How FP&A Teams Turn Confusing Budgets into Strategic Tools That Drive Alignment with Sarah Schlott

In this episode of Financial Modeler’s Corner, host Paul Barnhurst welcomes Sarah Schlott, founder of The Schlott Company. Sarah shares her perspective on why financial models often fail, not because of bad math, but because they don’t reflect how real businesses work. She talks about what it takes to earn trust as a finance partner, how to clean up messy data without losing momentum, and the importance of getting the right people involved in the process. Sarah and Paul also dive into how finance teams can shift from reactive number-crunchers to proactive business partners that bring clarity and confidence to decision-making.

Sarah Schlott is a strategic finance leader with over 18 years of experience guiding companies through growth, M&A, and operational change. She’s worked across corporate finance, forecasting, budgeting, and reporting infrastructure. Sarah is the founder of The Schlott Company, where she helps founders bring order to financial chaos. Her approach blends classic FP&A with modern tools and a deep understanding of real-world business dynamics. She believes finance should bring clarity, not confusion.

Expect to Learn

• Why overly complex models usually create more confusion than insight
• What it means to be “battle-tested” as a finance leader
• How to build models that reflect business reality, not just spreadsheets
• What to do when the data is unreliable or inconsistent
• Why involving department heads early leads to better models and better outcomes

Here are a few quotes from the episode:

• "When you’re constantly fighting about the numbers, you’re not ready to present the model." - Sarah Schlott
• "If the people who own the numbers don’t see themselves in the model, you should probably just chuck it." - Sarah Schlott
• "Stop being the cop. Be the radio tower that keeps everything aligned." Sarah Schlott

Follow Sarah:

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

Website - http://www.sarahgschlott.com/

Company - https://theschlottco.com/

Follow Paul:

Website - https://www.thefpandaguy.com  

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

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thefpandaguy

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In today’s episode:

[01:53] - Introduction to Sarah Schlott

[03:14] - Worst Model Horror Story

[07:48] - Founding The Schlott Company

[10:19] - Experience Needed to Go Fractional

[14:53] - Building Finance That Brings Calm, Not Confusion

[17:28] - How to Work with Messy Data

[20:58] - Pressure Testing Financial Models

[28:04] - Finance as a Radio Tower, Not a Traffic Cop

[39:39] - Rapid-Fire: Excel Tools and Modeling Styles

[43:37] - Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts