Carl Seidman: in his own words
“As an FP&A practitioner and educator, I see a lot of financial professionals struggle in their careers. They start out with a good education, find an organization with the culture and values that align with theirs, but over time, things break down. Unsure of how to align themselves with where the direction of the profession is going, they become siloed in their current role. They face endless pressures that include intense workloads, limited time to upskill, unclear processes and standards, constant time pressures and other challenges on a daily basis. It’s a source of constant frustration and I see it everywhere. If it’s too chronic, people get stressed or burned out and leave to find something else.
“They want to be better at their jobs, have greater confidence and more control over their impact and the direction of their careers.
Carl Seidman
“I see similar challenges with FP&A Directors and financial leadership—even CFOs. They want uniformity in approaches and consistent processes that their entire financial team engages in and promotes. They want to increase the value that their financial team provides the entire organization—to become better business partners. FP&A should no longer be seen as a cost center support function.
“This is why I love doing the FP&A development work I do for some of the most influential companies around the world. I am able to work closely with financial leaders and professionals to solve these problems within their organizations so they can enjoy their work and contribute in a more unified, empowered manner.
“Yes, there are skills that need to be developed to strengthen FP&A teams and their leaders. That’s the easy part. At the end of the day, it’s really how we adjust our mindset and use our creativity to bring about solutions and efficiencies within the financial arm of the company.
“Organizational success comes from people and how they provide value through their skills, intellect and eagerness to serve and make a difference. I’m committed to each person I help improve their performance, whether a CFO of a Fortune 500 company or a newly employed FP&A professional. It’s why I share so many real-life stories in my programs—the successes, mistakes and oversight, even outright failure. I want to help people see themselves excelling and growing into better professionals—people who realize the work they do will grow their career and positively impact the organization.”
—Carl Seidman
Carl’s “official” bio
Carl Seidman is a trusted business advisor specializing in financial planning and analysis (FP&A), business strategy, and finance transformation. He coaches and advises FP&A professionals at Fortune 500 corporations and middle-market companies, helping establish best practices, processes and sustainable business models. At the same time, Carl brings finance professionals greater control over their careers by helping them build their skills while eliminating time-wasting activities and mistakes.
Recent notable clients include:
Spotify, Heartland Financial, The American Chemical Society, Sol Petroleum, Cigna, Express Scripts, Verizon, Walmart, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Discover, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, MGM Grand, CHEP, Saltchuk, Erie Insurance, Crawford & Company, Santander, Fresenius Kabi, Telus, Marsh & McClennan, Guy Carpenter, ABM Industries, HCP Inc., Genentech, OnDeck Capital, BI Incorporated and Allscripts. Carl occasionally serves as a CFO coach to a select number of entrepreneurial businesses throughout North America and Europe.
Carl is an often requested subject matter expert, adjunct faculty member and facilitator for the American Management Association, which delivers training programs based on Carl’s methodologies. As a professional speaker and training facilitator, Carl is Director and Treasurer of the Illinois Chapter of the National Speakers Association and a member of the Association for Talent Development.
Carl was recognized as one of the 40 Under Forty by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) in 2020.
Carl is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and has earned other professional credentials including:
He has a master’s degree in accounting and bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Michigan State University. He was formerly a Director at Conway MacKenzie (now part of Riveron) and Senior Associate at PwC. He lives in Chicago with his wife and twin sons.
Connect with Carl on LinkedIn.
Listen to Carl’s media and podcast interviews.
Carl Seidman’s TEDx talk, “Why I Retired at 32”
Inform. Develop. Empower.
Watch what happens when your FP&A team realizes they hold the key to helping your organization win
empower your top financial performers with the FP&A development resources they need and watch them thrive
What professionals are saying about Seidman Financial programs:
“Carl set on a much deeper and more challenging review of our business model and core strategy than expected, with correspondingly higher aspirations.”
“Carl helped us to do the work and coach us rather than giving it to us on a plate, which has given us the ability to execute our own future. His unique ability is for sure in respect to having the ability to see the end from the beginning, in a way that gives a flawless transition to progress.”
“Carl has changed how we see and do business by bringing inspiration and increased answerability for the owners/leaders themselves...It has also helped us be drawn together as a team, more focused on the business interests...”
“[Carl] has helped us to create a financial model which brings together all of the information in the business enabling us to analyze the past, plan for the future, and gain an intelligent understanding of how our business works.”
“This training was very helpful in providing modeling and presentation concepts that are not always learned as part of on-the-job training.”
“Great to develop more advanced modeling skills for FP&A and learn best practices.”
“It was much more hands-on, therefore more beneficial to my learning.”
“Great class, great instructor. This class has given me the tools and knowledge to work more efficiently and I believe will improve my company’s bottom line. I also enjoyed not only the course material, but our classroom conversations regarding real issues and challenges many of us face in our daily work.”
“One of the best parts of the course was providing relevant stories on how to use the skills taught. This gave me a better understanding and ideas on how the materials can be integrated into my work.”
“I loved the pauses to reflect on how we can implement concepts in to our current work. Carl has a ton of applicable experience that colors the content with examples helping to make the concepts/techniques more practical.”
“The training was filled with valuable information that I could see making an immediate impact on our business. I am really looking forward to put into practice so many of the tools shared.”
“Carl’s program at UofI was by far one of the most informative and interesting we had as part of the Finance Academy. The presentation had useful information ranging from career advice to insight into the FP&A process. Carl’s various experiences lend to a comprehensive presentation that serves as an excellent learning opportunity for college students.”