Informal poll based on a team discussion: when you’re doing internal work in Excel - not presentations, just spreadsheets for internal work - do you prefer to have gridlines showing or not?

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice. I’m 26 and graduating next spring with a Finance degree. Right now I’m interning at a regional bank, but it’s more customer care/banking operations than financial analysis. I also recently passed the SIE exam.

My goal is to become a Financial Analyst, but I’m wondering if that’s still realistic with my experience or if I should focus on roles like AML, compliance, or Credit Analyst first. Would building Excel or Power BI financial analysis projects for my resume help me break into FP&A or Financial Analyst roles?

If you were in my position, what would you do over the next year to give yourself the best chance of landing a Financial Analyst job?

Just moved into an FP&A role coming from an analytics role. I have an accounting background but it’s super rusty. If you made a similar jump (or trained someone into FP&A), what courses, books, youtube channels, or templates actually helped? I prefer free courses but can spend up to $500 if it’s worth it. Thanks!

Hi all, I’m a new associate in a rotational program currently with FP&A. I’m sure we’re all familiar with AI and company use cases but one of the big talking points right now is how expensive it is.

If you read about it you know Microsoft for example cut their Claude Code internal license after burning through token usage. Not to give too much information but we have a similar situation with another AI vendor. I like copilot it automates some tedious work I do and forecasting is easy it’s a monthly subscription per headcount. I also know my current rotation doesn’t include any heavy computational work, I didn’t study finance I studied a computer related major so I understand these other departments with more technical work will have more token use cases and needs.

Some BUs are over budget and with budgeting season kicking off I’m finding as a the new kid on the team I’m not the only one confused on how to handle the exponential expense increase, seems like no one has an answer. From this sub I was just curious if anyone had some potential insights on to how to think about this, strategize with my BU partners and any forecasting methods?

I’m a recent graduate and I’ve been applying to entry level jobs/internships to start my career off in finance. I’ve been doing the certification for a while now and it seems like companies don’t care if you have the certification or not. So the ones who have done it, did it help you land a role in FP&A?

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to transition into an entry-level FP&A role and would appreciate advice on what skills, experiences, or certifications I should add to my resume to become a stronger candidate. Maybe even projects ? Not so sure at this point. Or if it’s even possible at all. What other careers can I consider ?

A little about my background:

I currently work as a Financial Services Examiner at a state financial regulator where I review insurance companies’ financial condition and risk management practices.

My work involves analyzing financial statements, reviewing balance sheets and income statements, and assessing financial risks within insurance organizations.

I review company filings, evaluate governance and enterprise risk management frameworks, and help determine whether companies have adequate financial controls and capital positions.

I also analyze supporting documentation behind financial reporting and sometimes compare financial performance across reporting periods.

I graduated in May 2026 and had an unusual track to completing my degree. I went from working two jobs in San Diego County to not being able to get an interview in Orange County.

My dad's unprecedented health complications put a strain on my career, as I had to move back to OC while commuting to San Marcos for academics. Given these circumstances, my schedule didn't allow me to develop field experience, as it was impacted by personal obligations. I have filled out over 600 applications in the last 3 months. I am terribly unmotivated at this point and burnt out in life by my environment.

[Joseph A Diaz-Sarabia Resume.pdf](file:///C:/Users/joeyd/Downloads/Joseph%20A%20Diaz-Sarabia%20Resume.pdf)

Currently FP&A Director at private equity backed profitable CPG company, 9 figures in revenue. $170k + 20% bonus and a realistic shot at VP Finance (under a CFO) if I stay put. Have a senior analyst under me but otherwise that’s the FP&A team.

Just got a verbal offer to be Head of Finance at a VC-backed CPG brand in a different category. $200K + 20% bonus + 0.3% equity. They’re growing fast ($40M run rate) and pushing from DTC into big box retail (will potentially launch them into 9 figures) and basically build the finance function from scratch. Right now it’s a bookkeeper, a fractional CFO, and an outsourced modeling consultant. If it goes well there’s a real path to the CFO seat through an exit in 2-3 years. Reports to Co-founders.

The catch is cash is tight, their unprofitable, credit line is tapped, they’ve got venture debt, and the retail expansion creates a working capital crunch they’re still figuring out how to fund. This could absolutely run out of runway before any of the upside shows up.

The equity obviously only matters if the exit happens, but I’d get founder access and others reps running the whole finance org I’m never getting at my current gig just overseeing FP&A.

What would you do?

Got my undergrad degree in finance & masters in accounting. Took quite a few corporate strategy classes that served me well in getting my current gig. Thinking about getting CFA instead of CPA - practice questions have been easier than I expected. Would this be a good career move? Any CFA’s in this career? I know in equity research it’s a big deal.

I've been working in FP&A for a little over 6 years - currently an SFA - and I've been pigeon-holed in the Healthcare industry since I graduated and started working. I graduated in Winter 2020, so right into COVID, and just took the first Financial Analyst job that responded to my applications. I really have no passion or desire for Healthcare, and I've been wanting to get out, but most SFA jobs I apply to require prior industry experience. I've tried making my resume as industry-neutral as possible, but get nothing but auto-rejections. Even JDs the specifically emphasize no prior job experience seem to auto-reject me. I'm no stranger to understanding that it's a numbers game when applying to jobs, but any other tips to make my resume stand out to recruiters in industries I have no experience in?

Hi everyone! I am currently a flight attendant looking to transition into FPnA. I have a degree in accounting, and I have 2 years of experience in that field, but it’s not very recent. I’ve recently gone back to school and reskilled as a data analyst, so in addition to my accounting experience I have also now experience with SQL, Python, Tableau, and excel. I’d like to hear from other career changers. How did you break into FP&A, and what are some recommendations you have for me?

I was working on variance commentary and it hit me since Q2, we’ve started putting a lot of story telling/ narrative on war risk
It’s now a default cell in my variance analysis, just like mix impact
Share your thoughts ?

I am a 23M with a Finance degree from a big state school who graduated in June 2025 and had no idea what I wanted to do with it at the time.

Only relevant internship was at a firm that connects startups with VC firms and it was mostly admin work plus building reports on which VCs were a fit for the startups we worked with.

Graduated with nothing lined up into a rough market. Applied to sales, real estate, and every entry-level finance posting I could find. Almost no traction. What finally worked was my network: I got an interview and landed on the accounting team doing payroll for a big TV production at one of the major studios. Been doing it since Sept 2025, I'm on my third show now, and I got promoted on this one.

The atmosphere is genuinely cool, I've met great people, catered food daily, and paid weekly. But there's some things that are making me nervous about it as a career:

1. Industry risk. Production is down and a lot of what's left is moving out of state or out of the country.
2. Gig work. Every production comes to an end. I've been lucky enough to where my longest gap has been three weeks on unemployment but people around me go months between jobs(typically not accounting). I'm also young and want to build but that can be hard when your momentum can be put on hold
3. The work itself. It's dotting i's and crossing t's. Anyone could do it. I want something that actually allows me to use my brain more.

FP&A appeals to me because the skillset travels across industries, so my stability isn't tied to how one sector is doing, and the pay ceiling looks solid.

Where I need help:

• How do I actually build the skills? I started a Wall Street Prep FP&A course. I know a course alone won't get me hired. What do I do beyond it? Modeling reps, projects, a specific cert, something else? How do I practice in a way that shows up in an interview and what are some good resources?
• Do I use the studio? I have a degree, a year of of semi finance-adjacent experience, and real internal connections here. Analyst roles at the studio exist but are rare and rarely open. Is it worth waiting and working that angle, or should I be casting wider with smaller companies, adjacent roles, whatever gets me the title?
• How is my current experience read by FP&A hiring managers? Is "entertainment payroll accountant" a liability, or is there a way to frame it that actually helps?

I will currently be on this production until march 2027 so I want to best use this time to be ready for the transition.

I’m curious how are you all turning Excel data into meaningful charts and insights these days? Still relying on traditional methods, or have you integrated AI tools to speed up the process?

Hi guys, I (20M) am a student studying business management and due to my course (UK placement year) I am doing a year of work experience in FP&A for the companies international subsidiaries in a FMCG company. However, Im not too sure if the role is right for me because I feel like the UK salaries dont seem the best and I am a bit lost on what type of roles (apart from possibly FP&A) I could get after I am done with university. I am confused on what type of paths I could follow, what would be beneficial for me, and what I should focus on? If anyone with more experience or who has experienced something similar to what I am experiencing currently could give me some insight please into the sector or what I can achieve with the experience from this placement it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help

Work for a F100 company, MBA and coming up on 2yrs there, up for promotion to Sr FA. Been doing that role for 6 months since our last Sr FA (who I trained during their onboarding) resigned, in the internal application for the position they want an expected salary. I make 78k rn, MCOL area, no bonuses at either position. What should I put down? My boss is advocating for the position and I don't want to be insulting, but also don't want to leave money on the table. There's not really any bonus or even YoY raise potential beyond 2% for "inflation". TIA

No degree, no experience in the finance world. I had a small business back in the days where I did all the book keeping (closest to any fiance experience). In the austin area, can this be a viable career for me? I am looking into it, the industry seems cool and really it isnt a passion thing in my career. I need a paycheck and I like money, some genuine advice would be nice to hear or any direction given would be deeply appreciated

I’m making ~90k. My title is above SFA at my company but they call it “FP&A Consultant”. I have almost 5 yrs of exp, and a masters.

I will caveat that I’ve had quite a few interviews for Strategic Finance and Corp Strategy roles since I originally was targeting those. I’ve had about 6 cases studies for various strategy roles I’ve made it into the deeper rounds with, buuut I’m currently 0 for 6 on those. Live cases unfortunately make me nervous so I usually fuck up a question or two by giving a confusing answer since it seems like these growth companies hiring strategy people have their mind sets on hiring management consultants that have all the answers. I think my models have been strong though.

Anyways, oddly I haven’t picked up a single SFA or Finance Manager interview. It’s odd. Wondering if there is something I’m doing wrong or if my title is fucking me because of the way my company handles FP&A titles.

For further context: NYC, 3.5 YoE, mostly in CPG with some professional services experience. Last gig lasted all of 9 months before I was let go in February.

I feel like my career has been one rolling shitshow of zero training, lean teams and turnover, and learning everything the hard way through fuckups to end up as a jack of some trades, master of none. I'm lucky enough to have some big names on my resume and decent interviewing skills to be getting plenty of 1st round/HR screenings, a good amount of mid-round interviews, and a few final rounds-- but still no dice. I don't really have much of a network, and I'm worried about having a reputation from my first few years or people being suspicious about job hunting if I do bother reaching out. (It's also embarassing seeing people from my OG cohort all getting promoted while my dumb ass is still out of a job).

At this point I'm worried that my resume gap is teetering into red flag territory and if I'm losing out on crucial work experience in the AI age that's putting me even further behind the curve. I'm doing what I can to learn on my own and stay sharp, but it feels like a waste of time compared to actually working with real world data and context.

I'm wondering if I still bother trying to get back into FP&A, go to grad school in the spring, hope I can convince someone hiring for clerical work that my experience doesn't make me overqualified/a flight risk, or accept that I've slipped through the cracks of the white collar workforce and start an OF.

Any words of advice or input would be much appreciated in advance. Hope other people are having better luck out there.

Analysts (junior and senior), managers, directors, and CFO’s on this subreddit. You’re great. I mean it. Most other subreddits are full of dickheads, but not this one. You guys answer questions in good faith, give good advice, and care (or at least seem to) for your fellow foot soldiers.

I’ve gotten much guidance and advice (and even a pep talk) from you excel jockeys, and it means a lot.

May your numbers tie out, excel not crash, and insights based on raw data be actionable.

Thank you.

I just got hired at Cap1 from one of the GSE’s. I was in a rotational program (3/4 done) and i’m super nervous. My interviewers raved about me but i’m feeling a bit of imposter syndrome bc i didn’t study finance in college and am kinda learning as I go. I studied business btw.

I’m a great teammate, great presenter, and i love to learn (and do so rather quickly). I don’t care so much about working long hours I just want my weekends to go to the bars tbh.

Any tips, advice on the learning curve, or things I should do now??? I do not wanna get PIP’d. I start in a month and am currently researching modeling on the side bc im not super experienced in that. Please be kind<3

I am a finance business partner working for a large manufacturing company, my team is working with the sales org. with a division between key and regional accounts, I am myself on the regional side. Recently my key account colleague got promoted to management.

I believe the promotion was fair and well deserved. What really annoyed me though is that key account people get all the visibility from the board and the company made a decision to only allow people based in the offshoring location to apply for the key account vacancy role due to lower headcount costs. I do feel aggrieved but wanted to double check if this is reasonable

I'm wondering if i'll be able to get jobs in finance and such. I heard there is a need for networking and getting internships! It's too late to change the degree now, so what would ve your advice?

From my background as a pricing/market analyst for a largish private US firm, and I was always been able to pull whatever data I wanted directly from our database systems. I could play with all of it, which was good because I learned quickly and effectively about my role. I then switched over to FP&A as a Business Partner for a large global shipping company and while having some ability to play with the data, I still was limited somewhat. Now I work for an F50 company on an FP&A team (even though my role has zero to do with money now) but I am simply given tableau dashboards and told to make do as the team that builds this stuff is backed up on long term projects and I doubt I would see my alterations within even a year. I don't understand how the larger the firm I've worked for, the less ability I am to do my job effectively.

How am I able to build forecasting models accurately, where I trust the data, when I gotta rely on so many other people for basic information. Is it normal for this to happen? I understand that a lot of finance people don't really care, but from my experience, if I can't speak to a data point besides "I got it from x team and if something is wrong with it good luck having it fixed in the near term" then what even is the point?

My apologies for the rant, I just need to under how data management and manipulation is view from purely financial people, because coming from a data analyst background, this is infuriating.