Bill Rausch

Founder & Managing Director, Bright Point

LinkedIn · Bright Point · Goodreads · Prestonwood CC

I run Bright Point, a boutique advisory and implementation firm helping finance teams modernize how they plan, forecast, and make decisions. I've spent 25+ years in performance management and FP&A software, previously leading consulting teams at Hyperion, Oracle, and Planful.

I founded the original Bright Point in 2010. It became Planful's largest partner, serving over 400 clients, before being acquired by UHY Advisors. I reacquired the firm in 2022 and repositioned it around Pigment, earning their North American Impact Partner of the Year award in 2024.

Based in Raleigh, NC. Lifelong learner, avid golfer, Formula 1 enthusiast, long-suffering New York Jets fan.

Writing

Building a Financial Model with AI 10 hours, two days, zero hand-written formulas. Using Claude to build a full operating model from a 30-page requirements doc. Mitigating EPM Project Turnover Dual consultants, obsessive documentation, and upfront risk conversations. How we keep projects moving when people leave. The Real Best Moment of an Implementation It's not go-live. It's the moment a client solves a problem on their own for the first time. Template-Based vs. Formula-Based EPM Why "easy to implement" means very different things depending on the architecture underneath. How to Spot FP&A Shelf-Ware in Demos Three red flags from 25 years of watching vendors demo software that never gets used. When to Automate — A Rule of Thumb Just because you can automate something doesn't mean you should. A practical framework. Best Practices in Financial Reporting On data quality, process design, and why 53% of finance teams still struggle with their own numbers.

Reading

Mostly fantasy and sci-fi. A few all-time favorites, plus what I've been reading lately. Full list on Goodreads.

Favorites

The Lord of the Rings — J.R.R. Tolkien

A Song of Ice and Fire — George R.R. Martin

The Name of the Wind — Patrick Rothfuss

The Lies of Locke Lamora — Scott Lynch

Ender's Game — Orson Scott Card

1984 — George Orwell

Unbroken — Laura Hillenbrand

My Effin' Life — Geddy Lee

Recent

Zero to One — Peter Thiel

Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury

Only Killers and Thieves — Paul Howarth

Dome: Uprising — Johnathon Nicolaou

Mistborn: The Final Empire — Brandon Sanderson

On Deck

The Blade Itself — Joe Abercrombie

The Fifth Season — N.K. Jemisin

The Grace of Kings — Ken Liu

Golf

I play at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, NC — 54 holes of championship golf, home of the SAS Championship on the PGA Tour Champions. If you're ever in the Triangle and want to play a round, let me know.

Road Trip — Summer 2027

Planning an 8–10 week road trip from North Carolina.

NC → Northeast Toronto Detroit Traverse City, MI Upper Peninsula, MI Northern Wisconsin Minneapolis Kalispell, MT Coeur d'Alene, ID Seattle Portland, OR Redwoods, NorCal Bay Area Death Valley & Joshua Tree Las Vegas Phoenix Northern New Mexico Durango, CO Denver, CO Austin, TX Atlanta, GA Home

If you're along the route and want to grab coffee (or play golf), reach out.