15+ years in EPM
1000+ evaluations
Zero vendor kickbacks
Build your EPM vendor shortlist in 90 seconds.
Start with what you actually need — modules first — then we map the vendors.
Step 1 — Capabilities
Mark what you need Now vs Next 12 months.
Consolidation & Close
—
Financial consolidationi
Intercompany elim & matching (AR/AP, timing, inv profit, JV/NCI)i
FX translation rigor (avg/closing, historical, CTA)i
Cash flow (indirect) out of the boxi
Close orchestration / task management
Account reconciliationsi
Reporting & Disclosure
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Board/management reporting (narrative packs)
Disclosure & narrative reporting (XBRL/ESEF)i
Planning
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Corporate FP&A (P&L/BS/CF)
Workforce planning
Capex planning
Revenue/Sales planning
Extended / S&OP / operational planning
Long-range / strategic planning (3–5y)
Governance & Data
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Master data / hierarchy governance (EDM)i
Data integration connectors / pipelinesi
Reg/Specialty
—
Lease accounting (IFRS 16 / ASC 842)
ESG / sustainability reporting
Are you ready for Demo Day?
Get a readiness score, fix the gaps, and run demos that actually decide a winner.
Step 1 of 3
Step 1 — Scope & Success
Primary outcomes (pick 2)
Must-show scenarios documented
Success criteria
Services that move the decision forward.
Six focused offerings—from requirements to implementation readiness.
How we work
01
Kickoff
Scope, stakeholders, success.
02
Workshops
Requirements & use cases.
03
Demos
Scripts, scoring, red flags.
04
Decision
TCO/ROI & board pack.
Sprint Shortlist (≈2 weeks)
Requirements → Market → Rapid Shortlist
Includes: 3 services
Guided Selection (4–6 weeks)
Adds Demo Day Coaching + Decision Pack
Includes: 5 services
Ready-to-Implement (6–8 weeks)
Everything above + Implementation Readiness
Includes: 6 services
📋
Business Requirements Blueprint
Facilitated workshops and a crystal-clear requirements book that aligns finance, IT, and leadership before vendors ever walk in.
Outcome: A vendor-ready blueprint in 1–2 weeks.
Signals this is for you
- Stakeholders disagree on priorities
- Board date within 60–90 days
- IT asks for specifics before engaging
What you get
- Cross-functional workshops with finance, IT, and ops
- Detailed requirements document by process area
- Must-have vs nice-to-have prioritization matrix
Why it matters
- Avoids vendor-driven scope creep
- Gives you a vendor-ready blueprint
- Ensures leadership alignment from day one
🔍
Market Landscape & Research
An unbiased pulse on the EPM market—strengths, weaknesses, and roadmaps—translated into plain English.
Outcome: Clarity on 6–8 real contenders in days.
Signals this is for you
- Too many vendors to evaluate
- Conflicting analyst opinions
- You want roadmaps without the hype
What you get
- Market map of top vendors with positioning
- One-page vendor profiles with pros & cons
- Roadmap insights on upcoming features
Why it matters
- Separates hype from reality
- Saves weeks of analyst deck reading
- Gives you smarter questions for vendor meetings
🎯
Rapid Vendor Shortlist
From a crowded market to the 2–3 vendors that truly fit—delivered in weeks, not months.
Outcome: 2–3 vendor shortlist in ~2 weeks.
Signals this is for you
- Need to move quickly
- Limited bandwidth for demos
- Risk of internal fatigue from too many options
What you get
- Objective scoring against your requirements
- 2–3 vendor shortlist with rationale
- Comparison matrix for executive review
Why it matters
- Cuts wasted cycles on poor fits
- Keeps evaluation focused and defendable
- Positions you for faster board approval
🖥️
Demo Day Coaching
We script the demo day you actually need—structured agendas, scoring templates, and red-flag detectors to keep vendors honest.
Outcome: Apples-to-apples demos and clean team input.
Signals this is for you
- Demos drift into theater
- Hard to compare like-for-like
- Stakeholders talk past each other post-demo
What you get
- Tailored demo agendas and scripts
- Weighted scoring templates for team input
- Red-flag checklist for vendor behavior
Why it matters
- Ensures demos show real workflows
- Makes evaluations apples-to-apples
- Reveals capability gaps before contracts are signed
Unsure which path fits? Get a 10-minute recommendation.
⚖️
Negotiation & Decision Pack
TCO modeling, benchmarks, and a board-ready decision pack that arms you for the final mile.
Outcome: Board-ready narrative and risk coverage.
Signals this is for you
- Pricing unclear or moving
- Board wants numbers and risks
- Multiple vendors still in play
What you get
- 3–5 year TCO/ROI model with scenarios
- Negotiation playbook with benchmark data
- Executive-ready decision summary deck
Why it matters
- Prevents hidden costs and weak SLAs
- Arms you with leverage on asks
- Gives executives confidence to sign off
🛠️
Implementation Readiness
Vetting SI partners, stress-testing project plans, and setting success metrics so your go-live lands smoothly.
Outcome: Lower go-live risk and tighter control.
Signals this is for you
- Unclear partner quality or fit
- Concerns about scope creep
- No crisp phase-1 success metrics
What you get
- Partner shortlist and reference checks
- Project plan & scope sanity review
- Success metrics and governance structure
Why it matters
- Reduces go-live risk
- Holds partners accountable
- Sets clear criteria for phase-one success
Build your plan
Choose any combination of services. This shows a timeline only; we’ll scope budget on a quick call.
No services selected yet.
Estimated timeline: —
Or email me your context →We’ll confirm scope and timeline on a 15–20 min call.
Mini case — $900M manufacturer
Situation: Five vendors, conflicting narratives, board date in eight weeks. Action: Requirements → Shortlist → Demo coaching with scoring. Outcome: two contenders in 15 days; decision pack approved on first pass.
“This compressed three months of churn into a focused, defensible decision. Our board’s questions were answered before they were asked.”
— VP Finance, mid-market
FAQ
How is this different from analyst firms or SIs?
No vendor fees, no kickbacks, and we sit with your team to pressure-test real workflows. We make demos apples-to-apples and decision-ready.
Can we start with just one service?
Yes. Many teams start with the Requirements Blueprint or Rapid Shortlist and expand as needed.
Will you attend vendor calls and challenge them live?
Yes. We facilitate agendas, enforce scope, and capture scoring in real time.
Analyst Reports & Briefings
Independent insights for CFOs evaluating EPM—what’s real, what’s noise, and how to move faster.
6 results
Need a quick analyst briefing?
- 10–15 buyer signals we’re seeing now
- Demo traps to avoid this quarter
- 2–3 vendors to actually consider
Get new reports in your inbox
Short briefings, buyer signals, and practical checklists—no fluff.
Independent. Practical. Rogue.
After 15+ years in EPM and 1,000+ evaluations, I started CFO Shortlist to give CFOs and IT leaders what vendor theater and biased quadrants can’t: clear, defensible choices—fast.
Why CFO Shortlist
I’ve sat on the vendor side and watched buyers waste months on scripted demos, fluffy ROI slides, and generic scorecards. This practice exists to cut through that—align Finance & IT, run objective demos, and land a decision you can defend with your board.
Principles
- Independent. No vendor fees or kickbacks—ever.
- Practical. Real workflows over product theater.
- Fast. 2-week shortlists, crisp decisions.
15+
years in EPM
1,000+
evaluations
0
vendor kickbacks
How I work
📋
Clarity first
Facilitated workshops and a crisp requirements blueprint everyone signs off on.
🎯
Shortlist fast
Objective scoring to 2–3 real fits. Apples-to-apples demo agendas and scoring.
⚖️
Decision confidence
TCO/ROI, price benchmarks, and a board-ready recommendation pack.
What clients say
“We went from a scattered RFP to a defendable shortlist and a clean board decision in weeks. The demo scoring exposed gaps we never would’ve caught.”
— CFO, Series C SaaS (anonymized)
- 20-min intro: goals, constraints, timeline
- Objective shortlist in ~2 weeks (typical)
- 1,000+ evaluations • zero vendor kickbacks
What clients say
“From scattered RFP to a defendable shortlist and clean board decision—in weeks.”
— CFO, Series C SaaS (anonymized)
What happens on the intro call?
We clarify goals, constraints, and timing, then outline the right-sized path (workshops → shortlist → decision pack).
Can you work with our IT/SI?
Yes—IT for Finance is core. We sanity-check plans, claims, and success metrics before go-live.
Do you take vendor fees?
No. Zero vendor kickbacks. Independence is the point.
We’ll never share your information. One follow-up max unless you opt in.