Trust and Leadership Lessons for FP&A From 100+ Top Leaders with CFO Jon Laudie

In this episode of FP&A Unlocked, host Paul Barnhurst sits down with Jon Laudie to discuss how FP&A can become a critical business function, why finance and operations need to work together, and how FP&A can prepare professionals for senior leadership. Jon also shares what he has learned from serving as both President and CFO of Zerorez and how that experience has changed his approach to leadership.

Jon Laudie is the President and CFO of Zerorez. He began his career in M&A and valuation before moving into corporate and operational FP&A roles at technology and consumer companies. His experience also includes investor relations, M&A integration, and building FP&A capabilities. Jon is also the co-author of Roots, Relationships and Results.

Expect to Learn:

• How to build an FP&A function that the business values and trusts.
• Why change management is critical to FP&A transformation.
• How FP&A can prepare professionals for operational leadership.
• Why trust and relationships are essential to effective leadership.
• Which technical and soft skills can help FP&A professionals become CFOs.

Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:

• “If you're not bringing the people along with you, the change management is nearly impossible and FP&A is not going to be successful.” - Jon Laudie
• “You have to be a strategic partner at the executive table.” - Jon Laudie

Jon explains that successful FP&A transformation starts by meeting the business where it is rather than immediately pushing best practices. Building trust through better data, visibility, and useful insights creates a foundation for more advanced planning and forecasting.

Follow Jon:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonlaudie/
• Website: rootsrelationshipsresults.com

Disclosure: Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.

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Earn Your CPE Credit

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

In Today's Episode:

[00:00] - Finance Meets Operations

[01:32] - Jon’s Career Journey

[05:41] - Building FP&A at Zerorez

[10:19] - Change Management

[16:26] - President & CFO

[24:13] - Finance & Operations

[31:52] - Writing the Book

[34:32] - Leadership Lessons

[42:48] - Trust & Relationships

[51:18] - The “As Soon As” Trap

[56:46] - Skills for Future CFOs

[59:33] - Rapid Fire & Closing Thoughts