FP&A Today Riding the roller coaster of finance: Mykola Chyzhevskyi, Merlin Entertainment
Mar 19, 2026
Mikola Chyzhevskyi, Finance Business Partner at Merlin Entertainments and former law firm finance director, shares stories from fast growth and multi-country operations. He talks forecasting and daily attendance-driven updates. He covers cash, receivables and risk planning, plus working with procurement to validate sustainable costs. He highlights key performance drivers like attendance and guest spend.
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Visibility Breaks First In Fast Growth
- Rapid growth exposes visibility gaps: revenue can exist on paper while cash doesn't convert, and forecasting can be backward-looking.
- Mikola prioritized receivable control, bad debt management, forecast discipline, and ownership of numbers to restore basics.
Fix Invoicing And Make Partners Accountable
- Strengthen invoicing and collections with clear milestones, roles, and legal–finance alignment and involve partners in commercial negotiations.
- Mikola created proper invoicing processes and partner engagement so collections were timely and accountable.
Budget Simply Then Validate With Partners
- When forecasting in project-based businesses, keep forecasts simple and certain: start with current-year numbers plus a modest top-down uplift, then validate bottoms-up with partners.
- Mikola used a ~+10% top-down anchor, then had partners confirm realistic revenue per portfolio.