Paul Barnhurst’s recent post about Excel automation

This in the series Excel Deep Dive

Paul Barnhurst recently posted about FP&A, emphasizing that its role is to help businesses make better, smarter, and faster decisions. He also highlighted the importance of business partnering and relationship building, correctly identifying these as crucial soft skills. I agree with this premise—strong relationships are essential, but they require time to develop. And here’s where I start to question some of his assertions.

Paul suggests that we can free up time by automating as much manual work as possible and building great processes. That sounds reasonable, but what exactly does he mean by “manual work”? And what does he mean by “automate”?

These are critical distinctions. Automation can take two very different forms:

1. Automating manual processes – This is like taking the long route around South America and simply making it faster. You’re still taking the scenic route, just at greater speed.
2. Re-engineering the process – This is like realizing that the goal is not sightseeing, but transporting cargo efficiently, so instead of going around South America, you use the Panama Canal.

The distinction is fundamental. If all we do is automate existing inefficient processes, we may gain speed, but not true efficiency. Real transformation comes from questioning whether the manual work should exist in the first place. That’s the core issue I have with Paul’s assertion.

The Technical Side: Defining Spreadsheet and Financial Modeling Skills

Paul also lists financial modeling and spreadsheet skills as top technical competencies in FP&A. This is where we get into the heart of the issue—what specific spreadsheet skills does he mean? If he is addressing an enterprise audience, then not all spreadsheet skills are equally relevant.

He makes three key points:

1. Understanding how to automate work in Excel (Power Query, Power Pivot, VBA, etc.) – But how and why? These tools are mostly applicable to standalone spreadsheets rather than enterprise processes. Many of these techniques, while useful for individual analysts, don’t necessarily scale well in an enterprise environment.
2. Learning to design well-structured, efficient models – What does that mean in an enterprise setting? If we take the Global Excel Airbus Challenge, for instance, this is a collaborative, enterprise-level process, not a standalone spreadsheet task. Designing a well-structured model at this level requires completely different thinking.
3. Conducting analysis and deriving insights using Excel (formulas, PivotTables, etc.) – Again, are we discussing methods suited to an individual analyst, or approaches that work across a multi-user, enterprise-wide workflow?

The Real Question: What Does It Mean to Free Up Time?

Paul suggests that by becoming more efficient in Excel and modeling, we can free up time for business relationships. That’s true in principle—but the key is what Excel and modeling skills you invest in. Learning the wrong techniques will not lead to the efficiency gains he envisions.

This is why I challenge posts like his. The discussion needs to go deeper than just saying, “learn Power Query and you’ll free up time.” It requires breaking down how automation should be applied and which Excel techniques are truly enterprise-ready.

It’s striking that posts like Paul’s receive enthusiastic agreement without deeper scrutiny. Many commenters simply say, “Great advice!” But have they actually thought through these points? Are they applying first-principles thinking to how FP&A professionals should truly optimize their processes?

The missing piece in Paul’s post is a real explanation of how we free up time. He assumes that using Excel automation tools will automatically lead to efficiency. But efficiency isn’t just about tools—it’s about strategy and architecture. And that’s what needs to be discussed.