Finance teams today are expected to do more than close the books — they’re expected to drive strategy, model scenarios, and enable faster business decisions. Yet, most still rely on manual, disconnected spreadsheets that slow everything down.
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This ebook shows how to transform Excel into a modern, automated FP&A system — without switching platforms or buying expensive software. You’ll learn how to connect Excel to live data, automate rollups and forecasts, and replace chaotic spreadsheets with structured, scalable workflows.
📚 Table of Contents — Automating Financial Planning, Reporting & Analysis in Excel
1. Why Automate Financial Planning, Reporting & Analysis in Excel
- The evolution of finance: from historical reporting to decision enablement
- Why Excel remains irreplaceable despite the rise of FP&A SaaS tools
- How automation shifts finance work from manual prep to strategic analysis
2. The Pain Points of Manual Excel Workflows
- How links between spreadsheets create fragility, delays, and version chaos
- Why Excel is a calculation engine — and why using it as a database fails
- The core problem: no single source of truth across teams, files, and versions
3. From Spreadsheets to Systems — Building a Centralized Financial Architecture
- Moving from file-based finance to a centralized data model
- How a data cube or database becomes the backbone of FP&A
- Excel’s new role: the interface, not the data warehouse
4. The Budgeting Process — From Numbers to Buy-In
- Top-down vs. bottom-up budgeting — and why both viewpoints matter
- Turning the budget into a collaborative, accountable process
- Eliminating “Franken-excels” with shared templates, workflows, and comments
5. Automating Financial Reporting in Excel
- How to convert a trial balance into a live, refreshable financial statement
- Mapping accounts once — and reusing the logic forever
- Automating consolidations across departments, entities, and scenarios
6. Automating Financial Analysis in Excel
Predefining ratios, KPIs, and variance logic that updates every period
- Adding drill-downs, trends, and scenario comparisons inside Excel
- The power of dynamic dashboards with live data sources
7. Automating the Month-End Close
- The two-part close: accounting close + reporting close
- Turning recurring steps into a task-driven checklist with ownership & deadlines
- Completing the close in one day using reusable templates and live refreshes
8. Automating Forecasting and Scenario Planning
- Moving from static annual forecasts to rolling, real-time forecasting
- Linking drivers (price, volume, headcount, spend) to core financials
- Running Base, Best, and Worst Case scenarios in seconds, not days
9. KPIs & Dashboards: Turning Data Into Decisions
- Why recurring KPIs should be automated — not recalculated manually
- Using Excel dashboards for model depth and web dashboards for visibility
- Adding context: notes, commentary, tags, alerts, and accountability
10. Bringing It All Together
- A full blueprint: data → mapping → templates → workflow → visibility
- Where to begin: small wins vs. full transformation
- The Excel-centered FP&A system built to scale with any business
Bonus Resources
Free Excel templates:
Free Excel Practice Problems for Accounting and Finance
Free Course on Automating FP&A in Excel with PivotXL
