Q4 planning is here and if you're treating it as just another forecasting exercise, you're missing the opportunity to show your strategic value.

This time of year is where finance professionals either step up as business partners or get sidelined as spreadsheet managers.

If you’re in a startup or scale-up, where next year’s strategy is still taking shape, your role isn’t just to “forecast what we know.” It’s to help shape what’s possible.

Here’s how to position yourself as a strategic finance leader in Q4 planning and not just the person who builds the model.

1. Connect the dots between strategy and numbers

Let’s be honest, most leadership teams start planning with a vague idea of what they want next year to look like:

“Launch new product,” “hit £10m revenue,” “expand into Europe.”

But very few come armed with numbers that prove it’s possible or that back up the trade-offs.

Your job is to be the connector. Take those big ambitions and start breaking them down into reality:

• What resources will that expansion take?
• How long until it’s profitable?
• Can the team execute within budget?

It’s how you show up as the commercial voice in the room.

🛠️ Practical tip: Start with a one-page Q4 planning deck that translates strategy into 5–7 key financial drivers. Use this to facilitate the planning conversations, not just report back.

2. Play out scenarios before they become decisions

Most founders don’t want one number, they want confidence in the direction.

Use Q4 planning to play out scenarios before decisions are made.
What happens if hiring gets delayed? If you don’t raise the full round? If CAC blows out in Q1?

You don’t need a 40-tab model to answer these questions, you need a clean version of the key assumptions and logic.

🛠️ Practical tip: Run 3 high-level scenarios for leadership:

• Base case (status quo) - use this for the management accounts & board pack
• Stretch case (ambitious)
• Conservative case (cash protection)

This gives founders what they need: visibility and options. That’s when you become a trusted partner.

3. Stop building plans in isolation

Too many finance leaders are still doing this backwards:
Build the forecast → present it to the team → get told “this doesn’t work for us.”

Flip it. Make Q4 planning a collaborative process.
Work with Marketing on the revenue assumptions.
Work with Ops on headcount needs.
Work with Product on roadmap phasing.

If you do this properly, the forecast becomes a reflection of shared goals and not just a finance document.

🛠️ Practical tip: Create a shared planning timeline with department heads. Lock in check-ins over 2–3 weeks so you’re all building together & not reacting in silos.

4. Look for leading indicators, not just financials

Q4 isn’t just about the year-end, it’s about what’s setting up Q1 and Q2 of next year.

Don’t just review revenue actuals. Look at pipeline velocity. Funnel conversions. Hiring funnel. Product development delays.

All of these are lead indicators for whether the forecast will hold.

🛠️ Practical tip: Include 2–3 non-financial KPIs in your Q4 planning dashboard.

Things like:

• Sales pipeline conversion rates
• Time-to-hire for key roles
• Feature delivery % vs roadmap

It shows you’re forward-looking and operational, not just historical.

5. Prepare the narrative, not just the numbers

In fast-growth companies, the story matters as much as the spreadsheet.

Q4 planning is where founders need a tight narrative to share with the board, investors, and team. Finance should help shape that.

Why these goals? Why this spend? What trade-offs have we made?

🛠️ Practical tip: As you finalise the Q4 plan, write a 1-page summary of the narrative behind the numbers. This will help:

• Frame the board deck
• Align the exec team
• Ensure consistency when pitching the year ahead

This is how you move from "budget owner" to "strategic leader."

Q4 planning done well, is where you stop reacting and start influencing. Where you shift from support role to strategic partner. And where your seat at the leadership table starts to look a whole lot more permanent.

Want to become a confident, strategic finance leader in a startup within the next 12 months? 

Here’s your plan:

1. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly practical tips and real talk about startup finance leadership.
2. Read my book Financial Leadership Fundamentals to get clear on what’s expected of you and how to show up as a leader.
3. Join the Financial Leadership Fundamentals course to fast-track your growth with structure, support, and strategy that works in the real world.