Edwin Boekel

The Power of Scenario Analysis in for Finance Professionals. Sensitivity and Scenario analysis is a must-have for FP&A and Strategy. This simple yet powerful tool helps us evaluate multiple futures—best case, base case, and worst case—so we can guide decision-making with greater clarity and confidence. Take a look at the image below, where we used scenario modeling to project revenue and unlevered free cash flow over a 7-year horizon. With a single dropdown, we can toggle between scenarios to see how different assumptions impact performance. This approach not only informs budgeting and forecasting, but also enhances risk management and capital allocation. Why it matters: Strategic planning: Leadership teams need to prepare for upside opportunities and downside risks. Investor communication: Stakeholders expect transparency about a range of outcomes—not just optimistic forecasts. Operational flexibility: With scenario planning, teams can pre-plan triggers and contingencies. Whether you’re in corporate finance, investment banking, or FP&A, building dynamic financial models with scenario toggles transforms static data into strategic insight. It's the foundation of better decisions. Check out this course on sensitivity and scenario analysis Corporate Finance Institute® (CFI)

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Not every great Accountant becomes a great Controller. Here’s why: 👩‍💻 Accountant - Focused on accuracy and compliance - Owns journal entries, reconciliations, reporting packages - Keeps the books clean But the jump to Controller is a different game: 📈 Controller - Leads the close, fast and accurate - Builds processes that scale with growth - Manages auditors, banks, and cross-functional requests - Translates numbers into insights leadership can act on - Guides a team, not just their own work It’s not just about doing the work. It’s about building the system and leading the people who do the work. The leap from Accountant → Controller isn’t technical. It’s leadership, communication, and decision-making under pressure. 💡 Question: What’s the single most important skill for making that jump?

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Customer Credit Balances: Error or Insight? Many accountants see a credit balance in a customer (trade receivables) account and immediately think: “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨!” But a customer credit balance isn’t automatically an error. Many real-life, valid situations can cause this Unfortunately, the textbooks don't show this. Let me share an example: You make a sale: DR Customer ₦50,000 | CR Revenue ₦50,000 The customer makes a payment: DR Bank ₦50,000 | CR Customer ₦50,000 ✔ All balanced. Afterwards, the product was noted to be defective, and the customer returned the product.  You issue a credit note: DR Revenue (or Returns) ₦50,000 | CR Customer ₦50,000 Now the customer’s account shows a credit balance of ₦50,000. Is this an Error? No. At least, not an accounting one. It simply means the customer is 𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 something. It could be a replacement, store credit or a refund. Until that is done, the credit balance reflects that you have a liability to clear. (contract liability) Customer credit balances aren’t just numbers to clear. They’re signals. Check the reason why you have the credit balances to know what it means 🔍 Customer advance payments? → Need to deliver. 🔍 Frequent returns? → Check product quality. 🔍 Regular invoicing errors? → Review your billing process. 🔍 Constant disputes? → Fix customer communication. One last thing: If you have valid customer credit balances (negative receivables) in your trial balance, reclassify them to current liabilities for reporting purposes. This is IFRS 15 in practice. #myCFOng 💬 Do you worry about customer credit balances? 🔄 Found this useful? Share it with an accountant who needs clarity.

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How to forecast revenue This is the BIGGEST area of focus in all the financial models I build… and for good reason. 🎬 Watch my latest video to see how I use two proven frameworks to transform complex revenue forecasting into a simple, repeatable system 👉 https://lnkd.in/ecDXK2nB Revenue forecasts are like snowflakes ❄️ no 2 forecasts are the same…every company does it differently Here’s my framework that I’ve developed after building over 100 financial models in my career ➡️ Revenue Sources Framework → E•P•N Your revenue can come from one 3 sources: 1️⃣ E→ Existing Customers Here you analyze your current customer contracts Ask yourself the following questions • When will these contracts come up for renewal? • What is the likelihood for renewal? • Will they expand / contract before the contract is up? 2️⃣ P→ Pipeline customers Here you analyze the customers who are warm in your pipeline Ask yourself the following questions: • What is the close likelihood of each contract? • When will the contracts close? You then take the contract value * the close likelihood, and forecast out the sale on the projected close date 3️⃣ N→ New Customers These are customers you’ve never interacted with … but can expect to in the future Here, you move onto the 2nd Framework, the Revenue Growth Framework ➡️ Revenue Growth Framework → A•R•S•R This is all about how you use your business model to close new customers, resulting in new sales 1️⃣ A→ Acquire Here you measure the channels that you use to acquire customers Common ones can be: • Sales reps • Digital marketing • Organic • Partnerships 2️⃣ R→ Retain Now you measure how long this customer will be with you Are they monthly? annually? month to month? Once you have this info, you can understand how much you can generate in sales from them 3️⃣ S→ Sell Now that you know how long your customers are with you, you can analyze how often you’ll generate sale from them This can be sales from your New Customers, or sales from your Active Customers 4️⃣ R→ Record Now is when you record all the activity that will hit financial statements Common ones include • Revenue • Deferred Revenue • Cost of Goods Sold • Inventory • Accounts Receivable • Commissions === With this framework in place, you can literally forecast out the details behind ANY business model How do you forecast revenue? Join the discussion in the comments below 👇

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Too many people still think “transformation” means layoffs. Nearly half of finance staff surveyed said exactly that. And in times of uncertainty, the perception gets even stronger. This is where CFOs need to step up. The role is no longer about cost-cutting alone. Transformation led by finance must: · Build resilience so the organization can withstand shocks instead of just trimming headcount. · Empower people by giving them tools, skills, and psychological safety to thrive in new environments. · Drive innovation by funding experimentation and encouraging new ideas, not shutting them down. The future CFO is not just the keeper of budgets. They are the architect of value creation, shaping cultures where people believe transformation is about growth, not fear. If transformation still feels like a synonym for downsizing in your organization, It’s not the workforce that needs convincing. It’s the leadership mindset that needs to change.

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5 signs you are not a modern CFO (and how to fix them). First, let’s be clear: A modern CFO isn’t defined by title. It’s defined by mindset. Modern CFOs are: ➡ Business partners, not scorekeepers. ➡ Capital allocators, not budget police. ➡ Translators of strategy, not historians of numbers. ➡ Builders of systems, not slaves to spreadsheets. Now, the 5 signs you’re stuck in the past: 1️⃣ You obsess over EBITDA instead of cash. Legacy CFOs report profitability. Modern CFOs manage liquidity, working capital, and cash conversion like investors. 2️⃣ Your dashboards tell the past, not the future. If your reports can’t shape the next decision, you’re not adding strategic value. 3️⃣ You think AI is “hype.” Modern CFOs use AI to cut grunt work, generate insights faster, and free capacity for strategy. 4️⃣ You spread capital evenly. “Every department gets a slice” is budgeting 2005-style. Modern CFOs double down where ROI is real and cut without flinching. 5️⃣ You avoid storytelling. If you can’t frame numbers into a narrative that influences the CEO or board, you’re just reciting figures. Why does this matter? Because the gap is widening. The companies with modern CFOs are moving faster, growing smarter, and attracting talent and more capital. The ones with “controllers-in-disguise” are getting left behind. So how do you make the leap? ✔ Start thinking like an investor: Cash before paper profit. ✔ Automate the manual so you can focus on influence. ✔ Kill even budgets: allocate capital like it’s your money. ✔ Build your storytelling muscle: Data only matters if it changes decisions. The title “CFO” doesn’t make you modern. Your mindset does. Which of these 5 signs do you see most often in finance today? #CFO #FPandA #ModernCFO #StrategicFinance

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3 questions every CFO wishes controllers would answer faster: 1. Why can’t we close in 3 days? A 15-day close isn’t caution—it’s a cost. Executives fly blind Opportunities slip away Teams drown in reconciliations Fast close = faster decisions. Slow close = missed momentum. 2. Why are we still running on Excel? Spreadsheets aren’t solutions. They’re symptoms. Growth capped by manual effort Errors buried in hidden formulas Knowledge trapped in personal files If your finance stack runs on linked workbooks, you don’t have control—you have risk. 3. What’s the real cost of perfect data? 100% accuracy sounds noble. But perfection often paralyzes. Hours lost chasing decimals Progress stalled for precision “Perfect books” that don’t move the business forward Perfection isn’t excellence. It’s expensive paralysis. 💡 The takeaway: Controllers who solve these 3 challenges don’t just protect the books. They earn the seat at the CFO’s table. The ones who don’t? They become bottlenecks.

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