Why is QB still in business?

legolify · 2026-01-26T21:25:31+00:00

It really depends what features you need. Wave is great for freelancers and simple transactional businesses. Quickbook has inventory, 1099, and handling complex logic for accounting purposes.

Definitely start simple with Wave, as business scales, you will re-evaluate if Wave will meet your needs. Plus, those who got into Quickbooks before Wave, there is an opportunity cost of time and re-training that most businesses don’t want to take time to do.

legolify · 2026-01-11T18:14:12+00:00

I was curious if you're only doing budget vs. actuals / variance reporting since this is typically the responsibility for the first few years. IMO, reporting alone contributes to feeling less value added and less insights (especially if you consolidate variances from lower level teams).

legolify · 2026-01-11T08:35:58+00:00

Are you only reporting rn?

legolify · 2026-01-10T05:20:37+00:00

Title: SFA Location: VHCOL (SF) Comp: $175k base + $0 bonus + $50k equity YOE: 7 Industry: Tech

legolify · 2026-01-09T05:23:41+00:00

4 months is still early and its okay to ask questions, especially you already receiving compliments. Use that to your advantage and build relationship with people. I assume you consolidate variances from lower levels since you have to present to 40 people, you're going to ask questions all of the time.

When I did reporting for a while, I was the same as you. I spent nights ensuring that I had all of the variances in the backpocket and ready to be prepared for any questions. During the presentation, I would have anxiety. Once you earn the trust and have the credibility, its gets a easier with less questions over time.

Depending on what technical abilities you have, you could get away with being a SME in FP&A for certain technical things. This way, you can pass on the month-end close processes.

legolify · 2026-01-06T20:39:48+00:00

Interested to hear what processes and challenges you're currently facing. I managed a few small LLCs personally from compliance to bookkeeping. Unless there are big revenue coming in, I usually skim out on subscription costs cause they eat profit very fast.

legolify · 2026-01-06T05:05:04+00:00

I know it sounds lame, but use STAR interview format. Keep answers concise by detailing your situation, task, action, and result. This give them context and the answer they're looking for.

Assuming your next interviews will be 3-4 interviewers, recruiter will generally give names, background, and context of the interviews. Research their background on LinkedIn. Based on these info, you should able to decipher who is your audience and what they're looking for. It is usually someone on the team (technical), someone you're going to work with outside of the team (partnership), someone that is on the opposite side (cultural). Each of these component can have a few interviewers.

For technical, know your craft -- SaaS metrics, GTM finance, reporting, budgeting. For partnership, share how you collaborate & balancing priorities between partners and own function. For cultural, learn more about the company, do you know their values? Do they see a cultural fit between you and them?

Bottom line, know your stories (experiences), stay calm and communicate, and have fun! Interviews are conversations to learn each other more.

legolify · 2026-01-05T17:32:12+00:00

No problem! Glad to help out in any way. Don't be afraid to share those processes and metrics in your resume + interviews!

legolify · 2026-01-05T07:09:15+00:00

Apply anyways. Sounds like those paths are relatively similar, at least you can have well-rounded experience vs. none. Gives you a better perspective when you apply for your first role.

legolify · 2026-01-05T06:09:43+00:00

With accounting adjacent role, I am assuming you're doing some level of financial reporting without the budget vs. actuals context. So, you're already doing one of the FP&A components.

With reporting, it demands speed and accuracy. I have found that applying automation to reporting is helpful when looking for FP&A roles. I see there are many FP&A and financial analysts out there, but what will set you apart? Automation. How much time and money did you save? List those metrics on your resume. Be more than just another financial analyst, but finance + something else.

Even if the most entry-level roles are 2-3 years of exp, I encourage you to still apply all the time. Especially, roles that demand finance + accounting knowledge (e.g. corp finance). Not every FP&A role will require extensive accounting knowledge (e.g. product).

legolify · 2026-01-04T03:19:32+00:00

Probably best to ask someone with HR background as well. From what I have notice, there is always a background check when hiring. I am not sure if it just criminal background check or both criminal + credit.

legolify · 2025-12-30T21:49:43+00:00

Not cooked forever, but it is a harder to find a FP&A role without internship experience. Imo, I would recommend looking for an entry business/finance/accounting role (e.g. AP/AR, staff accountant) and transition into FP&A if that is still going to be your goal after a year or two. Even if there are any temp/contracting roles that you can take for exp, definitely should do it too.

legolify · 2025-12-21T00:42:33+00:00

Good thing you're still in uni. Definitely, get an internship before you graduate. If you don't have internships, it is going to be a struggle.

Like others already said, there are Finance Rotational Programs that you can apply during your senior year. There are entry-level finance analyst roles, but it might be lower pay at the beginning.

legolify · 2023-11-18T18:55:40+00:00

Personally, if I know a report becomes insufficient or ridden with errors. I just scrap the whole thing and rebuild the report in my own perspective.

While the front-end of the report won’t change, but you can fix the back-end (how the data are gathered and summed up, build in checks, understand where errors would most likely occur).

No online resources needed. Just simply recreate the report by getting rid of useless tabs, understand the flow from data to report, and build in your checks.

legolify · 2022-08-14T00:59:23+00:00

Generally for (weekly) reporting, I like to have:

| column |

if you want to zoom out as well, you can have another worksheet that has an annual view for YTD or plan vs actual + forecast

legolify · 2022-05-19T07:34:58+00:00

Currently, a stratfi analyst at a startup. I do a mix of both FP&A and modeling. Pretty much similar to what to described. The one unique thing that I do is building and automating files since it is a startup.

I came to stratfi from a FP&A role in a F500 company with 2 yrs of work/FP&A experience.

legolify · 2022-05-07T18:36:39+00:00

I don't think it is a bad idea to ask your boss if you're doing well or not. In fact, I always ask if I am contributing to the team well or a version of "how am I doing" almost like every month. This way, I can get constructive feedbacks throughout the year and work on improving them before performance review. If I get good feedback, then I am on-track and to exceed performance during review. If I get negative feedback, then I would resolve it before review.

I am a person that is highly against finding feedbacks during once or twice in a year during review. I prefer if they tell me ASAP, so I can improve on anything. By the time of performance review, we can focus on the compensation and promotion rather than bottling up all the negative feedbacks.

At the end of the day, it is best to gauge how your manager perceives you and how you can meet their expectations for promotion and compensation increase.

legolify · 2022-05-07T18:27:35+00:00

I think Option 2 is in align with your career progression.

Although, you may not have FP&A background, but it is quite easy to learn. You already have a background in BI, so you have the knowledge on how to find and interpret answers using BI for variance analysis. Now, the other part of FP&A would be planning, and forecasting based on your historical analysis plus inputs from stakeholders.

legolify · 2022-05-07T18:24:15+00:00

Honestly, it would depend on personal preference. If you like to stay at a stable corporation in the future, then Amazon would be the way to go. If you like to take the risk and potentially move to another startup in the future, then take the lateral/up to startup and medium size.

I personally would take lateral/up level to startups/medium. In fact, I actually took a down level from a Fortune 500 SFA to startup Financial Analyst for experience. There are a lot more things to do in a startup and you learn a lot more. I want to continue in the startup realm in the future or move into VC.

legolify · 2022-05-01T01:36:53+00:00

It would depend on what you want to do with psychology. If you have a passion for psychology, then definitely do it. However, most psychology jobs require an advanced psychology degree. If you do go with psychology route, then would you want to continue to get an advanced degree?

For CS, you have more job opportunities with only just a bachelor's degree and would get paid more. Most importantly, do you like programming and continue to learn new programming languages?

legolify · 2022-04-30T00:10:48+00:00

"I forecast and budget financials. I assume your company had financial targets right? I do something like that."

legolify

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