Accountants work with certainties, recording and reporting on past financial transactions to ensure accuracy and compliance. FP&A professional, however, are concerned with what-ifs, looking toward the future in the forms of forecasting and strategic planning. It’s no wonder these two sides of the finance team can sometimes feel their goals are incongruent.  David Cornfield of World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF) and Tom Seegmiller of Texada Software each started their careers on one side of...

The transformative potential of AI for finance teams is extraordinary. CFOs need to educate themselves on how, where and when to adopt new technologies, and what they can be doing ahead of adoption to prepare their organizations.  Howard Dresner is a technologist, researcher, and one of the foremost thought leaders in business intelligence. In this episode, Howard discusses the research his firm, Dresner Advisory Services, has conducted on AI adoption, as well as his predictions for how...

Small businesses rarely have the budget to hire a full finance team, but they still need the same diverse range of support across payroll, accounting and financial planning as a large corporation. Some companies decide to outsource these functions to a dedicated finance and accounting partner as a more cost-effective and efficient way to handle their finance function needs and expedite growth. Kendra James-Anderson, founder of The Finance Femme, helps female entrepreneurs grow their...

A CFO is expected not only to lead financial reporting and the Office of Finance but also to provide strategic insights and strategy that propel the business forward. As a new CFO, you might feel eager to start doing the latter as soon as possible.  But you don’t need to build your long-term strategy in the first few months on the job. When starting a new role as a CFO, your first 90 days should focus on learning about the organization and its members, building relationships across the...

If you like sports, you might say James Suh has one of the coolest jobs in the world. After 11 years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, James became CFO of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. What a first year he had, as the Panthers went from barely making the playoffs to the Stanley Cup finals!  In this episode, James gives us an inside look at what goes into finance operations for a sports team, and what it was like to lead those operations for an underdog in a breakout year. His experiences offer...

Amid uncertain market conditions, many companies are adopting a cautious "wait and see" stance regarding their initial public offering (IPO) plans. However, instead of delaying, proactive planning for an eventual IPO launch is essential. By preparing in advance, companies can capitalize on market opportunities, mitigate risks, and position themselves strategically for a successful public offering when market conditions stabilize.  Donna Dellomo, Former EVP and CFO and Current Senior...

As your business grows, you may feel a lot of pressure to meet increasing operational demands. However, investing in new resources brings the company additional risk, especially in times of economic uncertainty. How do you strike the right balance between prioritization, creating operational efficiencies and hiring? Andy Young, CFO at Horwich Farrelly, has led finance teams through multiple acquisitions and periods of high growth. In this episode, Andy and host Melissa Howatson discuss how...

Startups in highly regulated industries have to strike a tough balance — keeping operations both lean and compliant. Sruthi Lanka, CFO at Public.com, leans on her engineering background, as well as out-of-the-box thinking from her team, to meet both criteria. Sruthi explains why she made process efficiency a top priority for her team, and how a combination of high and low-tech solutions have created efficiencies and mitigated risk.  Learn what it takes to fortify your organization against...

Achieving optimal growth calls for collaboration between marketing and finance. Ruth Zive, CMO at LivePerson, joins Melissa to dive into data-driven decisions and the critical need for business partnering between the CMO and CFO. She shares insights on driving scalable growth, pipeline coverage and brand awareness in B2B SaaS marketing, as well as nuanced marketing metrics and the impact of AI investments on customer experience. Discussed in This Episode: Marketing strategy and data-driven...

When it comes to metrics, less is more. Our host, Melissa Howatson, is joined by Craig Schiff, Founder and CEO of BPM Partners. A pioneer in Business Performance Management, Craig helped create and define the field as it evolved from generic business intelligence and analytic applications into BPM. In this episode, we unpack the crucial components — dashboards, scorecards, KPIs, and metrics — that drive business performance management and strategic business success. We discuss the mismatch...

Finance business partnering is crucial for aligning financial strategies with overall business objectives, but what are the essential skills that finance professionals need to make truly successful business partners? In this episode, our hosts discuss moving beyond finance and technical expertise to develop key skills such as empathy, communication, negotiation, leading with influence and developing business acumen. These skills are crucial for fostering effective collaboration,...

How can you showcase value and ROI effectively when talking about your business- with customers and with stakeholders across the business? In this episode, our host Melissa Howatson sits down with Ian Campbell, CEO of Nucleus Research, to explore the intricacies of finance collaboration in driving business success. Ian, a Wall Street Journal best-selling author celebrated for his expertise in “the value sale,” offers invaluable insights on integrating sales knowledge and ROI best practices...

A strong partnership between finance and HR is crucial to the health of any organization, and yet, studies show that fewer than half of HR leaders believe their rapport with finance is productive. What hampers this relationship? And what can the CFO do to improve the quality of their rapport with HR? Tracy Edkins, CHRO, Board Member and Advisor, joins Melissa Howaston to detail what strategic alignment between HR and Finance can achieve for growth and sustainability. Join us as they...

Securing funding and raising capital in today’s market can be difficult, but it's not impossible. In this episode, our host Melissa Howatson speaks with Peter Arrowsmith, Managing General Partner at JMI Equity, about businesses seeking capital in the current economic climate. Peter shares insights on what is most important when valuations are experiencing a downturn from previous years and companies are prioritizing prudent cash management. From the impact of market fluctuations to the...

Finance holds a unique and pivotal vantage within a company or organization, and is much more than checks and balances. Finance is at the heart of optimizing the financial and operational performance of the organization on the whole and helps to guide leadership in making impactful strategic investments and aligning financial strategies with business vision and goals. In this episode, hosts Melissa and Tom get to the heart of strategic finance as they discuss investments, priorities and...

We made it to 2024- not unscathed, but with a new year and fresh outlook on the economy. Yet what created the uncertainties in the markets these past several years is still driving uncertainty. To run our business and our lives, most of us want to know: when will interest rates start to drop? Will employment rates stay strong? And a big question, with big impact: are wage increases on the horizon? This week our host, Melissa Howatson, gets to ask one of Canada’s leading economists all this...

How can CFOs escape the daily grind to focus on strategic initiatives that are increasingly being asked of them? Our day-to-day financial responsibilities are constantly competing with the pressing need for organizational innovation from financial leadership.In this episode, Nicolas Herman, CFO, Microsoft Americas Enterprise, sits down with Melissa to discuss strategies for building and guiding teams to amplify their impact, and offers advice to CFOs on how to differentiate themselves and...

How can organizations keep up with constant change in the digital landscape? Your CTO is a big asset in staying agile in an ever-changing business landscape. No longer are they primarily focused on technological needs, but key in working together with the CFO to drive strategic initiatives. To understand more, Hosts Melissa Howatson and Tom Seegmiller welcome Joel Dolisy, Chief Technology Officer at WellSky. Joel shares the importance of the relationship between finance and technology- the...

Have you ever been frustrated with your work, putting in so much effort, hitting every deadline, to then feel stuck in a never-ending cycle? Never having the time or energy to make the systematic changes needed for more efficient processes? There are many reasons why we feel stuck, but there are also solutions to break the cycle. Melissa Howatson and Tom Seegmiller sit down to acknowledge the frustrating cycles as well as bring answers to how companies can change their systems by thinking...

When you hear “Gen-Z,” what are the first words or characteristics that come to mind? Perhaps it’s a motley mix of terms like, TikTok, climate change, transparency, honesty, and social responsibility. Now, apply all of those qualities to a modern workforce. Generation Z is defined as anyone born between 1997 and 2012, putting the eldest of the group in their mid-twenties. They are the only generation to grow up blind to a world without the internet which has made them naturally more...

An IPO is a major milestone in the history of any company. But what happens after the debut? A company’s life after an IPO can be a broad and significant shift - from cultural transitions to systems and process changes that impact everyone from entry and mid level employees to executives in the C-suite - including the CFO. Melissa Howatson and Tom Seegmiller sit down with Sukaran Mehta, Chief Financial Officer at global learning platform Docebo as he traces the company’s post-IPO journey....

The new year is quickly approaching, and after 2023 being the year of AI, and economic uncertainty, who knows what 2024 will bring. With more uncertainty on the horizon, including inflation and interest rate fluctuations, predicting the financial landscape in 2024 is a tricky proposition. Nevertheless, preparing for the road ahead is a crucial component of a CFO’s role. Hosts Melissa Howatson and Tom Seegmiller break down their predictions of not only the future of finance but also how...

Picture a football game: the quarterback drops back to scan the field, reads the defense, and fires a pass to an open receiver. Touchdown! Now picture a CFO: the quarterback of a finance team, reading the economic landscape, assessing risks, and making smart, decisive moves that score major wins for their organization. The parallels between finance and football run deep. Both professions involve teamwork, competition, practice, adaptability, and pressure. To unpack the similarities, Melissa...

Businesses today spend an average of 52% of their budget on their workforce. Some go as high as 70%. The expense is worth it, of course, as the only way to true financial success is by having the right talent. But given this enormous cost, it’s worth asking: are the people metrics you’re tracking the ones that will make the biggest impact on your business? Or are you missing out on the full potential of your workforce? To help us understand the people metrics that matter, Melissa Howatson...