The FP&A Guy

What The FP&A Guy does

The FP&A Guy is a financial planning and analysis (FP&A) education and advisory business operated by Paul Barnhurst under Excel Reviews LLC, headquartered in Salt Lake City and founded in 2022. The company serves four customer segments — individual FP&A professionals, corporate finance leaders and teams, finance software vendors, and PE/VC investors — through digital courses, corporate training engagements, a podcast, a newsletter, and paid market research/advisory services. Reach is international: a 115,000+ LinkedIn following, 10,000+ newsletter subscribers, 30,000+ YouTube subscribers, 255,000+ cumulative podcast downloads, and audience in 160+ countries.

The core product stack is built on commodity creator-economy infrastructure: a Squarespace website for marketing, Thinkific for self-paced course hosting, Kit for newsletter distribution, and standard podcast hosting for audio content. Revenue is generated through four distinct streams — individual digital course sales, corporate training engagements (50+ corporate teams trained to date), sponsorships and advisory work with finance software vendors (300+ vendor conversations conducted, roughly 150 tools mapped), and paid market research for PE/VC investors. Partnerships with Wharton Online / Wall Street Prep and the Corporate Finance Institute embed the founder as an instructor inside established FP&A certification ecosystems; a Workday co-hosted webinar drew 1,400+ registrations, and joint content with practitioners such as Glenn Hopper (Future Finance podcast) and Ron Monteiro (The Modern Finance Playbook newsletter) extends distribution.

The business is bootstrapped with a stated headcount of 1–10 (effectively a solo operation), and its market positioning rests heavily on the founder's personal credentials: an MBA, MS in Information Management, 12+ years of corporate FP&A experience at American Express, Solera, and DigiCert, and designations including Microsoft MVP, FPAC, FPAP, and AFM. In 2026 the firm launched AI-focused finance programs (Carolina Lago Claude Accelerator, Glenn Hopper AI Finance Program), signaling a deliberate pivot toward generative AI, predictive analytics, and autonomous-agent content for finance professionals — a higher-value adjacency layered on top of the existing FP&A training catalogue.

Name

The FP&A Guy

Legal name

Excel Reviews LLC

Website

https://thefpandaguy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The FP&A Guy is a bootstrapped FP&A education and advisory business led by Paul Barnhurst, offering courses, corporate training, podcasts, and market research to finance professionals, corporate teams, software vendors, and PE/VC investors across 160+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Education and Training Services

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Management Accounting & FP&A (EDABAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Financial Data, Analytics & FinTech Tools (BI, ERP, Automation) (EDABAJAM), Certification & Credentialed Creator Programs (MPACALAI)

Keywords

• FP&A training
• Financial planning education
• Corporate finance training
• Finance podcast
• FP&A certification

Headquarters

HQ city

South Jordan

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital FP&A Courses: Self-paced and live virtual courses on FP&A best practices, financial modeling, Excel, data storytelling, and AI in finance. Delivered through Thinkific platform. Courses include the FP&A Best Practices Online Cohort (live virtual, 4 sessions, 10 hours) and various digital courses. Revenue is generated through course enrollment fees.
2. Corporate FP&A Training: Customized training programs for finance teams delivered virtually or in person. Programs cover FP&A best practices, business partnering, storytelling with data, financial modeling, Microsoft Excel, and AI readiness. Programs tailored to team's goals, skill level, and business context. Revenue generated through corporate training fees.
3. Market Research & Advisory for Investors: Independent market intelligence for PE and VC firms evaluating FP&A and finance software. Services include deal flow support, target identification, competitive landscape mapping, product/category/commercial diligence, and quarterly market briefings. Based on 300+ vendor conversations and ~150 tools mapped.
4. Software Vendor Services: Three paths for software vendors: (1) Educational content and sponsorships - sponsored campaigns on LinkedIn, newsletter, podcasts, webinars, and articles; (2) Finance software quick pitches - 3-minute practitioner-framed product videos; (3) Market research and advisory for understanding market fit. Sponsored work is clearly disclosed.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The FP&A Guy provides practical FP&A training, courses, podcasts, and advisory services for finance professionals and organizations. Core offerings include self-paced digital FP&A courses, a live FP&A Best Practices Online Cohort, customized corporate FP&A training, FP&A software selection advisory for finance leaders, market research and diligence for PE/VC investors, sponsored content and quick-pitch services for software vendors, three finance podcasts, newsletters, and independent comparison guides for FP&A certifications and AI finance programs.

Product overview

The FP&A Guy is an independent FP&A education and advisory platform operated by Paul Barnhurst. The offering combines educational courses (self-paced digital courses and live cohort programs), three finance podcasts, comparison guides for FP&A certifications and AI finance programs, newsletters, blog articles, Excel resources, and advisory services. The portfolio includes FP&A Best Practices training, Corporate FP&A Training, FP&A Software Selection Services for finance leaders, and Market Research & Advisory for PE/VC investors. The platform serves finance professionals seeking career growth, teams building FP&A capabilities, software vendors reaching finance buyers, and investors evaluating FP&A software opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• FP&A Best Practices Online Cohort Live virtual training course approved for up to 12 FPAC recertification credits, covering analytics, AI, budgeting, forecasting, visualization, storytelling, and business partnering across 4 sessions with 10 hours of instruction. Designed for FP&A professionals seeking certification credits and practical skill development.
• Corporate FP&A Training Customized FP&A training programs for finance teams covering best practices, business partnering, storytelling with data, financial modeling, Excel, and AI readiness, delivered virtually or in person. Tailored to team goals, skill level, and business context.
• Digital FP&A Courses Self-paced online courses covering FP&A skills, AI in finance, Excel proficiency, and data storytelling for finance professionals. Delivered through the Thinkific platform.
• FP&A Software Selection Services Independent guidance for CFOs and finance leaders evaluating planning, budgeting, forecasting, AI, and modeling tools, drawing on 300+ vendor conversations across approximately 150 finance tools.
• FP&A Market Research and Advisory Market intelligence for PE and VC firms including deal flow support, competitive landscape mapping, product/category/commercial diligence, and quarterly market briefings on the FP&A and finance software market.
• Finance Software Quick Pitches Short 3-minute sales pitch videos putting finance software products in front of the practitioner audience through a focused, practitioner-framed format. Sold to software vendors to reach finance buyers.
• Sponsorships and Influencer Marketing Sponsored educational content opportunities for vendors reaching the trusted finance audience through LinkedIn, newsletter, podcasts, webinars, and articles with clear disclosure. Includes sponsored articles and webinar partnerships.

Quantifiable outcome

• 115K+ LinkedIn followers
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Glenn HoppercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of the Future Finance podcast with Paul Barnhurst. Glenn Hopper is a finance professional focused on AI in finance. They co-produce weekly episodes exploring how AI is rewriting the finance function.
• Ron MonteirocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of The Modern Finance Playbook newsletter with Paul Barnhurst. Two finance practitioners collaborating to provide practical FP&A ideas, AI workflows, software insights, and career resources to 10K+ subscribers every other week.
• Wharton Online / Wall Street PrepminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPaul Barnhurst is an instructor for the Wharton Online / WSP FP&A Certificate Program. He promotes and provides guidance on this certification program on his platform.
• Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPaul Barnhurst is an instructor for CFI. He promotes CFI's FP&A Professional (FPAP) certification and has affiliate arrangements providing discounts to his audience.
• WorkdayminorGTM or Marketing PartnerWorkday collaborated with Paul Barnhurst on a webinar about 'Harnessing AI in FP&A: Strategies for Success' featuring Greg Volpe from Workday. Over 1,400 people registered for the webinar.
• RevelwoodminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRevelwood sponsored an article on 'The Role of Scenario and Sensitivity Analysis for FP&A Professionals.' Revelwood provides solutions for the office of finance. Sponsorship was clearly disclosed in the article.
• Capitalize AnalyticsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCapitalize Analytics sponsored an article on 'FP&A Software Implementation.' Christopher McKay from Capitalize Analytics was interviewed in the article about implementation best practices.
• CData / Connect SpreadsheetsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCData collaborated with Paul Barnhurst on a review of Connect Spreadsheets, an Excel add-in. This was disclosed as a paid collaboration where Barnhurst tested the software and met with the company.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@thefpandaguy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-fp-a-guy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The FP&A Guy