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Hello Reader 👋

I’ve been through over 70 board meetings, more than 200 forecast updates, and countless last-minute requests (I'm barely exaggerating)

But if there’s one thing that keeps coming back, and I'm sure you know that, it’s pressure.

The kind of pressure that comes with deadlines, requests, updates and other things you can't always control.

You can’t eliminate it. But you can learn to work through it, without losing your cool or burning out.

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

🤯 5 Ways to Resist Pressure in FP&A

Most of the habits I developed in FP&A didn’t come from a course or a book.

They came from late evenings, last-minute board packs, and chaotic forecasts that made no sense 24 hours before the meeting.

I didn’t learn how to manage pressure during a training session.

I learned it on a Thursday night with three stakeholders changing their assumptions at the same time.

So I wanted to go back to the basics: the 5 habits I still rely on when things get messy.

1️⃣ Start from what already exists

Early in my career, I believed I had to build everything from scratch.

New presentation? New file.

New request? New tab.

You know that feeling when you're busy? It feels noble... until it becomes impossible to keep up.

Eventually, I realised 70% of our work is just intelligent reuse and reframing. There’s almost always a prior version of the analysis, an old question that was answered before, a report you can update instead of rebuild.

Don't see yourself as lazy by starting from something that exists. You’re being smart with your time and preserving your energy for where it counts (the last 30% that actually adds value).

✅ What to do: Create your own archive of good comments, slides, and report extracts. Just a Notion page or OneNote with things worth recycling is enough.

2️⃣ Offer 80% solutions when time is tight

We all want to be precise, exhaustive, and so detailed. But there are weeks when that's not an option. The business needs input now, not perfect dashboards next Tuesday.

In those moments, I’ve learned to say, “Here’s what I can show you today. It covers most of what we’re looking at.”

It’s far better than silence. Or worse: sending nothing because it’s not perfect. The 80% answer that drives a decision is infinitely more useful than the 100% version that arrives too late.

✅ What to do: Use placeholders with a clear label if some data is missing. Provide assumptions and show you’re aware of what’s incomplete

3️⃣ Step back when everything feels urgent

I’ve had late nights where everything felt critical. Every change had to be done before 10pm. Every number had to be final. Every slide had to be aligned.

But almost none of it actually was.

It’s natural to feel the urgency when pressure rises. But it doesn’t mean we need to lose perspective.

We’re not saving lives. If you’re panicking, step back, breathe, and ask: “What happens if this waits until tomorrow morning?”

Your calm is more valuable than your speed.

✅ What to do: When things heat up, pause. Breathe. Ask what it’s for and when it’s due. A cool head is your best asset.

4️⃣ Clarify the real end goal

Some of the worst pressure doesn’t come from the workload, but rather from misalignment.

You get a vague request for a dataset or report, and instead of asking why, you jump to execution.

Then you send it… and they ask for something completely different. Five reworks later, you wonder how you got here.

These days, I’ve learned to pause and ask early: “What do you need this for?” The goal isn’t to challenge. It’s to get it right the first time. I

Most of the time, people think they know what they need and that you don't know what it's for.

Prove them wrong.

✅ What to do: Ask: “What do you want to do with this?”. Maybe they request a dataset while the analysis is already done. Or Maybe, you know that they'll need something additional before they even know.

5️⃣ Document one learning after every storm

I used to think the pressure would magically disappear once I was more senior. It doesn’t.

But what makes it manageable is knowing you’re getting better at handling it.

After every intense cycle (budget, board prep, strategy reviews), I ask myself: what should I not do next time?

What process, presentation, or prep step could help me avoid this panic?

Pressure is part of the job. But if we never learn from it, we’re just surviving.

✅ What to do:

📺 Knowledge vs Wisdom

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit.

Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

If you like that, you might want to watch this video 👇

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🏃‍➡️ Want to Go Further in FP&A Storytelling?

Knowing the numbers is one thing.

Making people listen and act on them is another.

If you want to step up your impact in Finance, here’s how:

📌 The Financial Storytelling Program: Your message is only as strong as how you deliver it. In this course, you’ll learn how to structure financial insights, craft a clear narrative, and make sure decision-makers actually take action.

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See what they think about it

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​If you want to go beyond reporting and start influencing, these will help.

That's a wrap for this week

See you next week!​