The CFO Playbook

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Tom Herbert, Tech Editor at AccountingWEB, the largest independent online community for accounting and finance professionals in the UK.Tom is a journalist, editor and broadcaster with experience across digital and print publications. For the past seven years, he’s specialized in business, accountancy and technology journalism. He writes and edits news, features, interviews and opinion pieces and also features on a variety of podcasts, videos and webinars as both a host and guest.In this episode, Tom talks about ChatGPT and the future of AI, the recent Silicon Valley Bank situation, The Tyranny of Expense Reclaim, and his opinions on accountancy stereotypes.--------Guest Quotes:“I think that accountants, the stereotype is, Nigel in the corner office with his spreadsheet, and they're incredibly boring people, like Monty Python and various others have spread this around. But, I actually find accountants incredibly entertaining. I think they're generally very quirky, quite eccentric, and often quite blunt. But, when I pitched up in 2015, after, as you said, a series of events, writing, travel, writing, sports, journalism, like my wife's, yeah, ‘accounting journalism, are you sure?’ But, yeah, I've loved every minute of it, genuinely. It's been great fun.” - Tom Herbert--------Topics:03:54 Chat GPT and AI10:21 Silicon Valley Bank14:14 Resumes and trust18:44 The Tyranny of Expense Reclaim24:44 Opinions on accountancy stereotypes--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Tom on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Peter de Silva, Author, Director, and Trustee.Peter is an experienced chairman, CEO, president, executive committee member, public and private company director and trustee for national not-for-profit organizations and national charitable foundations. He’s a Former Harvard University Senior Fellow - Advanced Leadership Initiative, and author of Taking Stock: 10 Life Leadership Principles from My Seat at the Table.In this episode, Peter talks about the importance of successfully cultivating relationships for career progression, the financial impacts of the 2020 ‘meme’ stock craze, and leaves us with his top three pieces of advice for the CFOs of the future.--------Guest Quotes:“If I think about three or four pieces of advice for aspiring financial leaders, I would leave you with this. One, take intelligent risks. I didn't want to move to Cincinnati. I didn't want to move to Kansas City. But I did, and I grew much more quickly. I got way ahead from where I would've been if I sat in my office in Boston. So, take those intelligent risks. Second, and something that has to be learned, you need to hire people that compliment you and challenge you. The leader that hires people that look just like them and marches in line, it doesn't work. You want people who challenge you around that table. And, as long as they do it respectfully and ethically, it's all good with me. But, ensure you find people who compliment and challenge you. Third, constantly challenge yourself to improve. None of us are done learning and growing and we won't be until we draw our last breath because that's the essence of life, is to learn and grow and to develop. And my last piece of advice for everyone is to do what you love and love what you do. And, if you don't, It's time to move on.” - Peter de Silva--------Topics:01:22 Peter’s background06:12 Early career09:28 Experience at Harvard14:38 Meme stock craze22:56 Peter’s book25:43 Cultivating relationships30:40 What’s next for Peter31:26 Advice for upcoming CFOs34:00 Learning experiences--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Peter on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Gaunt. He is the CFO Practice Leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Spencer Stuart, an executive search, board, and leadership advisory service.In his role, Chris works on a variety of Group CFO appointments for many of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, as well as for private equity-backed portfolio companies. He has a strong international focus, often for clients in emerging economies who wish to access the global executive talent pool. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Chris worked with another leading international executive search firm, most recently serving as the Managing Partner of its UK CFO practice. He began his career in the financial leadership search field in the firm’s New York office. Earlier, Chris worked as a management consultant for the Washington, D.C.-based Advisory Board Company. In that capacity, he led consulting teams working with senior executives across industries on their human resources strategy and operations. Chris holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.In this episode, Chris talks about the ever changing role of the CFO, the modern challenges of headhunting, leadership as a whole, and the steps you can take to reach the top.--------Guest Quotes:“You need a certain stiffness, a certain toughness, of character to survive the sort of constant battering and the loneliness that is involved in being a CEO. I won't dispute that. I would say that we're seeing, again, an evolutionary change where the command control type of the CEOs of yesteryear are simply no longer in vogue. What we've seen, and the Covid crisis amplified this, is that CEOs today, more than ever, have to demonstrate real empathetic and inclusive leadership." - Chris Gaunt--------Topics:02:08 Introducing Chris03:11 Current state of CFOs06:30 Challenges in headhunting10:11 The skill set of a modern CFO16:21 Prerequisites for becoming a CFO22:53 The process of CFO headhunting27:45 Examples of successful CFO searches--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Chris on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Lackey, CFO at Asset Panda, discusses the importance of transparency in finance, navigating risk during black swan events, and staying motivated in remote work environments. He emphasizes the impact of revenue on the business and the ability to simplify complexities. Topics include data metrics, challenges of sector-agnostic solutions, remote motivation, and pricing strategies.

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Rebecca Kacaba, CEO & Co-Founder of Dealmaker, the leading platform turning all capital raise types into simple ecommerce.Rebecca practiced law on Bay Street for over 10 years, founded the startup practice group at one law firm, and was co-chair of the Toronto Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies Group. Rebecca’s vision and drive have landed her in Lexpert’s Top 40 Under 40 and recognized as one of North America’s most innovative lawyers by the Financial Times. Rebecca led DealMaker to be Canada’s 3rd Fastest Growing Company 2022. In this episode, Rebecca talks about equity crowdfunding as a go-to method for raising capital, leading and persevering through the global pandemic, and provides advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs as she is considered one of the most powerful women in Canada.--------Guest Quotes:“If you think about that [equity crowdfunding] versus the traditional process of walking into a boardroom and shaking hands and heuristics based on appearance and even just joking around and making connections with people. That is a different process fundamentally than putting up the value prop of your business online. A quick video elevator pitch, and that's what's gonna resonate with people. So it moves away from who the founder is and the founder presenting the story to, Hey, here's the idea. Does the person investing over the internet really connect with this idea?”"Maybe you have a CEO who doesn't get along with institutional capital well, or maybe control is important to your founder. And equity crowdfunding can be a really meaningful way for them to set their own terms, go to market, get capitalized, and continue lots of companies."“We try to treat our team as well as possible, but ultimately, having a strong culture, we know what we are, we know we're a culture of high performers, and other high performers wanna be a part of that. And that's a very unique culture.”“I think to me, finance is such a cool function because when you have strong control over the numbers, it can play a really predictive, forward looking role in the organization in terms of helping filter through acquisition targets and modeling future revenues as part of the capital raising process. I think traditionally a lot of people think of finance and back-office as just back looking, and to me, the power of finance is in the forward looking aspect of the numbers and what the numbers can tell you about the future.”“I had practice zooming into detail and then zooming back out as a partner from a macro perspective and I think that's really what's required of you as a growth company CEO. You have to know when to jump in on something and dive down into the weeds, and then you have to know when to pull back up and stay at a high level.”--------Topics:02:34 Rebecca’s background and the birth of DealMaker03:56 Equity crowdfunding as a go-to method for raising capital07:12 Role of a growth company CEO09:57 Leading through a global pandemic12:00 Future plans at DealMaker14:25 Qualities of a great CEO17:15 Hiring and employee retention20:35 Data analytics in equity crowdfunding23:31 Mentorship in business26:07 Advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs28:34 Lessons learned from mistakes29:21 Advice for CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Rebecca on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being a good CFO isn’t just about managing money anymore. The modern CFO is being asked to implement new technology, guide product and business decisions, and look ahead to the future. On the CFO Playbook we look at how the finance functions at companies stay ahead of the curve. In season 2 we bring you new host, Fran Badenhorst, a career journalist and UK Content Lead for Soldo. You will still get the same interesting and informative content for the financial professional you heard before, but we are expanding our sights on the growing working world and universe of business. Each episode you’ll get insights that help you grow yourself, your team, and your company. We’ll explore how old school finance traditions fit into the new world of business. You’ll hear from established and up-and-coming CFO’s, Thought Leaders, Technology Trend Setters, and other C-Suite Leaders and professionals that impact the finance function.Our casual conversations will take a deep dive to get at the heart of what is important to our guests. We will draw out the stories, bright ideas, best advice, and essential practices on what has helped them make an impact.Whether you’re a seasoned CFO, new to your position, or aspiring to grow your career, we will discuss what needs to be on the mind and radar of people to be successful as they delve into the future of finance. --------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Fran on LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Paul Cunningham, Partner and CFO at Helios Investment Partners, an Africa-focused private firm managing funds totalling $3.6 billion. With 34 years in the industry, Paul has an overall responsibility for all matters relating to accounting, financial control, taxation, fund administration and reporting and regulatory compliance for the Helios group entities.Paul served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Barclays Private Equity for six years prior to joining Helios in May 2008, and previously as Director, Head of Finance & Product Control Projects at Barclays Capital. He’s also Chairman of the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation Guidelines Board. Prior to joining Barclays, he worked within the finance functions of various major investment banks, including Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Whinney in 1989.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Paul talks about the current state of the market in private equity, changes in finance functions brought about by the global pandemic, and how to build a strong team through authentic and genuine leadership.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You’ll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“Within private equity, and it's certainly been true of the firms that I've been CFO for, the role of CFO is more by exclusion. Anything that isn't related to making or divesting of investments potentially falls in the lap of the CFO.”“Typically, within a lot of private equity firms, it is the CFO that just keeps everything on the straight and narrow, keeps everything sort of running with the exception of the buying and selling of investments.”“Twenty years ago, private equity business was very much sort of cookie cutter. One investment looked very much like another. One fund looked very much like the last fund. And there wasn't a great deal that changed. But now you need to be part lawyer, part accountant, part tax advisor, part regulatory consultant, and I think 20 years ago that wasn't the case. Certainly not to the same extent.”“In terms of leading the team, one of the key things that I find is that I don't ask anyone in my team to do something that I have never done myself in the past or don't sometimes do myself at the moment”“I think that sort of move towards automation and digitalization has always been there within the finance function. It just sort of progresses over time. It's something that you can't just, oh, over the next two years we're going to digitalize every manual process. It needs to be constantly evolving.”“One of the most important bits of advice is never be too important to do anything because it helps keep you grounded. It also helps with building a team. Don't feel that because you are now CFO, you can't do your own photocopying for example.”--------Topics:01:15 Paul’s journey03:29 The role of CFO in private equity05:22 How the role has changed over time07:13 Current state of the market13:12 Building a strong finance team15:12 Leading through the pandemic25:01 Changes in finance technology26:58 Automating manual processes32:52 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Paul on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Stefani, CFO at DWF, a  leading global provider of integrated legal and business services.Chris is a specialist in performance improvement in professional services, finance transformation and profit improvement. He oversees all of DWF's financial operations in the UK and internationally, with a focus on enhancing revenue, improving profitability and driving working capital management to support the firm's growth. He has extensive experience in advising executive boards on all aspects of financial management and control, and the development of financial reporting and analysis mechanisms. Chris has worked in many different finance function roles in the UK and Ireland and more recently in EMEIA, including as Head of Finance for UK&I Tax and CFO for the Republic of Ireland.In this episode, Chris talks about why the legal sector provides variety for someone working in the finance function. He explains what it’s like to lead an organization through an IPO during covid, the war in Ukraine, and worldwide financial struggles. Chris also discusses the importance of delegation, coaching, and providing leeway and time for teams to process, progress, and be productive.  Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You’ll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“I liken my job to being an air hostess on a plane full of people who are quite easily spooked by turbulence. They look to me to be calm, even when the plane's rattling around. Because I mean, I'm a nervous flyer, and if I look and the air hostess is panicking, I worry. So however much there might be going on in the background. I've got to present a calm face to the business, take questions, understand sentiment,  and also be fixing stuff in the background without making too much noise about it. I think that's what we've had to do in what's been an unprecedented time. It comes down to something as simple as just over communicating.” - Chris Stefani--------Timestamp Topics:01:35 Chris’ career path05:33 CFO experiences at different companies08:55 Pioneering in a novel market13:10 Leadership through challenging times18:53 Achieving balance during stressful times25:56 Investing in the finance team as a CFO33:24 How Chris’ team uses technology37:22 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Chris on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Alwyn Jones, Group CFO at Luno, a leading global cryptocurrency company with over 9 million customers in 43 countries that provides services for making it safe and easy to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies.Alwyn has more than 20 years of experience as a hands-on leader with a track record of delivery in financial and digital services. He strives to deliver exceptional business performance based around a deep understanding of the customer, clear strategic focus, and developing winning teams. Throughout his career, Alwyn has covered strategy development, capital markets, corporate finance, retail and digital financial services, and operational execution. During that time he’s become heavily metrics and results driven, leveraging customer voice and analyses to define strategy, leading change initiatives to obtain and measure commercial results.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Alwyn talks about the novel and evolving space of cryptocurrency and blockchain. He shares advice on retaining and hiring in a nascent industry,  as well as starting an app based bank from scratch. Alwyn also discusses the importance of building personal resilience and embracing the latest financial technology to improve performance.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You’ll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“Philosophy is critical, right? You've got to have a clear direction of where you're trying to go. And the faster you can go to that point as a business, the better, but finance is a key enabler to that. If finance isn't on the case, the business will naturally slow down to the tempo that finance operates at. So you can be an active inhibitor and break on the business, or you can be an enabler. And it's building that shift from, are the numbers right? Is money ending up where it needs to be? Do we have everything in order? Are we getting through our audits? To, how forward looking are we and how quickly are we doing that? Which by the way, auditors love as well because these systems, when they work, make their lives a lot easier.” - Alwyn Jones--------Timestamp Topics:01:32 Alwyn’s background in finance03:05 Experience with Monzo10:11 Building a bank from scratch18:59 The novelty of cryptocurrency24:50 Importance of crypto for CFOs27:56 Hiring in the finance sector39:05 Technologies embraced as a finance team42:51 Advice for upcoming CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Alwyn on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Manish Sarin, CFO at Sprinklr, a leading enterprise company for all customer-facing functions. With advanced AI, Sprinklr's unified customer experience management platform helps companies deliver human experiences to customers across modern channels.Manish is an experienced public company executive leading finance teams, investor relations, and corporate development. He has extensive experience in building finance systems and processes for high growth SaaS companies, defining inorganic strategy, identifying and evaluating acquisition targets, structuring and negotiating transactions, and integrating acquired companies. His prior experience includes working with major Wall Street investment banks. He started his career at JP Morgan / H&Q and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia and B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT, India.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Manish talks about how he got into finance so he could be in a position to make impactful decisions for businesses, and explains why the role of a CFO is very different now than it was just a couple of decades ago. Manish also describes what he feels are the general misconceptions of the CFO role, how technology is important to the finance function, what current CFOs must do in order to raise capital, and how he achieves cohesion within his team when hiring and retaining employees. In addition, he provides his view on the current fintech market and how to navigate the new normal when dealing with restricted funding availability.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You’ll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“One of the things that I look for, and probably the most important thing when I'm interviewing people, is what I call fire in the belly. So unless I see somebody's really passionate, the fact that they have lots of years of experience, relevant experience, have worked at compelling businesses, all of that is good. But to me, a motivated individual who wants to succeed is way more important than trying to find that square peg for that, you know, square hole.”“We live in a world of soundbites. If you look at how companies go public, investors have 30 minutes to understand the story, look at some financials and figure out, do they want to make a big multimillion dollar investment? And that squarely lies on the CFO. So distilling complex technology aspects or business aspects, and the ability to explain it in an easy to understand fashion. Super important for a CFO.”“A CFO shouldn't really view that he or she has a particularly well defined swim lane, they should view the entire business as something that they can actually have a say in, and the more comfortable they are with that, the more successful they will be.”--------Timestamp Topics:01:45 How Manish got started in finance05:20 What makes a good CFO07:30 Views on the predominant model of founder led companies12:47 Finding balance in the tech industry15:30 Financing and raising capital18:05 Views on the current market20:36 Advice to other CFOs31:00 Achieving cohesion with your team27:56 Views on technology within finance36:15 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Manish on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices