nearly twenty years as a chief financial officer of software companies.

He has held the CFO position at public companies BroadVision and Phoenix Technologies, and at private companies including Arcot Systems, BioCAD, and Teknekron. Before his CFO positions, he held senior financial management positions at Oracle and Tandem Computers.

He received his AB from Princeton University, headed west to earn an MBA at Stanford University, and ended up staying in Silicon Valley. 

In addition to writing Painting with Numbers, he currently operates Lucidity, a consulting and executive coaching practice focused on organizing and presenting complex financial information. He divides his work time between Glenbrook, NV and Washington, DC, and maintains an office in Menlo Park, CA.

Data visualization – or graphing – is one of the hottest buzzwords in FP&A today… right up there with “big data” and “predictive analytics”. It can certainly be an immensely powerful tool for helping your audience grasp your most important points.

Is your FP&A Team Busy with the Right Things?

By Daria Huszar, Founder of DJEENI

Less than a quarter of a Financial Analyst’s time is spent with high value-add analysis - this is a finding of a survey run by SAP. Although the survey is 5 years old, it’s still relevant, the percentage may even have shrunk further as the amount of data to be analysed and reported on keeps increasing.

Collaborative FP&A - An Oxymoron*?

By Lisa Turberville, Director of operations at Belk

How many of us, when we are asked to a meeting with someone from FP&A, have rolled our eyes, thrown the head back and done a neck roll to relax the shoulders? Why do we have this over whelming feeling of dread when it comes to meeting with that team?

Evaluate Your FP&A Processes!

By Christian Fournier, former Head of Finance Europe at Orange Business Services

Finance and FP&A communities are regularly traversed by theoretical and generally hot discussions concerning few topics that are at the heart of FP&A processes. Analytics systems, business partnering and budget are currently among of the main one.

FP&A Professionals: Why Do We Need International Business Communication Standards (IBCS®)?

By Michael Fritz, Managing Director GRID Dynamics Inc.

Q: What do motorists, composers, musicians, architects, engineers, and builders have, that FP&A professionals don't?

A: Read on...

The Cost of Too Much Data

By Emmanuel Jibodu, Finance Analytics @ Shred-it

The Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) function has become more prominent in the decision making process in most large organizations because of the emergence of BIG DATA (large volumes of unstructured and structured data). Today, most companies have access to vast amounts of data (financial and operational) and must figure out how to use it to drive growth and profitability.

Geneva FP&A Board, 6 Feb 2025

Geneva FP&A Board Registration Form - 6 February 2025

  • Participation in the FP&A board's events is strictly by-invitation-only, with 25-30 attendees per meeting
  • It is exclusive to practitioners at the CFO, FD, and Head of Finance levels.

Please fill in the registration form below:

88% Spreadsheets Have Errors

By Ian Yates, Managing Director at Barcanet

Companies large and small spend countless hours every month developing, amending and updating the spreadsheets that measure performance and drive strategic decision-making. So it’s critical the data contained and output generated by these spreadsheets is timely, simple and above all, accurate.  But is it?

Beyond Budgeting: Are we ready to abandon the traditional process?

  Demand for Financial Planning & Analytics (FP&A) thought leadership and best practice establishment is very high. In response to many requests from the UK professional...  Demand for Financial Planning & Analytics (FP&A) thought leadership and best practice establishment is very high. In response to many requests from the UK professional..

Sydney FP&A Board. Driver Based Planning.

  Demand for Financial Planning & Analytics (FP&A) thought leadership and best practice establishment is very high. It is a platform for the Sydney FP&A Board to share its practical insights on the latest trends and developments in financial planning and analytics with the FP&A community of Sydney city.

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