Why Your Brilliant Financial Analysis Gets Ignored: The Precision Trap with Asif Masani
In this episode of FP&A Unlocked, Paul Barnhurst speaks with Asif Masani about his new book, The Precision Trap, and why finance teams can focus too much on accuracy and miss the decision window. Asif explains how FP&A professionals can deliver timely analysis, influence business decisions, and become stronger business partners.
Asif Masani is a Director at FP&A Professionals Institute and FP&A Jobs, an author, and Udemy instructor focused on helping finance professionals develop their FP&A skills. He is the author of All About FP&A, From Accounting to FP&A, and Data Storytelling Playbook.
Expect to Learn:
What the “precision trap” means for FP&A.
Why timely analysis can be more valuable than perfect accuracy.
How to choose the right level of accuracy for a decision.
What questions to ask before starting an analysis.
How finance professionals can become better business partners.
How the DERP framework improves variance analysis.
Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:
"Finance people are very good at doing analysis, but they're not very good at influencing decisions." - Asif Masani
"The decision that could wait earlier for three weeks, can't wait today for three days." - Asif Masani
The key to avoiding the precision trap is understanding what decision the analysis needs to support, who needs it, and when they need it. Asif explains why finance professionals should focus on delivering useful analysis at the right time and earning a place in important business decisions.
Follow Asif:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asifmasani/
Website: https://fpnaprofessionals.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 CreditFor CPE credit, please go toearmarkcpe.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
[04:58] - What Great FP&A Looks Like
[10:30] - Building the FP&A Professionals Institute
[18:33] - Understanding the Precision Trap
[20:35] - Why Timely Analysis Matters
[29:44] - Spotting the Precision Trap in Organizations
[35:16] - Essential FP&A Skills
[38:04] - The DERP Framework
[39:54] - Getting to Know Asif [44:56] - Final Advice for Finance Professionals
Full Show Transcript:
Host: Paul Barnhurst (01:10):
Welcome to another episode of FP&A Unlocked, where finance meets strategy. I'm your host, Paul Barnhurst, AKA the FP&A guide. Each week we bring you conversations and practical advice from thought leaders, industry experts, and practitioners who are reshaping the role of FP&A in today's business world. Together, we'll uncover the strategies and experiences that separate good FP&A professionals from great ones, helping you elevate your career and drive strategic impact. This week's guest probably needs no introduction. If you were ever on LinkedIn, you follow someone in the FP&A space you've probably heard of, read in one of his books, see one of his posts. So I'm going to welcome to the show, Asif Masani.Asif, welcome.
Guest: Asif Masani (01:58):
Thank you so much, Paul, and it is always great to be back on your podcast. I think we did one two years back and I still get people reaching out to me because of that podcast, so it's always good to be back.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (02:11):
Well, good. Welcome back. I'm glad I could send people to you. Remember to send me referrals each time. I'm kidding. No, I hear that a lot from people that somebody reached out after being on the show. So it's fun when people tell me that. I love that people listen and they get value. That's what it's all about. Before I get into the questions, why don't you go ahead and take a minute, introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about your background.
Guest: Asif Masani (02:37):
Sure, Paul. So I do two things. One is I write about FP&A. So there are four books now out on FP&A. One is all about FP&A, which was the first one back in 2022, which was then followed by From Accounting to FP&A, which came out in 2024. And then the latest one was the data storytelling playbook, which happened in 2025. And as we speak, the next book is in the pipeline, which is the precision trap. So that is one. And the thing that I love is training people on FP&A skills, which is where I have, or we have a certification with the CDFPA certification at the FP&A Professional Institute. So I am the CDFPA certification director at the FP&A Professional Institute. So those are the two things that I love doing and I spend most of my time doing that.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (03:34):
Got it. No, that's cool. I know you did a lot of training. So four books now. When you wrote your first book, did you have any idea that you'd be writing one a year?
Guest: Asif Masani (03:43):
I did not actually. So I always wanted to write one. Then the second happened as a result of people reaching out to me on more questions on the first book. So that is how the second book happened. The third book happened because of money. I think the publisher was paying me some money for that. So that is purely for money. This one is more out of. I had a couple of more books in the pipeline, but this one was a book which came out of instinct. So as soon as I got the idea, from the time it was initiated till the time of published, it was, I think happened in four and a half months. I got the idea in February this year, just four and a half months back. And I had to get this out as soon as possible and it got pre-pulled because of that reason and then came out this month.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (04:34):
Got it. All right. So before we get deep into the book and some more things about you, I like to start every show with this question. I'm sure I probably asked something similar last time we chatted, but I'm going to guess a lot of people haven't heard that interview or don't remember. So if I ask you to define what great FP&A looks like, how would you define it?
Guest: Asif Masani (04:58):
I would say first is that somebody who's good in FP&A should be reached out before the business makes a decision. So that is, I would say the number one quality if you are evaluating yourself as an FP&A professional. If the business teams or people who you work with are reaching out to you before making a critical decision or before making a decision that is impacting the business, I would say that is what a great FP&A could look like. I could add, so having a good point of view as a finance person for business is another good quality. So if I am producing a report or if I'm sending an analysis, I just don't send the analysis, but I send my recommendation, which could be out of the five different recommendations and why I would pick that one. So giving your own point of view is, I would say another good quality I see in good FP&A professionals.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (06:01):
Okay. Appreciate that. I think that's a great point of they want you in the room when they're making decision. And so I could totally understand with that one. So I know you started your career as an accountant. How did you end up ultimately getting into the FP&A? How did that change come about?
Guest: Asif Masani (06:18):
Absolutely. So I started as an auditor back in 2010 with EY. And to be honest, I really liked doing that job for a couple of years. So from 2010 to 2012, I absolutely loved doing audits. At some point after working there for a couple of years, so the things I liked in the audit role was especially the respected commands from your stakeholders, be it the accounting team, be it the finance team. So if you are an auditor, that was something that I really liked when I started, that if you ask for something that is something that they take it as, that is a wish that they need to fulfil as soon as possible, otherwise it could lead to consequences. So that was the initial reason I used to absolutely love the audit role. However, over time, I think about a year or two years into the role, what I realised was that respect was not out of will.
(07:18):
It was more coming out of compulsion. Over time I realised that auditor is not somebody who you would like to talk to willingly, but it is more of a forced conversation and you don't get invited because of your work, but it is because of your designation. Yeah.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (07:36):
Nobody wants the auditor in the room because they like the auditor. The reason the auditor's there is they want to stay out of trouble or they want a certification. So totally understand that. I will admit it, I hated working with the auditors because I didn't want to deal with it. I mean, I get it. There you go. And I was nice, but there were more than a few times of like, "Can you guys just please leave me alone?"
Guest: Asif Masani (07:59):
Yes. Yes. So over time I realised that, and also I was working on reports which were looking at numbers which happened in the previous year and not being close to making decisions, which I could see was happening on the other side with my clients. And yeah, those were the two reasons which led me to change after three years of working in audit, although I was very happy first couple of years, but at some point I realised that I need to be in a role where I am closer to decisions, working closely with the business rather than working after everything is done. So that was the reason. And at the time when I decided to move back in 2013, 2014, end of 2013, I did not know even what FP&A was. So my first choice or first few profiles that I wanted to get in was, as you mentioned, investment banking was your favourite as well.
(09:01):
So investment banking was very hot at that time and valuation. So those were the two profiles I wanted to get in. And the number three was equity research. I could not get into innocent banking. I could not get into valuation. Give a couple of interviews, did not make it through. I gave a few interviews on equity research. I got the offer, but the pay was too low compared to the other offer which I got, which eventually turned out to be an FP&A role, which I did not know till the time I got into the role. So what I would say is it's not that I chose FP&A. I did not even know what FP&A was till the time I got into my role into the first couple of weeks, it was FP&A who chose me rather than me choosing FP&A.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (09:43):
Yeah. I have a similar story in that sense of I got into FP&A because the role was open, it was a promotion and they hired me. So I was making more
Guest: Asif Masani (09:53):
Money.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (09:54):
So I totally, I get it. I think a lot of us, because it's not something you hear about in college, very few universities have programme or created courses around FP&A. So I totally agree with you. All right. So you have been up to a lot since the last time I interviewed you. You've started your own business, you've moved to the Middle East, you've written a couple books, one of which we're going to talk a little bit about, but let's start. Tell our audience about your business, FP&A Professionals Institute. What exactly is it? Who does it serve? What's that journey been like?
Guest: Asif Masani (10:30):
Absolutely. So you mentioned it, Paul, just in the previous conversation, not a lot of people know about FP&A while they are in college. So that is what our mission is. One is to help one million finance professionals upskill in FP&A. So that is a primary goal, which is why we started FPI. And also to build that awareness among university students and college students. You should look at FP&A as an option, especially in today's time and age other than audit, other than accounting, other than taxation. So those are the two reasons why we started FP&A. One is to create awareness about FP&A roles among young finance professionals who have just come out of college, come out of your CA, CPAs, and then to help people who are stuck in accounting audit taxation roles where they know that they need to get into FP&A. And that is where the FP&A Institute helps these professions.
(11:35):
So
Host: Paul Barnhurst (11:35):
Kind of trying to help those people either get out of their current roles, find FP&A, train them so they can be better at it.
Guest: Asif Masani (11:42):
In terms of your other question, which is on moving to the Middle East and getting into the business. So this was back in 2022 when we first met. I don't know if you remember that. It was first when we had a small group of Anders, Leo Lindbergh, Kristen Vatig, Nicholas Burchau. Now they all become very big names in their respective. Already they were big at that time as well. So it was inspired by actually you and Anders and Paul and Nicholas who were doing so well on LinkedIn in terms of educating the audience. And I saw that you started your own business back in 2021. So that was one of the reasons. Then I saw Kristen get into the FP&A training. When I saw Nicholas, that was the environment. I believe that was one of the biggest reasons for me to get into business because I saw this could be a real opportunity where you get to do something which you'd like and make money as well.
(12:47):
So I would thank you and all the other people that I mentioned for that. In terms of moving to the Middle East, so while we were doing the LinkedIn content back in 21, 22, I also started writing on my first book, which was basically using the same content and then creating a book out of it. And as soon as that book got published, it became Amazon bestseller in the management accounting category for quite a while, for good five to six months during 2022. And I started getting a lot of requests from people on LinkedIn, on my DMs who read the book, who figured out about the book and wanted to learn more and wanted to do trainings, structured trainings on FP&A. So that is when I reached out to my present business partner, which you met Dawal. So I used to direct all the people who used to come to my DMs to the FP&A Foundations course, which Dawal had back from 2020.
(13:51):
So he was already doing FP&A trainings on Udemy. And so that was the only training available, which I knew of at that point, which was four years, five years back. Now there are plenty, but at that time it was the only training that I knew of. So I was giving or I was directing them to the Udemy course, I was just the FP&A foundations. And at some point me and Dawal connected and he shared a similar mission like I did, and that's how we came together. So we did FP&A trainings on Saturdays and Sundays for good one year before we went in full-time. So we did it for one year and then apparently we are talking to each other on Slack, you, me, Nicholas, and I was looking at you guys doing it as well. So that's how it came, that's how I got into the business.
(14:41):
I left my Coursera FP&A APAC role, which was 2023, 2023, end of 2023. And that's when we started FP&A Professors Institute. Dawal was supposed to join me after one year, but looking at me, he immediately gave and he resigned after two months. So he joined me in March 2024. So that's how we started. And at that time, Dawal was already in the Middle East. His CFO role was in the Middle East, and he had settled down with his daughter and wife in the Middle East, and he didn't want to move back to India. And we were evaluating different options for where should we register our company, what FP&A Professors Institute. And India and Middle East were the two options, and Middle East was a clear winner because of various reasons on the taxation benefits and the residency benefits and all of that. So we registered our company in the Middle East, and I was in India for 2025, but eventually Dawal made me come to the Middle East eventually once we are doing well on the company.
(15:49):
So that's how I moved to the Middle East just last year, about six, eight months back. Thank
Host: Paul Barnhurst (15:53):
You for sharing a little bit of that journey and how you ended up in the Middle East. I appreciate that. So next I'm going to ask, in the three years you've been running the business, what's been the most rewarding experience? What have you enjoyed the most?
Guest: Asif Masani (16:07):
So I think you would resonate or relate with this because I know you do FP&A trainings and a lot of good things about that. So what I would say is the best feeling is when somebody reads your book or watches your YouTube video or somebody takes those programme like the CDFPA programme, and after they do that, they go to the interview and then are able to get into the FP&A role. I think that is one of the best feelings that you could ever get. And that frequency has kept on increasing. So earlier to get one message a quarter back in 2022, it kept on increasing. Right now, I would be surprised if I don't hear from one person a week who's either read my book, watched a YouTube video, or taken one of our certifications and has cleared the FP&A interview. So I think that is the reason why we do this every day and day in and day out.
(17:04):
Yeah.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (17:04):
No, I appreciate you sharing that. It is always rewarding when you hear from people. All right, so let's jump into your book. I want to spend some time there. It's called The Precision Trap. I think you ended up deciding earlier this year to write it. How did that come about? Let's start with why did you pick this topic for the book? FP&A guy here. I want to take a minute and share something I've been working on. I've spent several months adding new affiliate programmes to my website, probably wondering why affiliate programmes? Well, I can't train you on everything, but I can show you and give you trusted resources with exclusive FP&A guide discounts in many cases on my website. I have several of the top FP&A AI people in the world. I have the top certificate programmes. I also have other programmes like Excel, Power BI.
(17:57):
I'm bringing you some of the top people that train in the world. There's Nicholas Boucher with exclusive discounts, David 14, Matting Carl Seidman with exclusive discount, the top programmes, FPAC, FMI, and more. So go ahead and check it out on my website, sign up. And if you have a question on what programme is right for you, go ahead and message me. I'll get back to you, LinkedIn or you can email me. So go to thefpaguy.com and check out my trusted list of resources for you to upskill yourself. So
Guest: Asif Masani (18:33):
This was a pattern I am sure you must have come across, and I have been looking at since I was working in FP&A back in 2015. And over the 10 years, I have noticed that pattern and that pattern became very, very evident, especially when you work with so many students taking your programmes. And after speaking to, I would say, hundreds of FP&A professionals who take our programme certifications courses, that pattern, which is finance people are very good at doing analysis, but they're not very good at influencing decisions, which is what the underlying theme of the book is. And at many places, finance teams go so deep into analysis and are so concerned about the numbers being 100% accurate that they miss the decision window and then the business stops asking them questions. The CFO stops expecting answers on time and the business usually moves on.
(19:40):
So that is a pattern I'm sure you must have seen and I have experienced it while I was working in FP&A. But at that time I thought it was probably just me. But after working with so many students and listening to CFOs and listening to FP&A, people who have worked in finance, that pattern became very, very evident. And what I try to do is I try to give that pattern a name, which is a book, which is a precision tab. So that is what the book does. Okay.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (20:09):
Thank you for that. So you started the book off by telling a story, and I'd love for you to lay that out, that story and why you started the book with that story. So you start off, there's a line that says, "Honestly, most of the time the business has already decided before our deck is ready." Tell the story of someone who shared that with you and just kind of set that up for the audience.
Guest: Asif Masani (20:35):
Absolutely. So what the context of the story is that we as finance professionals, whatever we've learned in our curriculums back in the college, back in the university, or in the professional certifications, be it CMA, CPA or CA, we have been trained for a world that has changed drastically. So whatever we've learned was built for, I would say the early 2000s, and that was rewarding people for being 100% accurate. So what I would say is there needs to be some trade-off between you being accurate and you delivering your analysis or your report on time, which can influence the decision. So the pace of business today has changed so much that the decision that could wait earlier for three weeks can't wait today for three days. So that is the exact gap that we are trying to address. Got
Host: Paul Barnhurst (21:41):
It. Kind of that whole gap of the decision taking too long. And so is the primary reason for that then, do you think it's the way accountants are trained? I mean, because yes, you have accountants in FP&A, but you have people that come from finance or different backgrounds. So there must be something more than just training. Training I think is one you mentioned, but what are the root causes? Training
Guest: Asif Masani (22:04):
Is one. The other could be that finance is still trained and mainly operated by people who have been. So finance is mainly operated by people who have been in that environment for so long and now it's hard for them to change. So that is what I would say in terms of apart from the training, it could be the environment of the organisation. So just to take an example, if I was in the early 2000s and I needed to take a decision, I could prepare a model, wait for three weeks because everybody was on that slow clock. And if I was late by a week or two, it did not really matter. And the decisions at that point largely irreversible. So the fact that I need to wait and be very thorough and accurate made sense at that point of time. But now as we are in 2026, a lot of the decisions are fairly reversible, meaning if you want to test the pricing, you want to make some changes on the website, if you want to try out a new payment plan, you could do that quickly and the consequences of that going wrong are not that high as it was back in the 2000s.
(23:35):
So it makes more sense to take the decisions quickly and for that to happen, you need to have a finance business partner that can help you do that. So that is what I would say is changed apart from the training. So it is the business environment that has made that switch. Got
Host: Paul Barnhurst (23:53):
It. So we have the training, we have different business environments. So obviously a lot of people struggle with feeling like they're in the trap. The example you mentioned of they already decided before a deck is ready. A lot of times the decision is made before finance figures out what they were doing. So how do we get out of. I want on two levels. First, how do individuals get out of the precision trap? How do organisations get out of the precision trap? So let's start with the individual. I'm an individual. I notice I have this problem. What should I be doing? There
Guest: Asif Masani (24:30):
Are a few tools that I have recommended or have written about in the books. I'll mention a couple of them. So one is about understanding how accurate your analysis needs to be given different parameters. So for example, I would say there are, just to categorise it broadly, there are three different levels of accuracy that you need to understand about. So first is something called as a directional number. So if you're looking to make a quick decision within the next couple of hours, you don't need a number that is required for say an annual report or a board report. You could go and work with something called as a directional number. So directional number is something which you should be able to easily pull up in the next 10 minutes and be reasonably confident about using that to make a decision. The second is a working number.
(25:27):
Say for example, if you want to use something for the CFO review or the CEO review, which is for internal decision or which is for internal monthly presentations or QBRs, that is where you could use something called as a working number, which is slightly more detailed or accurate than a directional number where you understand where that number is coming from, what is the source, how does it reconcile to the final number? So that is what the working number is. And the final number is what we call it as a definitive number, which is what you should be waiting for, which you should spend good amount of time. These are the numbers that go outside of your organisations to investors for statutory filings. So a lot of time what I've seen is finance professionals are not able to distinguish between them and they end up spending the same amount of time where they could have used a directional number and they are spending three days or five days or couple of weeks assuming that a definitive number is required where a directional number could have done the job.
(26:33):
So that is one, which is what we call as the accuracy dial where you need to understand where you need to use the direction number and where you need a definitive number. Another one that comes in my mind is what I call as the stakeholder contract where you need to ask your business stakeholder a few questions before even you start your analysis or you even open the Excel file. So these are questions which are why do you need the analysis? You need to understand the purpose of the analysis before you start doing the analysis. Second question is where this analysis will be used. So where are you going to use this analysis? That could influence how much time you need to spend on the analysis. The third question could be, once I give you this analysis, what decision are you going to make on based on that?
(27:20):
That could be another cue for you to be able to gauge how much detail the analysis need to be. Another question could be, what do you need in terms of the format of the analysis? Should it be an Excel file? Should it be a PowerPoint? Is a Excel file with the table okay or you need a 10 page detailed report? So that is a fourth question. And then finally, when do you need this analysis? So is it today end of the day or you could wait till the Friday end of the day? So based on these four or five questions, you can gauge what level of analysis you need to be able to perform to be able to address the stakeholder's requirement for making that particular decision. So I would say these are two of the ones that I can share. One is the accuracy dial, which I talked about, and the second one is these questions that you should ask your stakeholders before you even begin or open the Excel file.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (28:14):
FP&A guy here. We'll get back to the show in a minute. This section is unscripted. When I started my business, I had two main goals, to be trusted and for my content to come across as authentic and helpful. I've heard from many of you that I've accomplished those. Today I have three goals, to be trusted, authentic, and have the best beard in finance. All right, enough with the jokes, enough with the fun. What I'm asking for is I'm asking for you to help me out. If you've enjoyed the show, if you've enjoyed an interview, if you found it helpful in your career, can you please leave a rating and review? That helps more people find the show, helps me grow the show, helps me grow my business. So I'd really appreciate it if you could take a moment and leave me a review. You can do it on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you listen, or you can go to my website, thefpanaguy.com.
(29:07):
That's F-P-A-N-D-A guy.com. Go ahead and go to Walla Love, go down to the bottom, and you can click to leave a testimonial. Thanks for doing that. Thanks for listening. Makes sense, the questions you mentioned in the accuracy dial. So great kind of frameworks to think about. What about the organisation? How do they tell if they're in this precision trap? And we talk about the individual, what does an organisation do if they're seeing this, if it's an organisational thing, not necessarily an individual? So
Guest: Asif Masani (29:44):
First is if you are a business leader and you need to understand if you are in the precision trap, you should be asking this question, which is, in the last six months, how many times did the finance team help you influence Or shape a decision. And if that answer is say zero, then that would be a perfect example of your finance team stuck in the precision trap where they are doing a lot of analysis. However, they are not helping you influence a business decision or they're not helping you in time to be making decisions. So that is one. And second is for the CFO. So this was first one also business leader. Second one is for the CFOs. If you notice that your business leaders have stopped asking you questions or if you notice that you have been stopped getting invitations to the meetings where the strategy is made or where critical business decisions are made, I think that is another cue for somebody who's in a senior finance position to be able to identify that they're suffering from getting into a lot more detail than they should be.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (31:01):
That's helpful. Thank you. I appreciate that. I think what you said, both of those make a lot of sense. So I'm curious, from writing the book, kind of stepping back for a second, what was maybe the biggest surprise or biggest learning that when you went into writing the book, you didn't expect?
Guest: Asif Masani (31:19):
And this is something which I just recently experienced. So the book just went out two days ago. And one of the surprising things that I found out is my objective of writing the book was to address the senior finance leaders and CFOs and help finance professionals to become better business partners and take more initiative in business decisions. That was my objective of writing the book. However, what I noticed is after I started posting about it on LinkedIn, I started business leaders and CEOs take a notice of them and a few of them messaged me about stories and situations where they exactly came across that situation. So I was not expecting it to resonate with CEOs and business leaders as much as it would resonate with FP&A professionals, FP&A managers, finance managers. However, that was a little surprising that I got more DMs from people on the business side and the CEOs rather than from people on the FP&A and the finance side.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (32:28):
That's interesting. I mean, I wouldn't have guessed that, but as you share it, I guess it's not surprising, right? Because at the end of the day, if we're in the precision trap, it's the business we're hurting, not ourselves.
Guest: Asif Masani (32:40):
Surprising element is that I got more messages from the business where I was expecting maybe more from finance and FP&A people. That was surprising. So I was expecting the response, but not in the proportion that I saw.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (32:55):
Sure. That's interesting. Thank you for sharing that. Before we move into our standard sections here, last question. What's the final advice you'd give to an FP&A professional to avoid the precision trap? What's something they should start doing today?
Guest: Asif Masani (33:11):
So two things. One is before you do any analysis or before you work on any finance report, ask those five questions that we discussed. Why are we doing the analysis? Why are we preparing this report? Who is it going for? Who is the audience? What are the decisions that are going to be made after somebody who is going to read the report? When are they expecting that report? So these are some questions that you need to ask before you do any analysis or you prepare any report. So that would be my advice. And many situations, what you would notice is a 70% accurate analysis is going to be much, much better if it is coming on time rather than you being 100% accurate, which comes four weeks after the decision is made. So what you should do is you should observe whatever you're doing in the last six months and see if this hypothesis is making sense for you.
(34:07):
If it is, then you should definitely implement some of these frameworks that we discussed and that can help you.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (34:14):
Great point when you said the 70%. I remember I had a business leader where we had data that was a total mess. This is before I ever even worked in finance and I was working in some data integrity type roles. And she goes, "As long as we can get the data 80% accurate, most of the time that's good enough for the decisions I'm making. If I need it better, I'll let you know, but let's try to keep it around 80% accuracy and just make a decision because it's too costly to get to 100%." And I think that's one thing that definitely people need to keep in mind in addition to everything you said is it's a lot more costly and resources and time and effort to try to be that 100% accurate, which you can never do with a forecast anyway. Alrighty. So here's the FP&A section.
(35:04):
I got a couple questions I'm going to ask you. First one, I ask everybody this one, what is the number one technical skill that FP&A professionals need to master?
Guest: Asif Masani (35:16):
I would say financial modelling, and this is maybe slightly biassed because that is what has helped me tremendously. So I could picture myself not doing financial models properly and not using the best practises in financial modelling. And once I started doing that, I could see drastic change in my productivity in terms of at the analyst to manager level. So yes, so I would say financial modelling and I could be slightly biassed about it.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (35:49):
We're all slightly biassed. We're all human, so that's all right. But you're in good company. A lot of people say financial modelling, so you're not alone on that. I know for me, learning proper design and modelling made a big difference, so I get it. What's the number one softer human skill that FP&A professionals should master?
Guest: Asif Masani (36:07):
So I would say one thing that I struggled with which was back in the days when I was an FP&A analyst was being able to interact with senior stakeholders. So a lot of times what happens is because you are in a junior position or if you are in an analyst or a senior analyst position, and if you are directly dealing with a CEO or a head of sales, it can be slightly intimidating. So what I would suggest is that is a part of the role and you need to internalise it. The earlier or the faster you do that, the more beneficial will it be for you. So I would say being able to talk to somebody senior in the organisation as the number one soft skill that you could develop.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (36:51):
So basically the ability to have conversations with those more senior than you.
Guest: Asif Masani (36:56):
Absolutely. Yes.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (36:57):
What do you think is the most important skill people need to master AI for finance?
Guest: Asif Masani (37:04):
So this is, again, very interesting. So I would say being able to ask the right questions to AI so that you are able to get the desired output. I may be called with different names. So prompt engineering for finance, I have heard as a popular name. So based on whatever you are looking for as an output, you should be able to interact with the AI tool in the way that is giving you the best output. So basically it is writing the prompt in the way where you cover everything in detail so that you get a better output compared to what somebody else which is not doing that would get.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (37:44):
Got it. All right. Appreciate that. And then this is first time I've asked this question, but if you could share one framework that you think would help FP&A professionals the most, maybe the one that's helped you the most in your career or that you've seen the most impact when you teach it to people, what is that framework?
Guest: Asif Masani (38:04):
So this is one of the frameworks we cover in our training, which is for being able to do variance analysis very effectively. So we call it the DERP framework. So D stands for defining the variance where you talk about what the variance is. E stands for explaining the variance. So you get into the detail and the five I's and you explain what is the root cause of the variance. So you talk about the detailed root cause, which is the second step. R stands for recommendation. So where you recommend what should be done now, what has happened in the past has happened, what should you be doing now to get back on track or what should be you doing in the next quarter? That is what the recommend stands for. And P is optional, but if you can, you should do it, which is projecting the impact of the recommendation.
(38:57):
So for example, if you're projecting or if you're recommending some action for the next quarter, how would that impact the numbers for the next quarter? So that is called the projection, which is basically forecasting the impact for the next period. So that is DERP where you cover all of these elements, you have a very solid variance analysis commentary.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (39:18):
Thank you. So we have DERP. Let me see if I got it right. Define, explain, recommend, and then potential kind of cost or outcome revenue expense, just kind of projection.
Guest: Asif Masani (39:30):
Absolutely.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (39:31):
All right, so there you go. DERP everybody. Next, we're going to go into the get to know you section. So this is where I ask a little bit about you. First one I'm going to ask, this is a fun one. I'm really curious to see what you say. I've never asked anyone this question before. If you could only keep one app, so just one, on your phone for the next year, what would it be and why?
Guest: Asif Masani (39:54):
That's very easy actually. So I feel a lot of our institute runs on WhatsApp. There are so many groups for our cohort. So there are like 25 different groups that are for different courses, different cohorts. So I think if WhatsApp disappeared, we will be in a lot of trouble. So I would say WhatsApp is the number one tool.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (40:18):
You just made Meta very happy.
Guest: Asif Masani (40:22):
We're totally dependent on them.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (40:24):
So you're going to be WhatsApp. If you had to give a TED Talk tomorrow on a topic outside your area of expertise, so outside finance, outside accounting, outside FP&A, what topic you picking?
Guest: Asif Masani (40:38):
I would probably talk about how to write better. So that is what something I'm working on. I'm not yet an expert. So how do you write and become better as a writer? So that is something I would like to talk about. And that is purely because something it's developing as an interest as I start writing more and more.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (40:57):
Interesting. So what have you learned so far? What maybe is your key takeaways to being a better writer? If you could give one or two things just real quick.
Guest: Asif Masani (41:05):
So one would be that you should write in shorter sentences. That is my number one key takeaway. So avoid longer sentences, make sure that you have shorter, crisper sentences. And because the attention span has gone down so much because of social media, make sure that you start with a pattern which starts with the hook, which I'm sure you are aware of. You start with the hook and then give them the content and then again end it with a cliffhanger and then again start with the hook. So you do that for every section and that's how you try to engage. Basically do the same thing the Instagram influencers do on reels while you're writing the book so that you maintain that sort of engagement.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (41:54):
Got it. All right. Next one. I'm curious to see where you take this because you could consider industry training, you consider it finance, FP&A, but here's the question. What's something everyone in your industry pretends to love but secretly finds tedious?
Guest: Asif Masani (42:10):
So this could be many things, but I would say number one is the annual operating budgeting. I figured
Host: Paul Barnhurst (42:18):
You were going to say that.
Guest: Asif Masani (42:20):
So that would be the number one very close to a couple of others, but yeah, number one on if you're doing the budget for three months, you are pretending to like it, but you don't like it eventually when you are on version 21, 22, 23.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (42:36):
I told somebody I never really liked the budget process. I liked working with people, going through all the versions and I love the partnering more than the budget. I'm like, "Well, why were you an FP&A?" And I'm like, "Well, the budget was just a small part of everything I had to do, but I'm with you." I think if most people are honest, they don't love the budgeting process. Are there aspects of it that can be enjoyable? Sure. But especially when they drag on, I've had six month budgets and you're like, "When will this thing end?"
Guest: Asif Masani (43:07):
I'm hoping they're getting shorter and shorter as we move along.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (43:11):
That's what we keep hoping for. I think we've made progress in the right direction. All right, last one. If you could recommend a book to our audience, not your own, what book are you recommending?
Guest: Asif Masani (43:22):
I would say the one that helped me a lot in terms of when I transition from my employee life to the life of an entrepreneur is what I would recommend is called, I'm sure you must have heard about it, it's called Thinking and Growing, which I don't remember the title. So Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is the title. So Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I must have read that book at least three times, four times now. And every time I read that book, I find something new as a takeaway, which I could implement and get something out of it. So purely because of that, because I've read it multiple times and every time I read it, I find it that I should read it again maybe next year.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (44:07):
Got it. Well, thank you. That'd be a good one for our audience. And then where can our audience find your book? If they're interested in your new book, when does it come out? Where will it be available? Share a little bit of details about the book.
Guest: Asif Masani (44:19):
Absolutely. So the books are always, the older ones are already available on amazon.com. So that should be the go-to place to get the books. Right now at this point, the new book is available in India. It should be out by the time this recording comes out. So it should be available on amazon.com by end of August, early September.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (44:42):
August, September. Perfect. And then last question before we let you go here. If you could give one final piece of advice to our audience to be better at their job, what advice you giving them?
Guest: Asif Masani (44:56):
It would be the same which we talked about. So make sure that you become that finance person who is in the room when the decisions or you become or you earn that position where you are invited to the rooms where decisions are made. And one of the ways you could do that is by making sure that you understand all of the things that we discussed in the precision type conversation. So you make sure that you understand what level of analysis required for what purpose, and then you decide your next steps accordingly. So that is what I would say. So become better business partners and help represent finance teams in much, much, much better way.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (45:42):
I like it. So thank you for joining me today, Asaf. I really appreciate you carving out some time. If someone wants to get in touch with you or learn more about your things, what's the best way to do that? Is it LinkedIn? Is there a website? What's the best way for them to reach out?
Guest: Asif Masani (45:58):
So you could reach out to me on LinkedIn and message me there. Or the other way could be you could go onto our website, which is the FP&A Professor Institute website, which is fpnaprofessions.com, which is the other way you could reach out to us.
Host: Paul Barnhurst (46:15):
All righty. Well, perfect. Thanks again for carving out some time and good luck with the book launch. I hope it's a huge success for you. That's it for today's episode of FP&A Unlocked. If you enjoy FP&A Unlocked, please take a moment to leave a five-star rating and review. It's the best way to support the FP&A guy and help more FP&A professionals discover the show. Remember, you can earn CPE credit for this episode by visiting earmarkcpe.com, downloading the app and completing the quiz. If you need continuing education credits for the FPAC certification, complete the quiz and reach out to me directly. Thanks for listening. I'm Paul Barnhurst, the FP&A guy, and I'll see you next time.
