How To Simplify Complex Financial Models And Save Time with Scott Powell

Written By Paul Barnhurst

In this episode of Financial Modeler’s Corner, host Paul Barnhurst sits down with Scott Powell, co-founder and board member of the Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), to discuss the principles and pitfalls of financial modeling. The conversation centers around how overcomplication, legacy models, and misused functions can undermine even the most polished models, and how thoughtful planning, stakeholder consideration, and service-oriented teaching can significantly enhance modeling effectiveness.

Scott Powell brings over 25 years of global experience in corporate finance education and financial modeling. He is a founding member of the Corporate Finance Institute, where he has led the creation of impactful learning tools and courses. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Scott has worked with major financial institutions worldwide and is deeply passionate about practical finance education and the power of financial literacy to transform lives.


Expect to Learn:

  • Why financial models often fail and how to avoid those pitfalls.

  • The importance of balancing technical precision with stakeholder usability.

  • How teaching and empathy enhance modeling skills.

  • Key Excel techniques and when to avoid overengineering.

  • Scott’s insights into using AI and advanced Excel tools to stay current.


Here are a few quotes from the episode:

  • "Every time you're in Excel, try to learn just one new thing. In a year, you're going to have learned a ton." - Scott Powell

  • "If you open your model three days later and can’t understand what you did, then you made it too complex." - Scott Powell

  • "Don’t start building your model until you understand the end goal and the user’s needs." - Scott Powell

Scott’s thoughtful and service-driven approach makes this episode a must-listen for anyone in the world of financial modeling. His real-world stories, practical Excel strategies, and emphasis on simplicity offer powerful insights. Whether you’re building your first model or refining your 100th, Scott’s advice will help you level up. A valuable guide for modelers who want to build with purpose and clarity.

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In today’s episode:

[01:14] - Welcome and Guest Intro

[03:00] - Model Horror Story

[10:09] - Founding CFI

[14:13] - Memorable Teaching Moments

[16:30] - Starting a Model

[21:28] - Technical vs. Soft Skills

[24:20] - Advice for Trainers

[30:23] - Keeping Up with Excel

[39:44] - Fun with Excel

[41:18] - Rapid Fire Round

[47:21] - Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up


Full Show Transcript

[00:01:14] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Welcome to Financial Modeler’s Corner. I am your host, Paul Barnhurst, and this is a podcast where we talk all about the art and science of financial modeling with distinguished financial modelers from around the globe. The Financial Modelers Corner podcast is brought to you by the Financial Modeling Institute. Fmi offers the most respected accreditations in financial modeling. That's why I did the Advanced Financial Modeler last year, and I'm doing the Chartered Financial Modeler this year. Today I'm thrilled to welcome to the show, Scott Powell. Scott, welcome to the show.


[00:01:50] Guest: Scott Powell: I am delighted to be here. Paul.


[00:01:52] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, really excited to have you. So let me give a little bit of Scott's background and then we'll jump into our questions. So Scott is a Corporate Finance Institute co-founder and board member currently based in Vancouver, Canada, with over 25 years of experience. Scott has designed and delivered finance-focused learning solutions for finance professionals worldwide. His work has spanned major financial centers including London, New York and Hong Kong, and has included clients such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, HSBC, and many others. I want to see Lehman there.


[00:02:35] Guest: Scott Powell: I never got to work with Lehman. Phew.


[00:02:38] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. Bear Stearns?


[00:02:39] Guest: Scott Powell: No.


[00:02:41] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Scott's expertise covers commercial banking, investment banking, capital markets, and asset management, providing practical, impactful education that empowers finance professionals to excel. So, Scott, if you've listened to any episodes, you know the same question everybody gets asked at the beginning. Tell me about that horror story. Either the worst financial model you've worked on or you've seen, or that you built yourself. But go and tell me that experience, what it was like.


[00:03:10] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. So it was an FP&A  model.


[00:03:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Not surprised.


[00:03:14] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. Well, you know, FP&A  models by their very nature are much larger, more complicated, right? So what happened is I had a very good friend here in Vancouver who led a small FP&A  team, a team of about ten people, and he knew I was teaching modeling, and he asked me a favor. He said, just as a friend, can you review our FP&A  model and tell me what you think? So he sent me the FP&A  model and I started just doing some error checking, realized iteration was turned on, and when I turned off iteration, there was literally, I want to say 10,000, 15,000 circular references, which was it slowed the whole model down. Right now, even though computers are getting faster, there were broken workbook links that were hidden and the model had I called it a house of cards, it had been a model they'd been using for 15 years, and instead of starting from scratch, they kept just engineering it and tweaking it without knowing the original builder and how it worked. And so, unfortunately, this was a good friend of mine. I said, you need to scrap the whole model. And the shocking thing was, he said, you know, we made a major investment decision. Capex decision based off this model.


[00:04:21] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Doesn't surprise me at all.


[00:04:23] Guest: Scott Powell: So anyway, I'd like to say that's the only time I've seen something like that, but it's the one that stands out because there were so many rows and columns. The larger your model gets, just the harder it is to manage. And so having things like I'm very nervous about iteration. Not that I'm saying don't ever use it, but I'm always nervous about workbook links. I'm not saying don't ever use it, but it's about how you judiciously use things and how you document and lay out your model. So anyone who needs to pick it up and maybe update it or review it can understand what's going on.


[00:04:57] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I probably shouldn't admit this, but when you mention circular references, I remember I had a job where the boss called us all new CFO, called us all to the headquarters and said, look, we're building all new models. Basically, your models suck. They're not driver-based. They're not good enough for the business. We have everybody building new models. And he wanted to have this offset function he was using to do a ramp. And at the time I didn't understand it. I was struggling and I had the most complex business, of course, on top of that. And so he pulled in one of the guys that had worked in investment banking, and we worked together for six months on that model, and we got done. And even with him working on it I remember we had a circular reference we shouldn't have and a few little problems, and we had one revenue model. We had a separate headcount, a separate expense, and you were linking them because there was just so much stuff and it was multiple businesses. You had to do it differently, and we think we got up to 100 versions of that thing. And I finally said after about a year of using it, because it still didn't really meet the business's needs. I had to go through and rebuild the whole thing. Oh, it was on my own, you know. He was gone at this point, and it was one of the best decisions I made. But it was horrible. It was just so painful because it wasn't meeting the business's needs. Because our data was so bad, I had to clean it all to actually be able to say, how much revenue are we really getting from this customer or this product, because we are billing things with the wrong product codes, and it was just a nightmare. So I could totally relate. When people tell those horror stories, I still have plenty in my mind and some of them are the ones I've built. Yeah.


[00:06:27] Guest: Scott Powell: So and listen, I have done very similar things. The only message, the big message for me is because I remember even there were places that should have been formulas that were hard coded. And the reason I'm telling you this is, of course, that those are easier to find in a small three statement model. But when we're talking about a large FP&A  model where we're modeling things like headcount and, you know, just bottom up, it's so easy for those to creep in and you don't find them. It's like a needle in a haystack.


[00:06:55] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That was the one thing my friend was really good at is we'd always highlight it in a different color and put a comment, because sometimes we had to override something for an assumption. Now, I would put an override line in there in the model throughout. I think that's a cleaner way to do it, but at least we were really good at documenting them. So you could quickly see because yeah, I hate hard codes everywhere. I.


[00:07:17] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. But at least as you said, at a very minimum in financial modeling, color it, flag it so that people know where it is.


[00:07:25] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Exactly. I remember we had Tim Vipond on and he was telling us how hard code and things are. He's like, even if you're in a hurry, he's like, just don't break the rules. It's just going to come back to bite you. He's like, just take the extra time, even if you're up a little later that night. Yeah. Your future self will thank you basically was the idea.


[00:07:42] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly. Because I've gone back to models I've built and I don't remember how they work. Right. Because I haven't documented it enough or I. Anyway.


[00:07:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh, I'm totally with you. It's like, uh, we had one guest that said, he goes, if you open your model three days later and you can't understand what you did, then you made it too complex.


[00:08:01] Guest: Scott Powell: Simplify it. Yeah, exactly. And it's a very good message because I always say simplify, simplify, simplify because you're never going to regret that.


[00:08:10] Host: Paul Barnhurst: No, I'm totally with you. So I got to ask, I noticed I was looking at your background. You earned your undergrad in economics, but then did a master of philosophy. I'm curious, what was the kind of thinking behind the master of philosophy? Because I can't imagine you're using that directly in the work you're doing.


[00:08:26] Guest: Scott Powell: So here's why I get this question all the time, and it's because.


[00:08:30] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm sure you do.


[00:08:32] Guest: Scott Powell: And it's because I went to school, I did my master's degree in the UK and what happens in the UK? I went to Cambridge. This is a bizarre thing, but if you do a bachelor's degree at Cambridge, it automatically turns from a BA to an MA. After a number of years. You don't do any study. They think their degrees are so great that they turn them into Ma. So if you've actually done a studied master's degree, they call it a master of philosophy. You know, like a PhD, it's the P is the philosophy. So in fact, my master's thesis was in econometrics.


[00:09:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Okay.


[00:09:08] Guest: Scott Powell: So but I get the question all the time and I have to explain. Sorry Cambridge. It's only Cambridge and Oxford. They give their masters. They don't call them Ma. They call them Mills because they give their BA students an automatic upgrade to an MA without doing any extra work, so that maybe that makes a bit more sense. Although it's a bit nerdy, I know econometrics isn't everyone's cup of tea.


[00:09:28] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Ah, it's all good, you know? But I was gonna say, you know, Oxford, they sound like, you know, hey, kind of that we're better type. We've been around forever, much like lawyers. And how they get a doctorate before a masters.


[00:09:40] Guest: Scott Powell: Yes, exactly.


[00:09:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That reminds me of that a little bit where you're like, all right, we could tell you, uh, value what you're providing a lot.


[00:09:49] Guest: Scott Powell: Yes, exactly.


[00:09:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. That makes a lot more sense now, I now understand. Thank you for clarifying.


[00:09:55] Guest: Scott Powell: Listen, I've always loved numbers. I think that's the thing. Although I've moved, I then went into accounting and finance. But the theme is there's numbers involved in all of that and number crunching.


[00:10:05] Host: Paul Barnhurst: No, I've always enjoyed numbers ever since I was a kid, so I understand that one. So tell us the backstory. How did you help found the Corporate Finance Institute? How did that come about?


[00:10:14] Guest: Scott Powell: Okay, so you can see this gray hair. And so I started my career. Yeah. Um, the reason I'm going to tell you this story, I'll try to keep it short, but when I got my first job, it was in the UK. And you didn't have to have the skills. You didn't have to have modeling skills. You didn't need to know accounting. When you joined a firm, they said, we're hiring you based on your competencies, how well you play with others. They want to see your personality traits. Do you work hard and then they will train you. You would join a firm and the first few weeks would just be training. And then every quarter there'd be more training. Okay, so long story short is I didn't have to have any of the technical skills. Fast forward a couple, maybe 30 years. I was running an in-person finance training business based in London, New York and Hong Kong, where we trained new analysts at the banks, like the banks you listed in my bio. But what I was finding is I was getting all these calls from business schools asking us if we would come and train at the business school because they wanted to give their business school students one up so that in an interview, their students got the jobs on Wall Street and not the other business school.


[00:11:24] Guest: Scott Powell: And it dawned on me right then that the whole world had changed. Now, in order to get those jobs, you already have to have the skills. And so that was the rationale behind the Corporate Finance Institute was like, how can we set up something so learners around the world can upskill themselves to get the job? And the problem was, is I was running a full time business. So I luckily had met Tim via one of my co-founders who was looking for a challenge, something new. And I said, I have this idea. I even have the name. It's Corporate Finance Institute, but I can't do it off the side of my desk. This has to be, you know, it's a big initiative. And Tim agreed. And fast forward now, you know, that was 2015. We were talking about 2016, we launched and now we've worked with three, 4 million learners around the world.


[00:12:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh, is that all?


[00:12:15] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. But, um, yeah. So that's kind of that's the story. I tried to be as brief as possible, but it's clear there has been a sea change in what people are expected to have as a skill set before they even get their first job which, which is totally different from when I started.


[00:12:32] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. It is interesting to see how expectations are getting higher and higher and wanting more of the skills and how that will set you apart. Right? That right internship, those right part time jobs, the right classes, whatever it may be. They're wanting people to be able to hit the ground running a little bit more than they did in the past.


[00:12:51] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, totally.


[00:12:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm curious, what is it you love about teaching and training so much? You've done it the last 30 years, pretty much. You're almost your whole career.


[00:13:00] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. So what was interesting, I'll tell you a very quick story. I was working in finance and I was based in London, and my company asked me if I would go to Hong Kong to train the new analysts coming in. So I will go, great, a year in Hong Kong. This is going to be fun. Had never taught, went to Hong Kong and it was like a light bulb moment. When I got in the classroom, I realized that as much as I loved accounting and finance, I'd love teaching. It felt like it wasn't working. And as soon as I came back from that year in Hong Kong, it was like, no more. I need to teach, I need to teach, and I need to. But it wasn't taught at a university. It was like, I need to teach practical skills, because what got me excited was I was helping people do their jobs better. And, uh, at the core, I realized, like I like being in service to others. I like making a difference in people's lives. So that's why my whole career, although I started in finance, ended up being teaching finance. And it's simply due to that, that one year in Hong Kong that changed my whole or changed the direction of my entire career.


[00:14:05] Host: Paul Barnhurst: It's funny how the one thing we commit to doing ends up just so changing the course of life that we never expected.


[00:14:12] Guest: Scott Powell: Oh yeah. Totally.


[00:14:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I'm curious, as you look back over the last, you know, 30 years of teaching, do you have a favorite memory? Is there something that kind of really stands out to you as you look back? Obviously, I'm sure Hong Kong was a turning point for sure, but is there maybe a memory or a student or something that just really stands out to you?


[00:14:28] Guest: Scott Powell: So I'm sure this happens to you, Paul, but I always am honored. I go on LinkedIn and I have people thanking me personally for changing their lives. Okay. So and it's that if you're in service to others that's a pretty good feeling. So the best experience was when we partnered with an organization in Africa called Alex, who were funded by the Mastercard Foundation. And what they were trying to do is they wanted to upskill people across Africa. And they partnered with my firm, Corporate Finance Institute, to upskill over one year, 30,000 people. And it was free for all the learners. But the cohort sizes were 5000. So I would be running a live session through a zoom framework for 5000.


[00:15:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I couldn't do that. That's tough.


[00:15:19] Guest: Scott Powell: But people were so grateful to this day. Like I had thousands of people saying, you changed my life. Now listen, I come from a very small rural town in Canada. My dad ran a gas station. And the reason I'm telling you that is that I felt like I was doing the same thing for these folks in Africa. I was giving them education. That creates opportunity because for me, it was the education that created the opportunity. Yeah, yeah. So although it was a ton of work because they were cohorts of 5006 cohorts. It was crazy.


[00:15:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I could see where there'd be a ton of work, but that'd be really rewarding. I can tell you love being able to serve people and see the difference it makes in their life when they come back. Like, I get those notes too, from people. Hey, you know, your podcast helped me be better in your job, or I love your content or whatever, and it makes you feel good. You're like, okay, it's making a difference.


[00:16:08] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly.


[00:16:10] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You know, one of my favorite quotes when you mentioned the service, I love this, that I've heard is service is the rent we pay for living in the world that we do.


[00:16:19] Guest: Scott Powell: Oh, what a great quote.


[00:16:21] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And I just love that idea, you know, because if everybody takes that approach, it just makes the world a better place.


[00:16:27] Guest: Scott Powell: Totally agree. I totally agree.


[00:16:30] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Love that. Great story. So obviously you've done a lot of training up to 5000 in a cohort to probably one person to, you know, digital, all those different things. When you're starting to build a course or you're building something, you know, particularly around financial modeling. How do you get started? What do you think about that? Kind of like what's your kind of framework or how do you think about going about that?


[00:16:54] Guest: Scott Powell: So a lot of the teaching I've done online, uh, in person and so on, has been financial modeling related. Right. And so there's a couple of things that I always think about and teach, which is don't jump in and start building. Start with the end in mind. Really think about your stakeholders. What are the deliverables? What do they need to see as outputs? And then I often do this because I'm old school. I would actually draw something out on a piece of paper. Right. And I would really think about how I want to structure this. And because then what's going to happen? Because I always think about if you jump into your model and start building on the fly, you're missing the logic of how the model overall works. And so pausing and allowing yourself to think about the model components, whether you use a word document online or or some other software, or just a pad of paper is going to allow, is going to actually save you a lot of time, even though it looks like it's going to slow you down to begin with.


[00:17:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst:  While my background is in FP&A. I am also passionate about financial modeling. Like many financial Modelers, I was self-taught. Then I discovered the Financial Modeling Institute, the organization that offers the advanced financial modeling program. I am a proud holder of the AFM. Preparing for the AFM exam made me a better modeler. If you want to improve your modeling skills, I recommend the AFM program. Podcast listeners. Save 15% on the AFM program. Just use Code Podcast.



[00:18:34] Host: Paul Barnhurst: It's a great point. You know the analogy I always use of kind of that planning is you would never build a house without Blueprints.


[00:18:43] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly. Great analogy.


[00:18:45] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You know, but we build models all the time by just jumping into Excel. I mean, I've been guilty of it plenty of times. And then we wonder why. The thing is a total mess when we're done.


[00:18:55] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly. Listen, I have this tendency. I love doing so. I have a tendency to just want to jump in. So, in fact, I have to force myself to slow down. I don't like drawing it out, but I just know from practice it's going to save me a ton of time because as that model gets built and then you realize you missed something, then you're unwinding your model build anyway.


[00:19:15] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, we've all been there where you're like, oh yeah, now I got to figure out how to add this to the model or that or.


[00:19:21] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly. And the issue with the other thing is, um, maybe I'm going to overstate this, but I believe every model should be slightly different, possibly because the stakeholders are different. And I'm not just saying you're an FP&A  and it's a different industry. You could be in the same industry, but you're two different companies with every company has something particular to it, and you owe it to your organization to really think about who needs this model, who's going to be using it, and what are the nuances that I need to make sure are there without overly complicating the model? Sorry. And this is what drives me crazy and I used to be prone to this is overcomplication that doesn't materially impact a decision maker. Right. I can make a model look more precise by adding hundreds of rows and columns, but it's not going to materially affect the decision. So why do it?


[00:20:12] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's something you learn over time. In balance. I was like you, I've been, you know, way too technical in a lot of places. Like when I first built this one model, I tried to do a call center at an employee level. That was really dumb. I learned my lesson the hard way. I'm like, why? We just put in the number you need of each and the average salary?


[00:20:31] Guest: Scott Powell: And that's such a great example, right? Because I would have done the same thing. We think we're being more precise where it's just extra things to maintain extra cells that can get over tight, extra formulas that can go wrong.


[00:20:45] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, it didn't make me any more accurate. It just created more work for me, is what it did.


[00:20:49] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah.


[00:20:49] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So, you know, definitely learned over a few years. The model got much better by the time I was done and had learned how a call center really worked. But that first year, what am I doing? Why did I do it this way? Because everything else was that way and I didn't want to build a separate model. But later on I realized, no, this one needs to be separate. Yeah, and so it's balancing. I was thinking I was being simple and I really wasn't. I was making it harder on myself by not just adding a separate piece that simply, you know, mapped out that business. And that's where that complexity and simplification comes into play. And sometimes what you think is simple isn't really simple.


[00:21:25] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. I totally agree.


[00:21:28] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm curious, you know, as you teach the courses and obviously, you know, teaching people the importance of, hey, sketching it out, how do you manage kind of the balance when you're teaching a course between focusing on the technical skills. Right. Everybody has to understand Excel. You got to know your accounting. Three statements. But there's a huge amount of soft skills that goes into a good modeler. Yeah. Telling that story, being able to ask the right questions. How do you balance that when you're teaching and thinking about a course?


[00:21:55] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, I think, Paul, I think you've nailed a really important thing that we all need to be thinking about constantly. I think of technical skills as the baseline. I think of soft skills as the thing that will set you apart, because it's not about how good the model is, how well the model is built, it's about how well it communicates a story, how well you communicate that story. How good are you at asking the right questions of stakeholders to understand their needs? It's about building rapport with those stakeholders. So and all of those things for me, because when I think about the people who do well in FP&A  and are typically sitting near the top of an FP&A  team, it's not their technical skills, it's their soft skills and how they show up. And so please, please, please don't neglect soft skills. So I try to integrate it as much as possible. The only problem is that it depends on how much time we have at KF. Right. Because I think a comprehensive FP and a learning curriculum has to include both the technical and the soft communication is key. In fact, we at CFI, we've just launched a course on communication best practice communication skills for FP&A  professionals.


[00:23:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Good. No, it's definitely one that's needed. And you know, FP&A, I think anyone who's doing modeling has to be a good communicator. Definitely the FAA  there's that business partnering aspect.


[00:23:17] Guest: Scott Powell: That yes.


[00:23:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You know, maybe even bigger than some areas of modeling. Like there are some people that really you're just hired to build the model. They're going to give you all the inputs and you hand it back over when you're done. But for the majority of us, whether it's FAA or not, you really have to be able to tell that story and challenge assumptions and go beyond just taking it all, putting it in and handing it back to someone.


[00:23:38] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly. And I also think your stakeholders will respect you more.


[00:23:44] Host: Paul Barnhurst: 100% agree, especially when you challenge them and you help them realize that some assumptions are wrong or something they're going to do is not going to have the result they think it's going to have. Because I've been in that situation where you start looking at going, I don't see how this is possible. Like, I can remember one time with the boss of mine, you know, kind of running through a bunch of marketing stuff. She's like, well, walk me through that. We got all done. And he was kind of like, oh, we are kind of screwed. That was kind of his. Didn't realize how expensive it was. And I'm like, yeah, fortunately we're getting growth, but it's not going to the bottom line because of the cost. Yeah, type of thing. And so we all have those moments. So if we have somebody listening, you know, we got obviously a lot of modelers and several that have started their own business. It's so much easier to create a course and do training today. If someone's listening and they want to start teaching about financial modeling or maybe to design a course, what would be the advice you would offer them?


[00:24:35] Guest: Scott Powell: Great question. So I would say the first thing is you want to be in service to that learner. So I think the people who do well in the teaching business, whether you create an online course or you're doing something in person, are people who show up with the learners' needs front and center. And if that is you, then I'd say you want to think about putting yourself in the seat of the learner. Because whenever I design a course, I go, where are they going to struggle? Where are the pain points for this learner? Because I need to focus on the things that are going to mess them around. You also want to think about the type of people you want to work with. What's your specialty? What value add can you bring? Um, there are quite a few in-person finance training firms out there, so if you think you want to try it, there are online firms like CFI. So there are opportunities to try it out. The other thing I always encourage people to do is take other people's courses. Think about what you like and you dislike, right? And that's going to give you a sense of how I can take something and enhance it. So one of the things that I noticed early on, even when I was doing in-person, you're going to won't believe this, but one of our competitors 20 years ago in New York taught financial modeling without Excel. How did it go?


[00:25:58] Host: Paul Barnhurst: They use?


[00:25:59] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, they literally just use slides and academically went through what it would look like without them doing so. There were screenshots of Excel.


[00:26:08] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh yeah, I would have been out the door pretty quick.


[00:26:11] Guest: Scott Powell: I like why it has.


[00:26:13] Guest: Scott Powell: To be hands-on.


[00:26:15] Guest: Scott Powell: Right now. Of course I'm giving you an extreme story, but sure. Um, but the idea is try, try as many as just try check out as many courses as possible.


[00:26:27] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's really good advice, right? You know, check out different courses. Keep the learner front and center, find out what their pain points are and try to solve them in your course. Makes a lot of sense. Give me some good reminders because sometimes when I'm building courses, I step away from that and you forget you're like, hey, how quickly can I get this done? Or what do I want to show? Not what do they really need? I definitely think that's a great reminder for me.


[00:26:51] Guest: Scott Powell: Paul, I'm glad you said that because that's the difference between being in service to others. I've seen a lot of people who are really good at modeling and excel. They're just wanting to show off, and so they go way too fast for the learner. They're showing their skills off like, look how awesome I am at the front of the room. That's you're not being in service to the learner.


[00:27:08] Host: Paul Barnhurst: No you're not. I've been guilty of that before where you try to show off. I still remember trying to show off in front of my boss when Dynamic Arrays first came out.


[00:27:15] Guest: Scott Powell: Oh, yeah.


[00:27:15] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And, uh, I built this scenario model, and of course, it broke right in the meeting, and I looked like an idiot. And I was just like, fortunately, I had a great relationship with my boss, and it didn't damage me. But it was that reminder of, like, you don't need to show off, just build it the basic way and give him what he needs instead of trying to be fancy.


[00:27:34] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, And listen, 20, 25 years ago, I was much younger and I caught myself showing off. What I would do is show off how quickly, how many Excel shortcuts I could use, and that I didn't need the mouse and I could build a model that would normally take an hour and ten minutes, and I would just be whipping on the keyboard and like the great, who cares about that?


[00:27:52] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I've always had kind of a contrarian view on shortcuts. I'm like, yes, they're helpful, and if you're building models all day, they will save you time, no question. But these people that like you have to be a keyboard warrior and never use your mouse, use a mouse. Most of my career. Yes. Do I know shortcuts now? Yes. Can it save you time? But if I'm building something where I'm really wanting to think I really care if I save my 30s and then spend five minutes thinking about the next thing I'm going to do. So I was like, you know, use the balance there. They're great and they can save you a ton of time. But, you know, keeping it in perspective is what I like to say.


[00:28:24] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. Which is just that practically makes sense. I say something very similar. Now, I have worked and taught at banks where their rule is you can't use the mouse. So I say, sorry guys, but for me, I'm not going to memorize every shortcut, especially those long ones that have multiple letters that I'm barely going to ever use. But the ones I'm using daily, like, I don't know, I use paste special all the time, so. Right. So I'm going to do alt HSV without even thinking, because I know I use it every day and I use it.


[00:28:53] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I do alt ESV. So funny how there's different options.


[00:28:56] Guest: Scott Powell: I know I actually do alt ESV too, but I'm the old guy. I actually got better so people know this.


[00:29:02] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You were both old guy. There you go.


[00:29:04] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, but what's nice about Excel is the old shortcuts. Even though they changed the ribbons, they made them still work. So I do use TSV, but even this morning I went on this podcast. Let me just make sure what's the one that they have now.


[00:29:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: It's like somebody came on and they mentioned control. L was their favorite. Like it creates a table and I'm like, oh, 2006 when it was a list before they made it. It took me a minute to think about it for a minute because it still works like I've never used control to create a table. I would have never even thought about it.


[00:29:37] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, and I and the E, I think I recall, I think it was edit, there was an edit tab probably.


[00:29:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. That makes sense. I'm going to guess you're right. That would make sense for the E. I'd never thought about what it stood for, but yeah now it's the home. Yeah. They keep making changes that's for sure.


[00:29:54] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah.


[00:29:54] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I'm curious when you talk about changes. Yeah. How do you manage teaching Excel to people with how rapidly it's changing nowadays to try to help make sure they're getting the best out of it, but also realizing that most people aren't going to take time to realize dynamic arrays. Lambda let Python office scripts. I could go on and on, right? The average person can barely keep up now with 365 and monthly updates. So kind of how do you balance trying to teach people the latest and make them more efficient with also knowing that sometimes almost feels like a full time job to really keep up with Excel nowadays.


[00:30:33] Guest: Scott Powell: The advantage of now is the volume of tools and new functionality, but it also is what can overwhelm us all. And so I tend to go like, you're not going to hear me say, please, everyone who's listening, you need to do Python Power Query, power BI. You need to be learning all the new Excel functions on a monthly basis. What I tend to say is what's the nature of your role? If you had to rank these tools in terms of how they'd be used, which one is the most critical to your role? And you owe it to yourself to focus there first because there's too much that's kind of high level. Because ultimately we all know this. But in FP&A  there can be many different focuses in those roles. And I could be, I think maybe 30 years ago you could be a Jack or Jill of all trades, right. I know VBA, it's a full time job. There's no way you can be a Jack or Jill of all trades with all the tools that are out there. So think about where you either where your role needs you to specialize or you want to specialize.


[00:31:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm 100% with you, especially when it comes to Excel. Like, you know anyone who tells me they're a master in Excel. I'm like, okay, let's talk. Like, I interviewed a guy once and I always ask, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10. The guy goes, I'm a ten. And just the way he said it, you could just sense the arrogance oozing out of him. Really smart guy. That was apparent. Like he could do the job, but he also had a high opinion of himself. And so I said, this is when Dynamic Razor first came out. Have you ever heard of Xlookup? No. Have you ever heard of sequences? No. Have you ever heard of this? No. And did you know a couple more? And I'm like, would you like to change your answer? And I said that to him. And he looked at me and he goes, fine, a nine. Like if we didn't hire him. But, you know, it's like a little humility and recognizing that nobody knows anything. Like, if you want to tell me a ten, give me a good read. But his reasoning just didn't fly.


[00:32:31] Guest: Scott Powell: I also think we're abusers of certain functions that we encountered earlier on in our careers, and don't realize that there are much more efficient ones. Like you mentioned Xlookup. I still see people building things with Vlookup when Xlookup is there because they don't know or there are, and Excel is coming up with new functions, and that's as an older guy. Do you know what I do? I actually use AI now and I say, hey, I'm using this function. Is there a newer function that's more eloquent, more adaptable? And that's been quite helpful.


[00:33:02] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Bad financial models can lead to bad decisions or worse. So, how do you minimize the risk of a bad model? You make sure the models you build are great. The Financial Modeling Institute developed the Advanced Financial Modeler accreditation program to help modelers like you. The AFM program offers a step-by-step approach to building world-class financial models. The program ensures that you know the best practices in model design and structure, and will help you brush up on your Excel and accounting skills to be the one on your team to build great models. If you want to impress your boss and your clients, get AFM accredited. Podcast listeners. Save 15% on the AFM program. Just use Code Podcast at www.fminstitute.com/podcast.



[00:34:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's actually a really good idea. I haven't thought of doing that, but yeah, say, hey, this is how I'm doing it. Is there a newer, more efficient way? And if there is, it will tell you.


[00:34:16] Guest: Scott Powell: Like I'm an abuser of offset. You mentioned the offset function. I love the offset function. I'm an abuser of index matching shoes and I'm an abuser. I used to be an abuser of Vlookup, but I don't. I hate vlookup.


[00:34:30] Host: Paul Barnhurst: How about indirect? Do you abuse that one?


[00:34:32] Guest: Scott Powell: Not so much though.


[00:34:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I've been an abuser of that one more than not.


[00:34:40] Guest: Scott Powell: But anyway. So I'll stop talking.


[00:34:43] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, no, you're totally fine. So if you want to know how to slow down a model, be an abuser. Of what? See? Offset. Indirect. Today you can come up with some other volatile functions. You start abusing those a lot in your model and watch it slow down and explode in size.


[00:34:59] Guest: Scott Powell: The one I always go to, which is the most simple function, is those nested if statements. Like please don't have nested if statements. Yeah I.


[00:35:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Know.


[00:35:08] Guest: Scott Powell: I think it's 64, I can't remember, but I think you can correct me if I'm. But it used to be I think it was 7 or 8 but then several years ago.


[00:35:16] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, it's something like 64 I think. That's right.


[00:35:18] Guest: Scott Powell: And I've seen some.


[00:35:19] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm really grateful. I wrote SQL for a while, and I was doing everything as an if statement. And my boss said no, like set up separate tables in the database to do your logic, and you walk me through how to do that. And that was a really good learning for me, because I'll try to think, how can I set up a separate table and just do a lookup instead of a bunch of ifs, three or 4 or 5? If you have more than that, you probably should ask yourself, is there a better way to do it? If you have 64, you should probably start over with your model. You probably should burn it.


[00:35:49] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly, I, I agree.


[00:35:52] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And the other thing is please put each if on a separate line. Yeah, like just hit alt enter.


[00:35:57] Guest: Scott Powell: All you have to do. Exactly.


[00:35:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Read it.


[00:35:59] Guest: Scott Powell: Even if you're going to use nested if statements do that of course.


[00:36:04] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Ifs works great. Switch. There are others to replace it now, but I hear you. So I have to ask if I remember where I saw it, but I saw it online. You're a pinball enthusiast.


[00:36:15] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. So I have four pinball machines in my home and I want more, I want more.


[00:36:21] Host: Paul Barnhurst: And what's your finger pinball machine that you've owned?


[00:36:23] Guest: Scott Powell: Well, so here's I remember I told you I grew up in a small rural town in Canada, and there wasn't much to do, but there was a bowling alley with three pinball machines. And so after school, the bowling alley was between school and home. We rode our bikes, my brother and I, we had money from our chores, like quarters, and on the way home we'd always stop at the bowling alley not to bowl, but to play pinball. So one of the pinball machines that was there was a pinball machine called Buck Rogers, 1980.


[00:36:54] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I remember Buck Rogers.


[00:36:55] Guest: Scott Powell: And I happened to be hunting for a pinball and I found it. So I have an original Buck Rogers pinball machine that I got fixed up. But there's a new one. There's a company called Jersey. So anyway, as a kid in a small town, it was like magic. It was something that was so much fun. And there were not many things where you could go swimming, biking. Oh, that's about it, right? You're not in or go to the bowling alley and.


[00:37:24] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Play So pinball was something to do as a kid, and it stuck with.


[00:37:27] Guest: Scott Powell: You? Yeah, exactly.


[00:37:29] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So now I have a couple more kinds of standard questions in a minute here we're going to get to rapid fire, which I'll set the rules for. But first, what's your favorite Excel shortcut?


[00:37:37] Guest: Scott Powell: Okay. So it's controlled tilde. Do you know control? No one's gonna know it. Tilde.


[00:37:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I know I've done this one, but it's slipping my mind right now. Remind me what it does.


[00:37:46] Guest: Scott Powell: So, tilde, I had to look it up. What? Tilde is. But it's the accent key right below the escape key on a keyboard.


[00:37:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, right next to the one.


[00:37:53] Guest: Scott Powell: Yep. You got it right next to the one. And if you have a model and it has, and you want to see all the formulas on this sheet appear, it actually toggles between seeing the formulas in all cells or seeing the numbers. So you can.


[00:38:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. So R1 changes the notation from seeing the answer to seeing the full formula.


[00:38:11] Guest: Scott Powell: You got it.


[00:38:12] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's right. I knew I knew that somewhere but I don't use it often.


[00:38:15] Guest: Scott Powell: So but I've already told you the ones that I my favorite ones are the ones I use daily. So alt sv I use go to special auto So Ctrl, G or F5 to find things. Um, so those are my I knew I was going to be asked this question. I thought, let's be honest. Let's just think about the ones I use every time I open Excel.


[00:38:36] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I mean, I use control C, control V a lot, right? There's some control T is one of mine. F4 is some of the most simple that most of us use.


[00:38:46] Guest: Scott Powell: Right. And that's where I like learn those ones that you know you're going to use any keystroke. My view is any keystroke in Excel you're going to use prolifically. Every time you open Excel. That's when you should learn the shortcut.


[00:38:56] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. There's probably, you know, 20 or 25 that would cover 90% of what you're doing, the control and the arrow keys to be real quick moving around and, you know, control down the copying, the pasting, the cleaning up your formulas. There's, you know, then then after that, you can always hit alt and just run through the menu. If you don't want to use the mouse and figure it out. If you're using one a ton, you can see if there's another shortcut for it.


[00:39:19] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. And the other thing. So I know we need to move on. But the other thing I do is I always tailor my custom shortcut bar at the very top. You know how you can add things, because then when you hit alt, you just hit the number one, two, three. So anything that's complicated to get to with the shortcut key, but I use a lot. I'm going to put up in that bar so I can just go alt one, alt two, alt three.


[00:39:39] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I know a lot of people use that as well. It is a great way to do that. So all right. This is kind of a fun question. We ask what's the maybe funniest or most unique thing you've created a model for or used? A spreadsheet doesn't really need to be a model, but maybe you've done an Excel. Could even be Google Sheets. I won't hold it against you in your personal life.


[00:39:59] Guest: Scott Powell: How dare you say Google Sheets? That's shameful. No? Okay, so I'm a nerd. I am also an educator. So because I love Excel so much, I've created full blown simulations only using Excel. So for example, I've created an asset management simulation for portfolio managers where you manage equities bonds and you get feedback on your decisions as a simulation moves through four years and it's all automatic, all built off of Excel. And I've done, I think, 30 different simulations. And I love it because I geek out, right? I'm going, how am I going to build this? And I don't have to have any sophisticated software. It's amazing what you can build. I'm not saying everyone should build everything in Excel. You need to choose your battles. I've seen people use Excel for things where they should be using software like FP&A  software. That's all right.


[00:40:52] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, or maybe they should have a database.


[00:40:54] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly.


[00:40:56] Host: Paul Barnhurst: But we've all seen it. And I saw it somewhere one time, so I put it on LinkedIn. It always stuck with me. They had 15 different categories, and they had a ribbon that said second place. And they showed a picture of Excel, like kind of almost. It's always the second best tool for just about everything. Yeah, but that doesn't mean you should use it for everything.


[00:41:14] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly.


[00:41:15] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So I'm totally with you. It's amazing what you can do. All right, so we're going to move to rapid fire. Here's how this works. So I'm going to lay some ground rules. You can't say it depends. Looking for quick answers. Yes or no. And then on the 1 or 2 you're most passionate about you can elaborate at the end. So you can't be a consultant or a teacher for this.


[00:41:34] Guest: Scott Powell: Okay.


[00:41:34] Host: Paul Barnhurst: So if you had to pick one side or the other, which one would you pick? Okay. Don't worry. We will make it too hard on you. Circular references. Yes or no?


[00:41:42] Guest: Scott Powell: No.


[00:41:43] Host: Paul Barnhurst: VBA.


[00:41:44] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, I have to say no. Right. I'm gonna have to say no.


[00:41:47] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Do you prefer horizontal models where you mostly have it all in one sheet or vertical, where you kind of put each schedule on a different sheet?


[00:41:54] Guest: Scott Powell: Um, my CFI colleagues are going to hate me. I like horizontal, I like multiple sheets.


[00:41:59] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I was wondering if you get yourself in trouble there. All right, so dynamic arrays in models yes or no.


[00:42:05] Guest: Scott Powell: Yes.


[00:42:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: How about fully dynamic. We're using 100% arrays in a model.


[00:42:10] Guest: Scott Powell: I would still lean. Yes.


[00:42:12] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Interesting. Okay. I might have to ask about that at the end. External workbook links. Yes or no.


[00:42:18] Guest: Scott Powell: Oh, I hate these are yes or no.


[00:42:20] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You can elaborate at the end. I know everybody hates these because I want to elaborate.


[00:42:25] Guest: Scott Powell: I'd say no.


[00:42:26] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. Named ranges. Yes or no?


[00:42:29] Guest: Scott Powell: You know, I love them, and I use them occasionally. Some of these things are with, if you're judicious about it. But you said yes or no. So I'm going to say no, but I use them. But I'm very judicious.


[00:42:42] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm with you. I use them judiciously as well. Do you follow formal standards like Fast or Smart or some of the other standards that are out there in your modeling?


[00:42:51] Guest: Scott Powell: So the answer is yes. But what I say to everyone is, at least as an FP&A  team in your organization, have one set of standards that everyone follows. I don't really care if they match someone else, but you all need to be playing from the same sheet.


[00:43:04] Host: Paul Barnhurst: That's what I've started teaching people. I'm like, just agree to things. I don't care if it's a formal standard or not, but at least it has the same color coding and other things.


[00:43:11] Guest: Scott Powell: Like exactly like what's your input color? Please just make sure it's the same. If it's not a blue font, I don't care.


[00:43:17] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, I'll even show them. I'm like, you can use Excel's colors because Excel has that in its styles. I think they're hideous. I built one model that way and I thought it was hard on the eyes, I'll be honest. But that's what you want to do. Do it. All right, so this one will be real quick on these. Should financial modelers learn Python in Excel?


[00:43:34] Guest: Scott Powell:  yes.


[00:43:35] Host: Paul Barnhurst: What about Power Query?


[00:43:36] Guest: Scott Powell: Yes.


[00:43:37] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Power BI.


[00:43:38] Guest: Scott Powell: Yes.


[00:43:39] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. Will Excel ever die?


[00:43:42] Guest: Scott Powell: I'm going to be an optimist and say no. And I'll tell you why.


[00:43:45] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. I'd love to hear about this one.


[00:43:47] Guest: Scott Powell: Oh, sorry. No.


[00:43:48] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Go ahead. You could elaborate now. I'll give you a chance. Now to elaborate.


[00:43:52] Guest: Scott Powell: People need to be able to see things in a certain format with this grids and the numbers. So I think the very nature of the way the information is presented, whether it's Excel or something else, is so valuable that it's never going to die. Will Microsoft Excel be replaced by Google Sheets? Maybe. You know what I mean.


[00:44:13] Host: Paul Barnhurst: But the spreadsheet, the spreadsheet is an input form is never going anywhere.


[00:44:19] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah, because when I started my career, I was using a software called Lotus 123.


[00:44:23] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Oh, yeah, I remember using it.


[00:44:24] Guest: Scott Powell: So the thing is, but maybe I'm too optimistic because I think Excel's the best thing since sliced bread.


[00:44:30] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Only sliced bread? I thought it was even better than that. But we'll go with that.


[00:44:33] Guest: Scott Powell: Okay.


[00:44:34] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Do you think I will build the models for us in the future?


[00:44:38] Guest: Scott Powell: No, we could talk about that if you want.


[00:44:41] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right, just have two more, and then I'll let you elaborate on 1 or 2. Do you believe financial models are the number one corporate decision making tool?


[00:44:50] Guest: Scott Powell: Yes.


[00:44:51] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. And what is your lookup function of choice?


[00:44:55] Guest: Scott Powell: Xlookup I love Xlookup only because Vlookup, every time I was teaching Vlookup had so many issues with it and it was like, this is just driving people crazy, especially in FP&A  with big models and big data sets. So I think Xlookup was such a savior for so many people who especially work with big data sets.


[00:45:16] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I'm with you. I well, it was easier to teach too.


[00:45:19] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah.


[00:45:19] Host: Paul Barnhurst: I it makes a lot more sense. If you didn't know Vlookup at all, you'd be like, wait, why did we design it that way?


[00:45:25] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly. And don't learn it now. Don't learn it now.


[00:45:29] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. I was teaching some girls about a year ago. They were 18. Their dad hired me to teach him excel as they were going to college. And I taught him Xlookup and like, why are you even teaching us this? I didn't teach him xlookup. Go. The only reason I'm teaching it is because you'll see it in models.


[00:45:41] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. Which is true.


[00:45:43] Host: Paul Barnhurst: You're aware. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have taught you this. Because it doesn't. Don't use it. I'm not teaching you to use it. I'm teaching you because you'll run into it somewhere along the way.


[00:45:52] Guest: Scott Powell: No, it's a very fair comment. That's why I was humming with VBA, because the problem is there's these legacy models with VBA code. So if you are working with an FP&A  model with VBA code, maybe you need to learn it because you need to update the VBA.


[00:46:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah, it's a challenge. I know some basic VBA. I've never gone deep in VBA. I usually have others if I need it. At this point I won't. Trust me. All right. Are there any? Anything there you want to maybe add a little bit of context to.


[00:46:18] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. So named ranges don't name every row or column because then you get so many hundreds of names and that you actually can't find anything you don't. And also the names don't mean anything. If you're very thoughtful about something that you need to refer to a lot in the model, like in a valuation model, maybe it's the weighted average cost of capital. Okay, I might name WACC and everyone knows what that WACC is, but I've seen named ranges that literally there are 1000 name ranges.


[00:46:50] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Just use a table at that point.


[00:46:52] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah. And with the should financial modelers learn Python, Power Query, power BI, the more the better. But I would say to you I'd go back to what I said earlier. Which one are you going to use the most? That's the one you should focus on.


[00:47:06] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Yeah. And for me an FP&A  was definitely Power Query.


[00:47:09] Guest: Scott Powell: Yeah.


[00:47:10] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Now it might be Python a little bit more, but I get what you're saying. You have to pick and choose because learning all three of them deeply is an incredible investment for the average person.


[00:47:19] Guest: Scott Powell: Exactly.


[00:47:21] Host: Paul Barnhurst: All right. Well, I think we're just coming up to the end of our interview. So give you an opportunity. Any last words or anything you'd like to share before we let you go here?


[00:47:30] Guest: Scott Powell: Um, yeah. Just one thing that if you are passionate about Excel, one of the things that I always say is every time you're in Excel, try to learn just one new thing, however small, and add it to your toolkit and start using. Maybe it's a new shortcut of something you're you know, that you're using a lot, as we talked about. Um, maybe it's because we can get so caught up in our day-to-day that we then just keep using the same tools, the same approach. And if you take 5 to 10 minutes to learn one small thing new, and you think about it as a habit, in a year, you're going to have learned a ton.


[00:48:07] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Very true. That's great advice. So we'll go ahead and put, you know, Corporate Finance Institute in your LinkedIn profile in the show notes, in case somebody wants to reach out to you, if there's any other way you think they should get in touch with you, feel free to let us know. But I'm guessing LinkedIn and CFI are probably the two best ways.


[00:48:24] Guest: Scott Powell: You got it. Check us out. Check me out at Corporate Finance Institute or on LinkedIn.


[00:48:29] Host: Paul Barnhurst: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for carving out some time, Scott. Enjoy chatting with you and enjoy the rest of your day.


[00:48:35] Guest: Scott Powell: Thanks so much, Paul. It's been a real pleasure.


[00:48:38] Host: Paul Barnhurst:  Financial Modeler's Corner was brought to you by the Financial Modeling Institute. This year, I completed the Advanced Financial Modeler certification and it made me a better financial modeler. What are you waiting for? Visit FMI at www.fminstitute.com/podcast and use Code Podcast to save 15% when you enroll in one of the accreditations today.




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