Planning Aces

Planning Aces sits in an unusual spot in the CFO podcast world. It is co-hosted by Brett Knowles, a longtime performance management consultant, and Jack Sweeney, the veteran finance journalist behind CFO Thought Leader. The show is tightly focused on FP&A, which means financial planning and analysis, the part of finance that sits between accounting and strategy. The format is not a traditional long-form interview. Each episode brings in a handful of FP&A leaders, often three at a time, to discuss a specific theme. Knowles and Sweeney stitch together commentary from those guests around a central topic, which gives listeners multiple perspectives on the same problem without the repetition of separate interviews. Recent topics have included scenario planning during interest rate shocks, how AI is changing the FP&A headcount math, and the awkward handoff between sales forecasts and finance reforecasts. Knowles brings the consulting lens. He has spent decades watching companies get planning right and wrong, and he is quick to point out when a guest is describing a best practice versus a workaround. Sweeney brings the interviewer's instinct for a good quote and knows how to pull a story out of a guest who is being cautious. Episodes run around 20 to 30 minutes, which is right for the format. Anything longer would start to feel like a conference panel. For FP&A directors, heads of finance, and CFOs who are rebuilding their planning function, this is one of the most targeted resources available, and the curated multi-guest format is genuinely useful.