Only 6% of Finance Teams Actually Influence Decisions | Soufyan Hamid

In this episode of FP&A Unlocked, Paul Barnhurst speaks with Soufyan Hamid about financial storytelling, finance business partnering, and how finance professionals can move from reporting numbers to influencing business decisions. Soufyan explains why numbers need context, how finance teams can systematize storytelling, and why communication, business acumen, and empathy are essential skills for creating strategic impact.

Soufyan Hamid is a finance professional, corporate trainer, EMBA lecturer, and keynote speaker who specializes in systematizing storytelling for finance teams. He helps finance professionals strengthen their communication and financial storytelling skills.

Expect to Learn:

• What the “precision trap” means for FP&A.
• Why timely analysis can be more valuable than perfect accuracy.
• How to choose the right level of accuracy for a decision.
• What questions to ask before starting an analysis.
• How finance professionals can become better business partners.
• How the DERP framework improves variance analysis.

Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:

• "The first technical skill...that I would love for teams to develop is the driver tree." - Soufyan Hamid
• "The numbers will never share a story by themselves." - Soufyan Hamid

Soufyan explains that effective financial storytelling is about more than presenting numbers. Finance professionals need to understand their audience, prioritize what matters, provide context, and help the business make better decisions.

Follow Soufyan:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soufyanhamid/
• Website: https://www.thefinancecircle.com/

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

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] - Trailer

[03:13] - What Great FP&A Looks Like

[05:46] - Why Finance Needs Storytelling

[12:28] - Making Financial Storytelling Useful

[16:02] - Why Numbers Need Context

[19:57] - Systematizing Storytelling & the FP&A Maturity Model

[29:38] - Storytelling, Business Partnering & Influence

[34:21] - Common Finance Presentation Mistakes

[40:13] - Complexity Is a Failure of Empathy

[46:05] - Technical & Human Skills for FP&A

[49:53] - The Mindset Shift: Learning to Prioritize

[56:15] - Building Better Finance Teams & Closing Thoughts