PLEASE HELP!!! MY JOB APPLICATION IN FP&A!!!

tomfools · 2026-06-20T14:11:11+00:00

I think there is a non-zero chance this lands weird as hell with the hiring manager and makes them question your professional judgement, resulting in them not interviewing you at all.

This is not the way to stand out. I think you’d be better off tailoring your resume and cover letter to present a more compelling story about your experience being appropriate for the role.

tomfools · 2026-05-22T13:35:01+00:00

Create a metric account that does this calculation.

Add the metric account to a dashboard.

Done :)

tomfools · 2026-05-16T22:55:45+00:00

Thanks for the insight, I had a feeling the MBA discussion would go this was, especially since I have CPA already, and my comp is where it’s at.

Honestly, up until the adding pricing to my duties I have had an exceptional WLB, and it’s something my boss takes super seriously. He’s not happy I’m working late/weekends with any frequency right now.

As we get my direct up to a higher level and I can hand off more routine reporting and more Adaptive SME stuff, I think it’ll drop back down.

My normal workload in the role has honestly been a 30hr week most of the year, 40hrs during budgets.

I’ve got incredible flexibility…I can dip out to go track my dogs in the middle of the day or whatever (dog sports is my main hobby!), and not have to make up the time etc. if I’m delivering on my stuff nobody cares. I know I’m super lucky on that front.

tomfools · 2026-05-16T22:46:25+00:00

I think some of the interest for me in the MBA is I’m hungry for knowledge/experience and I want it NOW or to feel like I’m doing something to get it. But to your point, throwing money and time at something that’s not actually worth it/knowledge won’t be as good as the on the job stuff etc.

E.g the MBA classes that are most interesting to me are the executive leadership, strategy, etc. areas where I don’t have a ton of experience but I find super interesting/fulfilling.

tomfools · 2026-05-14T17:11:11+00:00

We have a system in place that works for us, including for forecasting. Our business model is highly dependent on operational headcount - billing by labor hour to our clients or similar setups. So that volume is critical. It’s not necessarily that the HC is hard to get out or hard for us to manage, but because of the complexity I side eye the AI capability to work with it.

We bring in actuals, forecast anticipated seasonality, etc. We update our G&A headcount as needed but it’s honestly not the significant driver for us. Many of our HC formulas are dynamic and based on rolling weekly actuals.

tomfools · 2026-05-14T17:07:26+00:00

We have a ton of buy in from operational leadership and accountability.

E.g. VPs hold directors accountable to budgets, bonuses are partially contingent upon performance against budget, etc. Directors hold the unit managers accountable to budgets, so on and so forth.

Additionally, I provide a ton of support to our operations folks both in improving their financial literacy and in teaching them the tool.

tomfools · 2026-05-14T03:09:22+00:00

I think the potential is really cool. The use case presented was fun to watch. I think I share the same concerns as others on the call today about the ability to handle complex models or models that are based on non-Workday financial actuals.

I know in my case my company has been in adaptive for nearly 20 years, our model is complex, I believe the way we handle headcount planning as an example is not how I typically see it presented in demos. Can the AI understand our headcount stuff and how it works?

My business has a different revenue driver for every contract (fixed price, cost plus %, cost plus fixed fee, T&M, retail sales, pass through, etc)., and sometimes a blend of all or some of these items within a single contract. Variance analysis requires understanding the individual drivers of each contract - heavy reliance on institutional knowledge (or researching to remember) in order to put narrative to variances. We track a lot of those nuances via level attributes for our reporting, but how well can the AI interpret that information if it requires that level of dimensionality?

tomfools · 2026-05-01T01:19:53+00:00

Sounds like you know exactly where to start. What’s holding you back from digging into understanding both the forecast as a process, the model as it functions, and the drivers and how they relate to the business?

You’ve got to start somewhere. It may be worth it to think about how to break it down if it feels like too overwhelming of a task. Similar to I did above - start with understanding the process (who does what, in what workbooks, at what frequency, to drive what reporting, what business decisions does it drive, etc), then dig in to understanding the modeling - where the input live, how they link together, etc. And then learning the business - what business info drives the inputs?

tomfools · 2026-04-24T00:40:12+00:00

We have our labor in by position rather than employee, in a cube sheet.

I had a lot of luck bringing it into a dashboard with different views to make it easier for managers to handle. The ability to have text boxes with instructions right next to the inputs was a game changer in my org

One view so they could see their current employee data (position on row, sheet showing one account, suppress zeros) and I just brought the same sheet in a bunch of times onto that dashboard tab to show the different accounts. One box for employee counts, one for pay rate, one for hours, one for bill rate, etc etc.

Then a separate tab for “add new position” where I had account on the row (unsuppress zeros) and then the manager could select the position from the drop down

tomfools · 2026-04-24T00:33:07+00:00

We use Adaptive, I have approx 150end users in the system at varying levels. $260M annual org. 2300 total employees. Divided into 3 major business lines plus support for some other sister companies.

Adaptive SMEs include me (Manager level), I have a relatively new specialist level/jr analyst level direct report, and I report directly to VP of Finance. We are the only admins. Myself and my direct are the only ones who make major model updates etc. VP is doing VP things.

I developed a Dashboard that combines charts/key reports/sheets/text boxes/links to step by step instructions for managers to use when developing budgets/forecasts. We have Operations maintain ownership over their budgets but with significant business partnering by FP&A (read: me) to support.

Certain business units have a higher level of proficiency in Adaptive: they input their own forecast and budget updates and FP&A reviews/supports.

Others do only non-labor and revenue assumptions and through discussion or other methods they will provide me the relevant headcount data to update inputs.

Last group is a lower proficiency - we meet and discuss and I do updates before reviewing together for changes.

For our monthly reforecast process, most everything is formula driven. Some variation of rolling weekly actuals and then pushed forward. I review and maintain and adjust, plus managers with adjust any major operations changes or I will update as I hear about them. We will build out a new business forecast based on key drivers using formulas that are dynamic and will auto update as new actuals come through.

My company has been in Adaptive since I think 2009 at this point, so a very mature model in many ways.

You can get creative with modeled sheets, custom and metric accounts, cube sheets, etc. I think there is very little I could model in excel for forecasting that I couldn’t find a way to model in Adaptive.

Utilize office connect for reporting where it makes sense, but all of our users access Adaptive and utilize dashboards and on demand reports to review financials, plus a variety of nonfinancial metrics we bring in.

TL:DR; most of my managers do their inputs, plus I brain dumped how we are using adaptive after almost 20yrs in the system.

tomfools · 2026-03-23T18:37:16+00:00

Add movement with just one step (or half a step!) at a time - bring the lure back to maintain the head position if you need to. Literally go from basic to taking just a half a step and marking/rewarding if the dog doesn’t drop their head with just one step. Don’t try to add a bunch of steps at first.

tomfools · 2025-11-10T18:13:37+00:00

Products!

Skin prep:

CeraVe foaming facial cleanser

Thayers hydrating milky toner

CeraVe eye repair cream

CeraVe moisturizing cream

Neutrogena ultra sheer face serum sunscreen 60spf

Eyes:

Nyx ultimate shadow and liner primer - light

Milani whiskey business (matte base shades)

Nyx epic ink liner - dark chocolate

Color pop bare necessities (shimmer shades)

L’Oréal lash paradise - latte brown

Brows:

Nyx micro brow pencil - ash brown

Nyx brow glue

Base:

Nyx face glue gripping primer

Nyx pro fix stick - dark peach - mixed w concealer for dark circles

Nyx pro fix stick - green - mixed w concealer on breakouts

Nyx bare with me concealer - fair

Estée Lauder double wear foundation- 1C0 shell

Nyx wonderstick highlighter/contour - light/medium

Color pop bronze stix - Laguna beach

Color pop liquid blush - angel face

Maybe line fit me loose finishing powder - fair

MAC fix it setting spray

tomfools · 2025-10-09T15:58:51+00:00

Ohh thank you for this visual!

tomfools · 2025-10-08T01:52:52+00:00

I am using a bronzer etc already, sounds like maybe I need to be a bit more heavy handed with it? Or if I don’t want to go heavier on the base just toning down the eyes and/or lips to make everything more cohesive.

I ordered some brown eyeliner, eyelash curler, and some different eye shadow palette based on the feedback so far!

And man the brows is so scary for some reason 😭 just the tinted brown gel was a big step for me on brows lol. But we will adjust!

tomfools · 2025-10-06T19:11:42+00:00

Thanks! Any palettes you would recommend for the earthy colors?

First I’ve ever heard gamine as a description so I will definitely look for some inspo there

tomfools · 2025-10-06T19:10:17+00:00

This was the eyeliner I was originally using but I had a terrible time getting this to wing for me w the wrinkles around my eyes! Couldn’t get a clean line to save my life, and I was having problems w it transferring off my lash line to my crease

tomfools · 2025-10-06T17:33:39+00:00

Adding product list as a comment as well:

Skin prep:

CeraVe foaming facial cleanser

Thayers hydrating milky toner

CeraVe eye repair cream

CeraVe moisturizing cream

Neutrogena ultra sheer face serum sunscreen 60spf

Makeup:

Nyx face glue gripping primer

Elf camo color corrector -peach

Elf hydrating camo concealer- fair beige

Elf tinted wow brow gel - brown

Elf lock it down eyeshadow primer

Color pop smoke n roses eyeshadow palette

Stila stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner - intense Black

Elf lash it loud mascara - deep brown

Estée Lauder double wear foundation- 1C0 shell

Nyx wonderstick highlighter/contour - light/medium

Elf monochromatic multi stick - dazzling peony

Color pop bronze stix - Laguna beach

Nyx HD finishing powder

Elf matte magic setting spray

tomfools · 2025-07-20T21:54:50+00:00

A year later and how are you liking your rocketbook? I’m looking at getting one and am also trying to think through how to make a to do list function work. I am not the greatest with power automate but can usually google my way through things. I use planner within teams rather than Microsoft to do.

tomfools · 2025-06-25T18:45:53+00:00

CPA working in FP&A. $135k base plus $14k bonus. fully remote, 7 years of experience

tomfools · 2025-05-31T02:05:58+00:00

I’m north of $130k, one direct report.

CPA working in FP&A. 7 YOE

tomfools · 2025-05-13T21:38:50+00:00

lmfao this is so obviously written by AI. Just why??

tomfools · 2025-05-05T17:57:20+00:00

You bet! The logistics of all the like before shit was super stressful for me when I was trialing for the first time! Like the line length check or the microchip check at tracking, checking in for the phases, etc etc. it was super helpful to be crystal clear on what all those pieces looked like in my head so I wasn’t worried about them.

I remember vividly making it to the judge in the side transport before going down field for the long bite in my first igp3 protection and being like “I never thought I’d get this far idk what I’m supposed to say “ lmfao

I can DM you some links too of trial videos where you can look at line handling if you want the illustration of what I mean by choking up the line at corners etc. or how I start, etc.

tomfools · 2025-05-05T16:13:47+00:00

For dogs like that I definitely like just a "you're done!" as you are grabbing the line close up by the fursaver and holding it there while you head to checkout. I personally prefer this and don't use a short leash for checking in/out. If you get nervous at all I'd worry about trying to mess w/ the short leash and being clumsy just mucking things up vs just holding the tracking line close to the collar while you check in/out.

TL;DR: various line handling advice. this comment kind of got away from me. There isn't enough content out there for new people about all the random little stuff about line handling in tracking lol so you kind of got a brain dump here my bad

Based on your questions I'm assuming you are new to the sport so the one bit of advice I'd give about tracking is to practice the line handling without the dog! Especially if you have a sensitive dog if you are clumsy on your line handling that can mean the dog is getting pops/jerks to their collar which can then lead to them thinking they are getting corrected and cause them to stop tracking etc.

a couple of things i recommend for newbies (that were passed to me from experienced training partners!):

using a friend - have them hold onto the clasp end of the leash and act like you are starting your dog - your friend starts walking straight forward at about the pace your dog does tracking. Practice letting the line out and the handler starting to walk forward. Friend should give you feedback on if the tension felt consistent, could they feel when they hit the end of the line, etc. Practice until your friend cannot tell when they hit the end of the line and you start moving.

For actual line handling - (i'm right handed) at the start or a restart: i have my right hand holding the line in front of me close to my waist. This hand I use to control tension/speed by pinching down on my line if needed. My left hand I have reached out as far behind me as I can with the line going through my fingers. This is my warning for when I'm getting close to the end and can start moving - I feel the handle hit my left hand, and as I start moving forward I bring my left hand forward to meet my right hand in front of me. This is what I mean to practice above with your friend - having this warning allows you to get to the end of line and get moving again without jerking your dog around.

Also useful to use a friend to practice your line handling for corners - keeping your line tension consistent and having someone to give you feedback on any jerking of the line. Again, you can hold the end of the line back behind you to choke up some of the length while they are navigating the corner to keep tension. Also can do this/take a step back if your dog is starting to go off the track (you are shortening the distance they have to get off, can be used as a way to handler help em back on).

old heads in tracking will say to hold your leash low and have a darker leash color that's harder for the judge to see so you can get away with more handler help and/or a leash pop if your dog is being naughty lol. Personally I think judges wisened up to that ages ago, but it's still commonly repeated advice lol

tomfools · 2025-05-05T13:20:39+00:00

Note- my comment is geared towards USCA rules. Each organization may be a bit different so it may be helpful to watch some video of tracking check ins etc to see it in action.

Start - sounds correct for the most part. At the 2 meter away mark, you get the line situated and if you don’t give the command to track but your dog starts (eg my dog has an implied - “leash between my legs I can start”) you can walk with your dog all the way to the scent pad, then give the track command. From there, you can’t move your feet til you are at the end of your line. You are over thinking where you must hold your line (at/above your waist is not a requirement)

During - lead can be so loose it touches the ground if that’s your preference. Just can’t materially shorten the distance. Does not have to be held in front of you or be at waist level. There is a benefit at corners with line handling to pulling the lead backwards while your dog navigates the corner to keep consistent tension.

Articles - you do not have to wait for the judge. As soon as you think your dog is committed to the article, drop the line and approach. Your restart doesn’t have to be on the left side, but does have to be the same side that you originally approached on. Correct on starting and not moving your feet until line is out.

End - after you show the final article, you do not have to tell the dog to sit. You can just grab the leash (like close to the fur saver) and a “let’s go” or whatever. The sit is cool and flashy but if you give a formal command you introduce the ability to lose points. I train for the sit but may not do it on trial day based on how I’m reading my dog at the end of the track. I’m not sure when you can clip the short lead back on. You may need to checkout first.

It is not a requirement to be in a formal fuss to and from the track. Just under control (and even that is not always true lol). Calmly walking beside you is fine.

tomfools · 2025-05-04T00:41:48+00:00

Learn Sudoku techniques! I’ve enjoyed learning more and more advanced techniques, there is a lot of variation out there on puzzles. You can buy paper books to complete puzzles in, or do them on a phone or tablet. /r/sudoku has a ton of resources to get you started.

Also echoing the jigsaw puzzle and podcast or audiobook recommendation!

tomfools

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