Top Budgeting Tips for FP&A Professionals to Build a Strategic & Smooth Planning Process - Glenn Snyder

In this episode of FP&A Tomorrow, host Paul Barnhurst and co-host Glenn Snyder explore what really makes a budgeting process succeed, or fall apart. Drawing from decades of experience in finance and corporate strategy, Paul and Glenn share lessons learned from real budgeting cycles, including where things went wrong and how they were fixed. They cover everything from headcount planning mistakes and unrealistic timelines to aligning business partners and creating buy-in at the executive level. Whether you're in the middle of budget season or preparing for one, this conversation is packed with practical advice you can take straight to your team.

Glenn Snyder is a strategic finance leader with deep experience across public, private equity, private equity-owned, and family-owned companies. He currently serves as Head of FP&A at Riveron and brings expertise in financial analysis, corporate strategy, modeling, and budgeting. Glenn has worked across several industries including SaaS (healthcare and telecom), eCommerce, data centers, and FinTech. He is also a Fractional CFO, mentor, and educator, with a long-standing connection to UCLA where he supports students and emerging finance professionals

Expect to Learn:

• Why automation should be baked into FP&A from day one
• What accountability-based forecasting looks like in practice
• How to shift FP&A from a cost center to an operational partner
• Practical methods for protecting your most valuable asset: time
• Why “humble curiosity” is essential to understanding the business

Here are a few quotes from the episode:

• "Fully burdened compensation isn’t just salary plus bonus, there’s a lot more under the hood." - Glenn Snyder
• "Budgeting is a chance to learn the business, not just fill in a template." - Glenn Snyder
• "Finance exists to help the business make better, faster decisions." - Paul Barnhurst

Glenn Snyder emphasized that budgeting is most effective when it's collaborative, strategic, and grounded in real business understanding. He reminded us that finance’s role is to support decision-making, not just manage numbers. With clear communication and thoughtful planning, budgeting can become a tool for alignment and impact.

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Earn Your CPE Credit

For CPE credit, please go to earmarkcpe.com, listen to the episode, download the app, answer a few questions, and earn your CPE certification. To earn education credits for the FP&A  Certificate, take the quiz on earmark and contact Paul Barnhurst for further details.

In Today’s Episode

[04:37] - Why Stay in FP&A?

[07:40] - Glenn Outside of Work

[13:59] - A Tough Business Transformation

[21:31] - Comp, Vacancies & Budget Math

[25:32] - Top 5 Budgeting Tips

[37:48] - Top 5 Budgeting Pitfalls

[50:22] - Planning Over Perfection

[59:54] - Closing Thoughts & Budgeting Humor