In this episode, CJ sits down with Rob Paterson, CFO of Employment Hero, to talk about smart growth, why not all revenue is good revenue, and Australia's startup scene. They start by discussing when to turn down growth opportunities and which financial metrics are more distracting than helpful. Rob explains the challenges of holding people accountable when you are a growth CFO and how to be a Chief Reality Officer instead of a “CF-No”. He offers a view into the Australian startup ecosystem, highlighting what sets it apart, the challenges local founders face, and why global expansion from day one is a must. Rob also outlines his approach to forecasting and cost control, including how he applies the 80/20 rule to revenue, before sharing a wild fraud story from his auditing days.

If you're looking for an ERP head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.

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SPONSORS:

Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics.

Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities to automating painful procurement workflows and giving you the best market data to turn vendor negotiations in your favor, Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how.

NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 40,000 companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform, head to NetSuite https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.

Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics.

Subscript is a modern billing and revenue recognition platform designed for SaaS finance teams that need flexibility and accuracy. From automated invoicing and dunning to compliant, transparent revenue recognition and real-time analytics, Subscript eliminates manual work, reduces errors, and gives you a single source of truth for all your financial data. Book a free demo at subscript.com.

Rippling Spend is a spend management solution that handles your entire company’s spending in one unified system. It enables you to bring your corporate cards, expense management, bill pay, and more into one place to achieve real-time visibility and uniquely granular control with automated policy controls across every type of spend. Get a demo to see how much time your org would save at rippling.com/metrics.

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@cjgustafson222 (CJ)

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(02:18) Sponsor – Vanta | Tropic | NetSuite

(07:06) Not All Revenue Is Good Revenue

(14:09) Metrics: Overrated and Underrated

(16:14) Sponsor – Planful | Subscript | Rippling Spend

(20:18) Lifetime Value (LTV)

(20:11) Vertical and Horizontal P&L

(21:27) Chief Reality Officer: Holding People Accountable

(24:37) Staying Approachable as a CFO

(26:04) The Australian Startup Ecosystem

(27:28) What Sets Australian Startups Apart

(29:39) Going Global on Day One

(31:47) The Remote-First Superpower

(32:52) Competitiveness and Tall Poppy Syndrome

(35:24) Mastering the 80/20 Rule

(39:17) Building Strong Management

(41:32) Long-Ass Lightning Round: The Fraud Story

(46:10) Finance Software Stack

(47:06) Craziest Expense Story