How Finance Leaders Can Transform FP&A Through Vision and Team Culture with Brett Hampson

In this episode, Paul Barnhurst looks into practical frameworks and leadership strategies for finance professionals with guest Brett Hampson. Brett discusses what he believes constitutes great FP&A and how grassroots finance transformations, rather than top-down technology implementations, can foster a proactive, value-creating FP&A culture.

Brett Hampson has spent over a decade in corporate FP&A, working with some of the world’s largest companies. He is the author of The FP&A Operating System, a book that outlines his approach to establishing a high-functioning FP&A department. Brett is also the founder of Forecasting Performance, a platform that promotes best practices in financial analysis and forecasting.

Expect to Learn

1. What grassroots finance transformation entails and why it’s preferable to technology-centric approaches.
2. How to implement Brett’s FP&A Operating System and FP&A Flywheel framework to drive efficiency and value.
3. The importance of setting a clear vision and objectives for FP&A teams to move from reactive to proactive operations.
4. How to leverage attribution analysis and storytelling to enhance FP&A’s influence on business decisions.

Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:

1. “Grassroots finance transformation happens when each person on the team has their own vision and works towards solving specific challenges.” - Brett Hampson
2. “Technology alone doesn’t solve problems. It might fix one, but often creates new ones if cultural issues aren’t addressed first.” - Brett Hampson

With insights into creating effective FP&A systems and teams, Brett Hampson provides a refreshing perspective on FP&A transformation. He highlights the importance of people, process, and then technology, in that order, as the foundation for a high-performing FP&A team.

Follow Brett:

Website - https://bretthampson.gumroad.com/l/proactive

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-hampson/

Newsletter - https://blog.forecastingperformance.com/subscribe

Follow Paul:

Website - https://www.thefpandaguy.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefpandaguy

Earn Your CPE Credit

For CPE credit please go to earmarkcpe.com, listen to the episode, download the app, and answer a few questions and earn your CPE certification. To earn education credits for FPAC Certificate, take the quiz on earmark and contact Paul Barnhurst for further details.

In Today’s Episode

[02:12] - Brett’s Background and Introduction

[05:17] - The Creation of The FP&A Operating System

[08:04] - Developing a Proactive FP&A Culture

[13:22] - Grassroots FP&A Transformation

[16:32] - People and Process Before Technology

[29:28] - Building the Right Team and Culture

[35:11] - Establishing Efficient Processes with the FP&A Flywheel

[39:52] - Case Study: Turning Around Forecast Accuracy

[52:16] - Final Advice and Wrap-Up