The Finance Leader Podcast

268 Episodes

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Senior Finance Leadership Traits to Develop for Career Advancement

2026-11-0402:46

Send us Fan Mail Bonus episode # 104: Senior leadership isn’t a title you inherit, it’s a capability you demonstrate long before you get the role. I’m interrupting the season with a short bonus episode built for finance managers who feel stuck in the tactical and want a clearer path to director-level and beyond. If you’ve ever wondered what executives actually look for when they evaluate “leadership potential,” I lay out the signals that consistently separate strong managers from true senior ...

The CFO Balancing Act of Cost Discipline versus Investment and Growth

2026-10-2813:39

Send us Fan Mail Episode # 163: Every CFO knows the moment: the numbers say “cut,” the strategy says “invest,” and the business needs both. I walk through how to balance cost discipline with investment and growth without falling into the traps that quietly weaken competitiveness. This is not about trimming budgets for optics. It’s about making deliberate choices that protect financial resilience, fund the priorities that matter, and avoid paying a bigger price later. We start with a practica...

How To Use Contribution Margin For Smarter Pricing and Product Mix Decisions

2026-10-1512:49

Send us Fan Mail Episode # 162: Revenue can climb while profit stays stubbornly flat, and the culprit is often hiding in plain sight: contribution margin. We walk through a practical way to think about contribution margin so leaders can see what each product or service truly contributes toward fixed costs and operating profit, and why “best-selling” does not always mean “best for the business.” If you’ve ever approved a discount and later wondered why the results felt underwhelming, this conv...

Improving Restaurant Forecasting with a Driver-Based Process

2026-10-0715:21

Send us Fan Mail Episode # 161: Restaurant forecasting can feel impossible when demand changes fast and yesterday’s playbook stops working. Sales might be steady while traffic quietly drops, or a shift to delivery lifts revenue but creates new labor, inventory, and margin problems. We want forecasts that explain what is happening, not just a number that misses with confidence. We walk through a driver-based restaurant forecast built on what leaders can manage: traffic, average check, and mix...

Improve Communications Between Finance and Operations: Shared Facts, Better Decisions

2026-09-3015:27

Send us Fan Mail Episode # 160: Quarterly reviews shouldn’t feel like three teams arguing in three different languages, but that’s exactly what happens when operations, FP&A, and accounting aren’t aligned on the basics. We dig into the real source of cross-functional friction: mismatched definitions, different timelines, and metrics that mean one thing to ops and another thing to finance. When each group owns only a slice of the story, leaders end up waiting for separate explanations whil...

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