Budgeting for Impact: How Finance Can Lead, Not Just Report with Travis Grundy, Adventum

Effective budgeting and forecasting require balancing data-driven analysis with practical business realities, especially for emerging companies navigating uncertain economic conditions. In this episode of CFO Weekly, Travis Grundy, Senior Associate of FP&A at Adventum, joins Megan Weis to share his unique approach to creating realistic budgets and forecasts that drive business success.

Travis Grundy is a Financial Strategist and Advisor at Adventum, where he serves as a fractional CFO helping businesses optimize their financial operations. With vast experience in data-driven decision making and global program management, Travis brings a unique perspective shaped by his service in the US Army, leadership of Zharmae Books, and work across diverse industries, including healthcare and mental health services.

What You’ll Learn:
How to build realistic budgets using a bottom-up approach that starts with unit economics
Why socializing budgets across departments is crucial for successful implementation
The framework for analyzing revenue targets, hiring plans, and expense management holistically
How to use KPIs and historical data to create achievable financial projections
Why regular monthly variance analysis and frank discussions drive budget accountability
How to tailor budgeting approaches across different business types while maintaining core principles

Learn more about Travis:
Travis Grundy on LinkedIn:   / tgrundy  
Adventum Website: http://www.goadventum.com/
Alyn Robert Economic Strategies Website: https://alynrobert.com/


Chapters:
[00:00] Intro
[00:01:54] Travis's Journey: From Military to Financial Strategy
[04:45] Bottom-Up Budgeting: A Practical Approach
[08:03] Being the Voice of Reason in Financial Planning
[10:08] Building a Comprehensive Budget: Revenue to Expenses
[14:15] Making Budgets Work: Socializing Plans Across Teams
[17:12] Industry Differences in Budgeting Approaches
[21:26] Using Data and KPIs to Drive Financial Decisions
[24:01] Financial Tools and Excel's Staying Power
[25:51] Future of Budgeting: AI and Real Numbers
[27:32] Final Thoughts and Wrap-up