Run the AI. Don’t Get Replaced by It.
I help finance pros use AI to get their time back, sharpen their edge, and become
the person their company can’t afford to lose.
AI is being adopted across finance faster than most professionals can keep up with on their own.
Every week there is a new tool. Every other day there is a LinkedIn post about someone who automated their entire close and now works four hours a week.
If you are good at your job and still trying to figure out where AI fits into your actual workflow, you are not behind. You are just doing it without a structure that works.
That is why Mike’s F9 Finance exists.
Mike’s Story
I’ve spent more than a decade in corporate finance and FP&A. As a new manager I was good at my job. I was also consistently the last one to leave, fixing a model that should have been automated three years earlier, rebuilding the same report from scratch for the fifth month in a row, writing variance commentary at 11pm while a reasonably capable AI assistant sat unused in a browser tab.
When I had kids, something shifted. Late nights stopped being a badge and started being a cost. Every hour I spent on work that could run itself was an hour I was not getting back.
So I started building systems. Power Query, Power Pivot, then AI tools as they became real enough to trust. Reporting that used to take days dropped to hours. Commentary that consumed entire evenings could be drafted in minutes. The quality went up. The stress went down. My time started feeling like mine again.
I started sharing what I was learning. On YouTube and TikTok, for free. Fifty thousand finance professionals started showing up. The questions were always a version of the same thing: how do I actually learn this without falling further behind, and how do I make it stick when I am already running a full close process?
I built F9 Finance to answer that. Not with a blog or a tips list. With structure. A pace you can hold. AI skills applied to real finance work, fifteen minutes a day.
Nice To Meet You
If we haven’t met before, I’m Mike. I’m the founder of F9 Finance, a Corporate Finance Leader, and AI Expert.
Over the last decade, I’ve helped 5,000+ finance professionals get trained, contributed to 100+ promotions, and saved finance teams more than 150,000 hours of manual work.
Mike Dion
Founder, F9 Finance
My Promise To You (Editorial Guidelines)
Everything on F9 Finance comes from real finance workflows. If a tool or technique does not save time in an actual close process, it does not make the cut.
- Every article is written by a finance or accounting professional with at least 10 years of real-world experience — not generalists, not ghostwriters.
- Every tool and course review is based on hands-on testing, combined with research from G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, and direct conversations with industry experts.
- I use a 9-point rating system for every review. Nine criteria, because F9. Every time.
- I update previously published content regularly. If a tool changes, the review changes.
- Every article goes through a quality check before it publishes — factual accuracy, clarity, and plagiarism review, every time.
- I use AI to assist with writing. I never publish AI-generated content without reading, editing, and fact-checking it myself.
- I only recommend tactics and tools I have personally tested in real-world finance environments.
- I never recommend anything that conflicts with US GAAP, SEC regulations, or standard financial compliance.
- Some links on this site are affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you buy — at no cost to you. It never changes what I recommend.
- I do not write reviews in exchange for money. Sponsorships are only offered to products that already cleared my review process.
| What You’ll Find | What That Means |
|---|---|
| AI tool guides | Honest comparisons and walkthroughs of AI tools tested on real finance workflows. If it doesn’t deliver, that’s in the review too. |
| Automation tutorials | Step-by-step Power Query, Excel, and workflow automation techniques built for finance teams, not generalists. |
| Finance AI Lab | The membership for finance pros who want to build AI skills with structure. One new skill every two weeks, 15 minutes a day. |
| Weekly newsletter | One short email a week. A new AI tool, prompt, or automation workflow you can test before Friday. |
Books I Have Written
The Financial Storyteller’s Playbook – How to turn finance data into stories that drive business decisions. Because numbers that don’t move people don’t move anything.
Get Started With AI Prompting for Finance – A practical guide to using AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude in a real finance role. Written for finance pros, not developers.
Where I Have Been Featured
My work has been featured across the finance world. Here are just some of the places you can find me:
- FP&A Unlocked Podcast
- Seeking Alpha
- Yahoo Finance
- Grit Daily
- Count Me In Podcast
- Super Money
- College Recruiter
- FP&A Today Podcast
- Association For Finance Professionals
Connect With Me
Want to stop drowning in spreadsheets? Here’s where to find me:
- 📩 Subscribe to my newsletter. One AI tool, prompt, or automation workflow every week. Short. Practical. Usable before Friday.
- 🎥 Watch my YouTube channel for AI tool comparisons, automation tutorials, and honest takes on what’s actually worth your time.
Who Owns F9 Finance
F9 Finance is owned and operated by Michael Dion DBA F9 Finance, a registered Florida sole proprietorship.
7901 4th St N, Ste 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Missed another dinner? Let’s fix that.
Every week I send one short email. A new AI tool, automation, or technique you can test before Friday.