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Hello Reader 👋

I missed writing to you.

But I had promised my kids to unplug a bit this summer.

Minimum emails, minimum trainings, no AI tools.

Just Slovenia, bikes, lakes, and a lot of food.

Now I’m back, and instead of telling you how beautiful the trip was, I’d rather tell you what I prepared for you during those quiet mornings.

A new article on 10 behaviours that block your impact as a Finance Business Partner (yes, I've done all of them).

And a small surprise at the end of this email (but we’ll get there).

That’s what we’re diving into this week.

So take a coffee, sit down and read FP&A Stories just like 22k other readers.

This week in FP&A Stories

🎯 10 Behaviours That Will Kill Your Impact as a Business Partner

Over the years, I’ve seen talented finance professionals struggle to have an impact.

Not because they lacked knowledge, but because they were unknowingly stuck in the wrong habits.

I’ve made many of them myself. And in the infographic I just released, I summarised 10 of them.

Here’s the full breakdown with some real stories.

1️⃣ Being a Gatekeeper Instead of a Partner

It’s tempting to block a bad idea right away.

But when Finance acts like a gatekeeper, you shut the door on collaboration.

I remember a case where Sales wanted to test a new pricing approach. I said no (because discounts were already high).

But I hadn’t listened enough. We lost three weeks before I realised they didn’t want to discount. They wanted to pilot a bundled offer.

Better to ask why and build options together than to close the conversation at the start.

2️⃣ Speaking in jargon

You’ve seen this one.

The slide that says: “Gross margin deviation driven by unfavourable mix and opex inflation vs. LY F3.”

And you know what happens? The room tunes out.

I’ve sat in executive meetings where we spent more time explaining the "impacts" of IFRS 15 than analysing why the results were lower than expected.

Use clear words. Anchor the numbers in business terms.

And if you must use finance terms, explain why they matter to them.

3️⃣ Challenging too fast

Sometimes, we interrupt because we spot an error.
But when you challenge without listening, you kill the flow.

One time, I corrected a forecast mid-meeting, and it turned out that, even though the calculation wasn't right, I had misunderstood the logic.

Lesson learned: listen fully.

Ask clarifying questions and challenge with curiosity.

4️⃣ Acting like it’s your money

I know, I know: we feel such a sense of responsibility that we think it's everyone's budget and if it's wrongly used, thet has a negative impact on the whole company.

In a sense, that's true, but let's remember one thing: most of the time, we are not the owners of a budget and we must never make decisions that will make or break the budget.

So we must help by being the voice of reason!

5️⃣ Sending slides with no context

Dashboards are not self-explanatory, and neither are slides.

Yet, when pre-reads are sent (not the biggest fan of pre-reads, but that's another story), most of the time, the caption says "please find attached the slide for the presentation of the next ExCo meeting".

But, when you start adding the key takeaways, the engagement skyrockets in the meeting self.

Why? Because context creates action...

....and nobody reads the slides beforehand anyway.

6️⃣ Only showing up at month-end

Still today, there are FP&A teams that have a touchpoint with their business partners only during/after the closing.

OK, these still need to exist but that's not the point.

Because our business partners don't wait month-end to make decisions. They do it every day, and even multiple times a day.

And for that, they need their finance business partner to show more than once a month.

Something I understood thanks to my colleagues who were invited to the weekly staff meeting of the BU they were responsible of while I wasn't...

7️⃣ Trying to impress with detail

You know the general conclusion that everyone likes to make but then someone comes and says "almost, but let's not forget that little insignificant thing that proves you're not right and I am"?

Annoying, isn't it?

Well, that's how we look when we come with an additional detail that doesn't bring anything except showing we are thorough in our work.

We must be! But nobody needs to know...

8️⃣ Micromanaging forecasts

Seasonality. Mix. Minor variances.

All the little things that our partners don't look at because they are judged on the total, not the detail.

Yes, it makes sense if there is a risk that will become bigger if we don't pay attention now.

But changing all the lines while the global message is "we will reach our budget (and I will get my bonus)" is seen as micromanagement...

...from someone who is not their boss.

9️⃣ Escalating too fast

Nobody likes that:

• The manager, because he/she will have to manage something his/her team should have dealt with
• The business partner self, because they will feel blindsided
• You, because you'll be a snitch (sort of...)

Yes, escalating exists, but it's mostly when we know that the business partner we have in front won't have the power to change things.

If you do that so that the blame falls on them, that won't be stamped as a business partner behaviour

🔟 Only reacting

Our plates are full, no doubt about that. That puts us in a reactive position.

Yet, I want you to block 1-2 days per month on analysing 1 thing.

1 element that bothered you in the last closing. 1 remark that was mentioned during a meeting.

Deep dive on it and bring your conclusions, together with the way forward.

That's what we call "being strategic" (at least, partly)

🎁 New Free Course: The Financial Storytelling Starter Pack

A while ago, I shared what I called a “free course”.
But let’s be honest: it was just 5 random videos from my main program.

No real structure. No logical order. And I wasn’t satisfied with it.

So this summer, when my kids gave me a few quiet hours, I built something new: a real starter pack.

Seven lessons, in a logical flow, that actually work as a mini-course. From the basics of financial storytelling to handling tough questions in meetings.

Here’s how it works: once you sign up, you’ll get one short lesson in your mailbox every day for a week. Watch it, apply it, and move on to the next.

Step by step, you’ll see how much easier it gets to prepare and deliver your message.

It’s free of charge, and as a faithful reader, you get first access.

One small service I’d ask in return: spread the word.

Share it with anyone who could benefit: your friends, your colleagues, your CFO, even your family if they’re in finance.

The more people use these tools, the better our profession becomes.

Here’s where to get it: https://www.thefinancecircle.com/starterpack​

I can't wait to hear what you think once you try it!

That's a wrap for this week

See you next week!​