FP&Ai Podcast: Ep 8: Pivoting From Finance to EPM ft. Yaseen Enos

In this episode of the FP&Ai podcast, host Roger Knocker interviews Yaseen Enos, a Chartered Accountant (CA) who transitioned from a traditional finance path into a specialized role in Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and financial process automation.

[0:00 - 3:07] Introduction and Background: Yaseen introduces himself and his current work at Flash, a fintech company under the Pepkor group that supports small traders with digital services like airtime, electricity, and payment processing.

[3:07 - 9:08] The Role of an FP&A Automation Specialist: Yaseen explains his shift away from traditional accounting tasks (like auditing or financial statement preparation) toward building systems for financial analytics, reporting, and automated budgeting. He emphasizes his collaboration with diverse stakeholders, including HR and sales, to integrate various business plans into a single financial framework.

[9:08 - 15:46] The Career Pivot: Yaseen reflects on his time as a finance analyst, where he struggled with manual spreadsheet-heavy tasks. He describes his decision to move into a systems-focused role as a risk, noting that he initially saw it as a temporary detour from the traditional path toward becoming a CFO.

[15:46 - 21:54] Evolution of Tools: The conversation covers the progression from manual Excel modeling to implementing enterprise tools like Hyperion. Yaseen discusses the importance of data integrity and creating a "single version of the truth" through system reconciliations.

[21:54 - 27:03] BI vs. EPM: The two clarify the distinction between Business Intelligence (BI) tools—which are primarily used for visualizing historical data—and EPM tools, which focus on managing business performance, modeling future scenarios, and integrating drivers across departments to enable faster decision-making.