Numbers as Navigation: Making Financial Projections Work for Your Business

Looking backward can have some value because your numbers show patterns and provide a baseline for performance. But history alone won’t tell you where your business is headed. That’s the role of projections. In this episode, ProCFO Marty Weinberg explains why projections are living tools that connect your numbers to your strategy. Marty explores how projections, when tied to real operational levers like pricing, staffing, and customer acquisition costs, give leaders a roadmap for growth. He shares examples of how scenario planning – modeling “what if” situations such as new tariffs or shifting costs – helps businesses prepare for uncertainty instead of reacting to it. Projections aren’t a series of spreadsheets and reports. They’re the outcomes of the potential story inside your numbers.

We also dig into the connection between projections and strategy. Are you starting with your goals and using projections to measure progress, or are you reverse-engineering strategy from your numbers? Marty outlines how to balance both approaches and why revenue models and cash flow should always be central to the conversation.

For executives and business owners, this episode makes clear that projections aren’t academic exercises or one-off planning documents. When done right, they’re dynamic, strategic, and essential to aligning your team and your decisions with the future you want to create. Featuring Marty Weinberg