In this episode, John Sanchez delves into an insightful conversation with Carolina Lago, the esteemed managing director of Tactic Financial and a financial modeling expert whose career spans continents and industries.Carolina's expertise is deeply rooted in her experiences with large organizations including A Testing Service, Avon, as well as in her work with small to midsize companies in organizing their finances. With a focus on real-world application of financial modeling, Carolina crafts scenarios to train practitioners in projecting future financials while comprehensively understanding business operations and costs.Key insights from our dialogue include:1. Constructing Scenarios on Financial Models: Gain insight from Carolina’s webinar success in building scenarios that mirror actual industry challenges, which is vital for professionals who desire to translate theory into pragmatic outcomes.2. Laying the Framework for AFM Exam Preparation: Learn Carolina’s approach to simplifying complex financial principles, ensuring readiness for the AFM exam and encouraging pursuit of distinguished certifications with minimal additional training.3. Fostering a Culture of Continuous Learning: Explore the significance of integrating real-world problems into academic endeavors, and the impact this can have on sharpening financial acumen and cultivating a learning mindset.4. The Importance of Financial Tools: Uncover the limitations and benefits of using planning software like Cognos and NetSuite, and understand why mastery of Excel remains crucial for nuanced financial analysis and modeling.5. Personal Financial Organisation: Engage with Carolina’s insights on personal finance management, its cultural impacts, and the value of actionable insights derived from data to inform decision-making.6. Communication and Simplification: Carolina underscores the necessity of conciseness in FP&A, from one-page business reports to presentations. The episode highlights methods to distill complex data into lucid, impactful communication.7. Course Offerings and Professional Growth: Discover opportunities for professional development through Carolina’s offerings, including a course on Maven, designed to impart her financial modeling acumen.Whether you are an emerging professional or an experienced analyst, this episode with Carolina Lago is laden with vital counsel and tips to aid in streamlining your FP&A capabilities and advancing your career.For more such enriching episodes and insights from the experts, do not forget to subscribe. Share this episode with your peers to spread valuable knowledge, and we welcome your comments below with reflections or inquiries.Connect with Carolina Lago on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/s-carolinalago/

for her wealth of content and to sign up for her newsletter, Tactical Room, and find her financial modeling course on Maven. Join us as we thank Carolina for the valuable insights she has provided and for contributing greatly to the FP&A community.EPISODE INDEX=============00:00 Creating special financial modeling course for public.05:26 Experienced in TOEFL, business, finance, and partnering.08:39 Effective planning software aids budget consolidation and analysis.10:07 Excel remains essential despite fancy planning software.13:26 Many Brazilians do not have mortgages.19:06 Absorbing information without planning, then connecting later.21:43 Weekly note review helps him refine ideas.25:46 Teaching fast thinking in finance, connecting ideas.29:22 Recognizing patterns through repetition sharpens brain.31:46 Understanding evaluation model is crucial in M&A.36:42 Experience classroom problems, real case scenarios, modeling.40:09 Learn framework for AFM, practice, sit.43:49 Simplicity is crucial in financial communication.47:56 Emotions grab attention before logic and data.49:24 Encouragement to follow Carolina's free content.