Expert Interview: Navigating Financial Modelling with Clients

Fathom recently took part in the Australian CFO Summit by DiviPay, a free virtual conference for finance leaders. 

As a proud supporter of the event, we hosted a session with David Maher, director of Right Brain Insights, where he shared his knowledge and tips for approaching financial modelling with clients. David provides outsourced CFO services to industrial, manufacturing, and trade service businesses. He is passionate about financial control and performance and we found his discussion insightful and poignant for the business environment of 2022.

The session centred around how CFOs and advisors can get started with financial modelling, using Fathom for cash flow forecasting. David also provided examples of how Right Brain Insights has helped businesses move key operating levers to make aggressive growth sustainable, win funding from the bank, and regain financial control. Watch the session recording below and dive into all the key points to getting started with financial modelling.

 When it comes to forecasting with Fathom, David provided some key takeaways, with a few of our favourites being:

1. Forecasting is a navigational tool, which can be used to highlight a business’s past, where it sits currently, and where it could be in the future. This is crucial to understand to begin repairing a business’s financials and also to account for future errors, which are inevitable in the often-turbulent business world.
   
   
2. Forecasting is a leadership enabler, which gives clarity, confidence and conviction not just for the business owner or the CFO, but also for department heads and even teams themselves. When forecasting is done well, it drives decisions and results.
   
   
3. Storytelling is crucial when engaging stakeholders in the forecasting process and helping them to understand how they can reach their specific targets or broader business goals.

We hope you enjoyed the session as much as we did, and we give our thanks to DiviPay for inviting us to be a part of a leading-edge event with such insightful and inspiring talks. In the meantime, keep your eyes on your inbox for all the latest webinar and event news from Fathom.