Q&A Finance Friday 1.16.26

Описание: Free 3‑day email guide: the 3 biggest career mistakes that stall accounting & finance pros (and how to avoid them) – plus a worksheet that helps you turn your experience into a story that stands out from every other finance professional saying the same thing on their LinkedIn, resume and in interviews in a crowded job market.

Go to: alecborlin.me/FIN

This was my first live Finance Friday Q&A, where I answered career questions in real time from accounting and finance professionals.

No prep. No scripts. Just real questions around career pivots, compensation, FP&A, leadership, AI, remote work, and where finance roles are actually headed in 2026.

I covered topics like:

Moving from public accounting to FP&A without resetting your career
Starting an accounting career later in life and catching up financially
How to stop being seen as “just” the tax or audit person
What skills actually future‑proof finance roles as AI expands
When the CPA still matters (and when it doesn’t)
Fractional CFO/controller paths, PE vs public company tradeoffs, and more
If you work in accounting, FP&A, or finance leadership and are trying to make smarter career decisions, this session should be useful.

If you want a deeper dive on positioning your experience, I put together a free 3‑day FIN crash course + worksheet that helps you build your Finance Impact Narrative and upgrade your LinkedIn/resume: alecborlin.me/FIN

If you want me to cover additional questions in future Q&As, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro: live Q&A, no prep
01:05 – Big 4 auditor to FP&A without a pay cut
03:35 – Public accounting vs FLDP
06:05 – Starting accounting at 35+ and catching up in comp
09:15 – Stop being seen as “tax or audit only”
12:25 – Government/nonprofit to high‑growth corporate roles
15:20 – Future‑proof finance industries in 2026
18:40 – CPA and MBA: worth it or redundant?
21:15 – Small firm vs Big 4 and long‑term earnings
23:55 – Public company to PE portfolio: risk and upside
30:55 – FP&A to investment banking or private equity
33:10 – When you’re ready to go fractional CFO/controller
35:40 – The skill that moves you from manager to director
38:10 – Executive presence as an introvert
41:05 – Managing up to a CEO who doesn’t “get” finance
42:45 – Getting out of the month‑end close weeds
46:05 – CFO title at a startup vs Director at a Fortune 500
49:00 – First 90 days as VP of Finance
51:10 – Excel vs SQL/Python in 2026
52:30 – AI and entry‑level accounting roles
54:10 – Why ERP implementations fail
55:10 – Competing with offshore teams + wrap‑up