The 10 commandments of FP&A storytelling
In November 2023, I had posted an article about a storytelling cheat sheet for CFOs. This artcile is a continuation of that post, but targetted towards juniour FP&A professionals working hard to make a difference. It is a distillation of past experiences in consulting, and working in Finance over a decade.
FP&A teams live and breathe numbers.But the true power of financial planning and analysis lies not just in accuracy of numbers or logic. It lies in storytelling. Because numbers alone don’t change minds. Stories do.
Whether you’re influencing the board, guiding the CEO, or helping a cost centre owner understand their budget, your impact depends on how well you tell the financial story behind the numbers.
Here are the 10 commandments of storytelling every FP&A professional should remember
🔟1. Thou shalt know thy audience
Tailor your message. A CFO wants clarity and implications. A Marketing Head wants relevance. A Board wants strategy. The same model won’t speak to everyone—your story should.
Ask yourself: “What does this person need to understand, believe, and decide?”
📉2. Thou shalt not drown thy audience in data
More slides, more tabs, more metrics? Not helpful. Choose signal over noise. Avoid vanity metrics. Every number in your story must earn its place.
Strip it down to: “What is the one thing they need to remember?”
💡3. Thou shalt begin with the ‘so what’
Don’t build suspense—executives don’t have time for it. Lead with the key insight or decision point. Support it with logic and detail afterward.
Think: “Headline first. Then the proof.”
📊4. Thou shalt use visuals wisely
A good chart is worth 10,000 cells. Use graphs to reveal patterns, not decorate slides. Avoid “Frankencharts.” Choose formats that tell your point simply—like waterfall charts for variance or line graphs for trends.
Design for clarity, not complexity.
🔗5. Thou shalt build bridges, not silos
A strong FP&A story doesn’t just analyse—it connects. Link financials to operations, marketing, and strategy. Highlight how today’s numbers, shape tomorrow’s outcomes.
Finance isn’t a mirror. It’s a map.
🧠6. Thou shalt speak human, not jargon
Avoid acronyms, obscure ratios, or cryptic references. If your story needs a legend to decode it, it’s not a story—it’s a riddle.
Translate financialese into business action.
⚠️7. Thou shalt create tension
Great stories have conflict. So do great analyses. What changed? Why did we miss the target? What risks lie ahead? Show the friction between expectation and reality—and how to resolve it.
Every variance is a plot twist.
🕰8. Thou shalt show the ‘before and after’
Executives need context. Paint the baseline. Show the delta. Quantify the impact. “We’re spending 12% more” means little until you show why, and what it means for future EBITDA.
Frame change. Show movement.
📅9. Thou shalt use time as a character
Time is the silent protagonist in FP&A. Trends, seasonality, timing differences—all shape the story. Use timelines, rolling forecasts, and Y0Y bridges to make time come alive.
Ask: “What’s the narrative arc from past to future?”
✅10. Thou shalt end with a decision
A great story ends with a resolution. A great FP&A story ends with a decision. Always guide the room toward what matters most—action. Don’t just explain—enable.
Your job is not to impress. It’s to influence.
FP&A isn’t just about getting the numbers right. It’s about making the numbers matter. Master the art of storytelling, and you won’t just forecast the future—you’ll help shape it.