Are You Solving Business Problems or Just Reporting Numbers? with Eric Alexander

In this episode of FP&A Unlocked, Paul Barnhurst speaks with Eric Alexander about building effective FP&A functions, developing business acumen, and preparing finance professionals for leadership. Eric explains why finance teams need to look beyond the numbers, understand the business, communicate effectively, and develop the leadership skills needed to create greater impact.

Eric Alexander is the President of Six Arrows Consulting and an advisor, speaker, and author with nearly 40 years of financial management experience, including 20 years in CFO roles. He served as CFO of Happy State Bank and now provides leadership development, strategic planning, finance function, and advisory services to community banks and mid-market companies. He is also the author of Stewardship Leadership for Stinking Accountants: Serving as the CFO.

Expect to Learn:

• Why business understanding matters beyond technical skills.
• How to build a stronger FP&A function.
• Why CFOs need leadership and communication skills.
• How to make better decisions through constructive disagreement.
• Why stewardship is essential to effective finance leadership.

Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:

• "Numbers that are done correctly relative to the business issue and then communicated well... that's good FP&A." - Eric Alexander
• "If I live in my little silo by myself and ignore the effects upstream and downstream, I'm missing opportunities." - Eric Alexander

Eric emphasizes that strong finance professionals need more than technical expertise. They must understand the business behind the numbers, communicate their insights, collaborate across functions, and help leaders make better decisions. As professionals move toward CFO roles, leadership, strategy, communication, and stewardship become increasingly important

Follow Eric:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-alexander-sixarrowsconsulting/
• Website: https://ericralexander.com/
• Company: https://sixarrowsconsulting.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

[03:55] - What Great FP&A Looks Like

[04:47] - Building a Strong FP&A Function

[07:43] - Understanding the Business Behind the Numbers

[09:23] - Building Business Acumen

[13:39] - Moving From Accounting to FP&A

[16:19] - The Path to CFO

[20:31] - Leadership & Constructive Disagreement

[26:06] - Pre-Mortems & Better Decisions

[30:03] - Point Estimates vs. Ranges

[38:10] - Stewardship Leadership & The CFO Role

[43:57] - Technical & Human Skills for FP&A

[46:19] - Personal Questions & Closing Thoughts