GrowCFO Show

Timothee Clement. USA Country Manager at Agicap joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show as they discuss the business case for introducing specialist cash flow forecasting technology. Timothee is a returning guest, he discussed implementing cash flow forecasting in episode 119. In this episode he discussed the business case for investing in cash flow forecasting technology with podcast host Kevin Appleby. Timothy explained how most companies still rely on error-prone spreadsheets due to the complexity of forecasting. This leads to inaccurate projections and a lack of visibility. By freeing up time spent on manual processes, finance teams can focus on optimizing cash flow through more accurate forecasting. Kevin and Timothee evaluated the ROI of implementing a specialized system like Agicap. Costs are low compared to labor savings. Benefits include interest savings, investment gains, and allowing finance to partner strategically. ERP systems aren't designed for flexibility and scenarios required for forecasting. They explored implementation process and timeline. Connecting data sources is quick due to open banking. Training occurs throughout. Risks include lack of stakeholder buy-in, so change management is crucial. Overall, a compelling case emerged for digital transformation in this area to empower finance teams. Timothee Clement is a featured speaker at the GrowCFO Global Finance Summit on 15/16 May 2024 https://youtu.be/o_xZMi7XOAQ Links Timothee Clement on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Agicap cash flow management software GrowCFO Show #119: How to Implement a Cashflow Forecasting system with Timothee Clement, GrowCFO Global Finance Summit Timestamps Introducing the business case for cash flow technology(0:11) Optimizing cash flow and reducing costs through advanced forecasting. (4:13) Improving financial decision-making? (10:21) What implementation options are available. (18:32) Managing the digital transformation (26:29) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Randy Wootton is an experienced technology executive with over 20 years of experience in corporate leadership roles. He joins Kevin Appleby as a guest on the GrowCFO Show ahead of appearing as a panellist at the GrowCFO Global Finance Summit. He has served as CEO of three startups: Rocket Fuel, Percolate, and Maxio. Randy spent 8 years in the U.S. Navy before transitioning to the corporate sector with Microsoft and Salesforce. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master's in Great Books. At Maxio, Randy leads a business that helps B2B SaaS companies unlock their next stage of growth. Maxio's Billing and Financial operations platform is designed to meet the unique financial challenges of B2B SaaS companies. This includes billing, subscription management, revenue and expense recognition, and SaaS analytics. Throughout his career, Randy has developed expertise in go-to-market strategies and helping technology companies scale. He advocates using AI to transform industries like marketing, finance, and accounting. He is passionate about leveraging technology to solve business problems and drive efficiency. In conversation with Kevin, Randy discussed his experiences with AI and machine learning, including using it at a previous company for programmatic advertising. He shared how he now uses AI tools like ChatGPT to research and write articles. Randy and Kevin also discussed AI's potential impacts on industries like content creation, accounting, and finance. Specifically, they touched on how AI could address labor shortages in accounting by automating data processing and freeing up professionals for higher-level work. Randy and Kevin outlined future AI use cases and will expand on these at the upcoming GrowCFO global finance summit. Previous podcast guest Aneal Vallarupali, CFO at Airbase also features in this session. https://youtu.be/Aqahr5LvetA Links Randy Wootton on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Maxio GrowCFO Show #171: What’s in Store for Fintech in 2024 with Aneal Vallurupalli, CFO at Airbase GrowCFO Global Finance Summit Timestamps Career progression from military to CEO of 3 startups. (0:10) AI and business leadership with a seasoned CEO. (2:19) AI's impact on content creation, including the use of chatbots for research and writing. (7:03) AI's impact on the accounting profession, including automation, labour shortages, and new roles. (12:07) Charting the Future: Expert Perspectives on Finance and AI Trends at the Global Finance Summit (17:44) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Chris Tredwell joins regular host Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show. Chris is the Chief Sales Officer at ERP software provider Aqilla. Chris leads GrowCFO's Future of the Finance Function series of webinars and will be presenting the opening keynote at the upcoming Global Finance Summit on 15-16 May 2024. Aqilla is a mid-market, Cloud-based, Accounting / Postmodern ERP solution that sits above well-known entry-level SME products such as Xero, Quickbooks and Sage. It has the capabilities of products like SunSystems (Infor FMS), SAP Business One, Netsuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Intacct and many others but at a fraction of the complexity and cost. Chris and Kevin discussed how AI and automation are rapidly changing the finance function. They talked about the limitations of legacy on-premise accounting software and how modern cloud-based solutions are needed to take advantage of new technologies. Speeding up month-end close remains a challenge for most businesses, and Chris and Kevin believe this is the biggest opportunity for automation in finance. They emphasized the importance of real-time data access and analytics to drive better business decision-making. They also discussed the importance of benchmarking processes, having a single source of truth for data, and focusing on a few key actionable insights rather than excessive data https://youtu.be/llPpRcJtsps Links Chris Tredwell on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Aqilla GrowCFO Global Finance Summit Timestamps The Global Finance Summit. (0:11) Cloud-based accounting software for mid-market businesses. (3:25) Modernizing finance software for efficiency and time savings. (9:08) AI in finance, automating tasks and improving accuracy. (13:58) Focussing on real-time data and decision-making. (18:32) Data accuracy and a single source of truth in business reporting. (23:24) Modernizing finance functions with a focus on technology and automation. (28:17) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Anthony Perrozi is an independent finance transformation advisor, author and coach. Anthony shares his vast experience and practical insights on how finance teams can evolve from mere reporters of results to crucial drivers of business value. He stresses the importance of mindset in transforming finance teams and lays out how to establish a project approach that optimizes existing processes and pinpoints areas needing improvement. Anthony talks about his journey to becoming a full-time finance transformation expert. Anthony started in accounting but realized there was more to learn outside the textbooks. This led him to take on systems implementation roles and eventually lead transformation projects. Anthony shared some common pitfalls like not committing enough resources to transformations. Organizations also struggle with requests for proposals that don't consider the level of effort needed. We discussed the need for client-side advisors to provide strategy and ensure different departments work together smoothly. Anthony's approach involves listening sessions with subject matter experts to understand their pain points and map out processes. Fixing these is key before adding new technology like automation. Process improvement is so important for efficiency gains. When it comes to automation and AI, Anthony stressed the importance of aligned processes and resources first. We can't just layer technology on top of broken processes. Robotics process automation is commonly used in early automation efforts. Driving the need for change often comes down to issues like errors and wasted time on non-value activities. A big future challenge will be increasing understanding of what transformation really means and how to do it effectively. Our finance transformation bootcamp aims to help with that. https://youtu.be/wijdStudh5g Links Anthony Perrozzi on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Finance Transformation Boot Camp GrowCFO Global Finance Summit Timestamps Introducing finance transformation with expert Anthony Perrozzi. (0:11) Finance transformation and intercompany accounting. (2:27) Finance transformation challenges and solutions. (5:45) Improving business processes through client-side advisors. (11:58) Process improvement for business efficiency. (18:08) Transforming businesses through automation and AI. (24:10) Transforming finance teams and education. (31:21) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Remote working is becoming ever more popular. Besides the trend of working from home, existing workers may want to move to other countries, either for a short period or long term, and the business may want to take advantage of the skills pool available by recruiting further afield. While there are many advantages of remote work, it also opens up new issues in legal and fiscal compliance. John Lee joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to discuss the problem and show how his company, Work From Anywhere, gives an effective solution. John Lee speaks 6 languages and has travelled to 60+ countries. Over the last 20 years he has lived in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand. His previous start-up, CultureMee, an intercultural communication platform, won “Best Travel Technology Product” at the Global Youth Travel Awards in 2018. Prior to CultureMee, John held senior finance roles in FTSE listed CRH Plc. There, he travelled to over 150+ locations over a 10 year period and got to see first hand the challenges of dealing with complex corporate tax, individual tax and employment law across multiple jurisdictions. Work from anywhere: solving the compliance problem The conversation covered the challenges of managing compliance in remote and hybrid workforces. John Lee discussed his background in finance and startups, and how he enjoys working remotely with his family while navigating complex global tax laws. John highlighted various tax, legal and employment risks companies face with international employees, such as visa requirements, individual and corporate tax, social security, and permanent establishment risks. Different countries have varying rules that can lead to penalties if not properly managed. Kevin and John discussed the challenges of approving remote work locations and hiring overseas employees. John's platform provides real-time risk assessments and compliance checklists to help businesses navigate these issues. It also saves companies time and money compared to external advisors. Other topics included evolving hiring models like employers of record and contractors, roles popular for remote work, and the future of work being more agile and flexible. John is excited by AI's potential but emphasizes human oversight for reliability in their legal/compliance domain. GrowCFO members can take advantage of a range of member discounts, including an exclusive 10% discount on a Work From Anywhere subscription https://youtu.be/dopfdelaWv0 Links John Lee on LinkedIn Work From Anywhere Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn 10% discount for GrowCFO members Episode 147 Hybrid Working: Getting the Best from Your Finance Team with Alex Triplett, CFO/COO at Appfire Timestamps Introducing John Lee (0:11) Remote work challenges and solutions. (2:39) Tax and employment risks for multinational companies. (6:37) Hiring models and workforce strategies in international expansion. (10:37) Hiring overseas risks and solutions. (14:36) Remote work and its challenges in various locations. (19:04) AI impact, remote work, and company benefits. (23:19) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Tim Merryweather joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show ahead of a Webinar in April about how to value your business. Tim is an experienced CFO. He describes his career journey, including working in London, Singapore, and the Middle East, and highlights his practical experience in valuing and acquiring businesses. Tim and Kevin discussed Tim's early experience at Mouchel, a highly acquisitive former FTSE250 company with a high valuation multiple. They talked about valuing a business being acquired, with Tim explaining that they looked at market indications, valuation metrics, and the combined business's worth. Tim emphasizes the importance of securing relationships and staff during the acquisition process to maximize value. Companies that make frequent acquisitions may increase risk profiles, leading to a lower valuation multiple. When dealing with Private Equity, valuation multiples are based on earnings visibility and forecastability. The quality of a company's management team is a key factor in determining its valuation multiple. Valuing early-stage businesses requires balancing DCF techniques with market experience and size of opportunity as cashflows are uncertain. https://youtu.be/juhLmo9r5mg Links Tim Merryweather on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Business valuation webinar Timestamps Business growth and expansion with a South African finance leader. (0:11) Career progression in finance, from controller to CFO. (3:25) Valuing a business through acquisition. (8:19) Acquisition strategies and valuation multiples. (13:35) Private equity valuation techniques and market trends. (18:05) Startup valuation and investment strategies. (22:37) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the final part of the series on scaling FP&A, Catherine Marks brings together her old team from Virgin Media O2 to discuss the merger of the two organisations and what this meant for the finance teams within each merged company. Regular podcast host Kevin Appleby chats with Catherine, formerly Head of Group FP&A at Virgin Media O2 and now FP&A and Team Training Lead at GrowCFO. They are joined by Julie Parker, who before the deal, was Pre-merger Planning Integration Lead, Finance at O2 and remains in the merged organisation as Head of Finance Integration & Transformation; Tom Writer, who took on the role of Head of FP&A - Consumer Commercial in the merged organisation; and Ed Dannan formerly Central Finance Director at Virgin Media, now CFO at Voneus Broadband. The conversation covered key challenges and strategies for integrating finance teams after a merger or acquisition. The guests discussed their experiences bringing together Virgin Media and O2, highlighting cultural differences, resource allocation challenges, and the importance of speed during integration while managing change. Other topics included measuring synergies, navigating systems integration, and maintaining motivation. The group agreed that having a clear integration strategy and dedicated leadership is crucial to avoid uncertainty during the transition period. Communicating authentically and focusing on both outputs and people aspects were also emphasized as important factors for success. https://youtu.be/lnSXr6up3tw Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Julie Parker on LinkedIn Tom Writer on LinkedIn Ed Dannan on LinkedIn Episode 175 Scaling FP&A 2 Choosing the Right FP&A Tools Episode 174 Scaling FP&A 1 Building Your FP&A Team GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp Timestamps Scaling FP&A with guests from Virgin Media and Phineas. (0:11) Post-merger integration challenges and strategies. (3:17) Merger challenges in the telecommunications industry, including cultural differences and resource allocation. (6:59) Cultural challenges after merging two companies. (9:12) Cultural differences in mergers and acquisitions. (14:17) Implementing change in organizations, managing uncertainty. (15:49) Challenges and strategies for merging financial systems. (18:01) Merger planning, baseline, and operational metrics. (20:07) Communication and team alignment. (22:26) Finance Processes in Mergers and Acquisitions. (25:25) Finance transformation and change management. (28:54) Mergers and acquisitions in the finance industry. (30:43) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the second of a 3 part series on scaling your FP&A capability, Paul Barnhurst, the FP&A Guy, and Catherine Marks, head of FP&A and team training at GrowCFO, join Kevin Appleby to discuss FP&A tools. They discuss scaling finance operations with a focus on infrastructure and choosing the right FP&A tools for growing organizations. Paul is a Finance Professional with 12+ years of finance and FP&A experience, including business unit CFO roles. He earned a business bachelor's degree from BYU and an MBA and Master of Science in Information Management from Arizona State University. He is known for his deep understanding of the FP&A software planning space and has recently published an FP&A software market guide. Paul runs his own business providing training services, is a content creator, and hosts two popular finance podcasts FP&A Today and Financial Modeler’s Corner. He provides consulting services for small and mid-sized companies. Paul provided insights on getting infrastructure right and selecting the right planning tools, including Future-proofing FP&A systems with agility, flexibility, and consideration of future needs and strategies. The importance of data organization and having an end-user champion was emphasized. Thoroughly selecting the right business planning tool by considering factors like market size, industry, systems integration needs, and process complexity. Excel limitations and risks were discussed. Implementing performance management systems through a focus on pre-work like defining KPIs and metrics, and experimenting with machine learning/AI capabilities. Keeping processes efficient through a growth mindset, documentation, and continuous innovation as organizations scale. Successfully transferring planning processes to new tools by focusing on design improvements rather than just porting spreadsheets over. Practical advice is to start small, do homework on requirements and avoid being swayed by new tool features without clear needs. https://youtu.be/IFMQB81jk2A Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Paul Barnhurst on LinkedIn The FP&A Guy A guide to 3rd Generation FP&A tools Episode 174 Scaling FP&A 1 Building Your FP&A Team Episode 176 Scaling FP&A 3 Navigating an Acquisition with the Virgin Media O2 FP&A Team GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp Timestamps Scaling finance and operations with a focus on infrastructure. (0:12) FP&A tools and strategies for growth-stage organizations. (1:21) Future-proofing FP&A systems with agility and flexibility. (6:30) Selecting the right business planning tool for growing companies. (7:43) Selecting and implementing a performance management system. (15:48) AI adoption, process efficiency, and growth mindset in business. (23:12) Implementing new financial planning tools and processes. (26:54) Financial planning and acquisition strategies. (33:40) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the first of a 3 part series on scaling your FP&A capabilities, we're looking at developing the FP&A team. GrowCFO Show host Kevin Appleby is joined by Jane Riley, Director at executive recruitment specialist Zanda, and Catherine Marks FP&A lead at GrowCFO. Catherine and Jane discuss building a scalable FP&A team to support rapid business growth. The first hire is important. Bringing in a dedicated FP&A professional is a luxury few will be able to afford, so the initial hire will likely be a generalist adapting to changes, says Catherine. Priorities for early-stage companies include cash flow, forecasting, and analyzing financial decisions. Team size and structure should align with business strategy and support functions, potentially including geography for larger companies. Recruiting the right skills and mindset is challenging, as FP&A requires a wide range of abilities. Jane highlights the competitive nature of the recruitment market. Offering variety, progression opportunities, and competitive benefits is key to attracting top talent. Employee turnover needs to be minimised, and Jane brings some great insights around why people leave organisations. Developing both people and culture is important. Direct learning, training, and broadening skills are ways to develop abilities, according to Catherine. Maintaining a strong finance culture and investing in employees can address organizational challenges. https://youtu.be/AlAHP5K5c-c Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Jane Riley on LinkedIn Zanda Episode 175 Scaling FP&A 2 Choosing the right FP&A tools with Paul Barnhurst and Catherine Marks Episode 176 Scaling FP&A 3 Navigating an Acquisition with the Virgin Media O2 FP&A Team GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp Timestamps Introducing Jane Riley. (0:11) Hiring a dedicated FP&A person for a growing business. (4:03) Hiring challenges in finance and accounting roles. (12:02) FP&A skills and culture. (19:08) Developing FPGA skills and becoming a great leader. (22:23) Factors leading to FPN leader turnover and career progression. (27:37) Building and maintaining a finance team in a growing organization. (33:26) Scaling businesses with DNA from a people perspective. (35:09) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Luigi Testa, CFO at LinkSquares joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to share his journey growing LinkSquares from a small company with $2m revenue, through a $100m fundraise, to one with 100% revenue growth in recent years. LinkSquares helps legal teams automate tasks for more efficient work. Luigi discusses navigating business growth through technology, hiring expertise, and finance leadership as the CFO. His FP&A background has helped provide strategic guidance. How did Luigi navigate a $100m fundraise? Luigi led LinkSquares through a Series C financing of $100 million He discussed how they were able to complete this raise and diligence process in under 70 days. Leveraging tools like their contract analysis product Analyze allowed Luigi to quickly provide investors with contract and other diligence information during the fundraising process. Luigi believes that fundraising success comes from building relationships before raising funds. He emphasizes the importance of networking for CFOs. Luigi and Kevin discuss preparing diligently for fundraising through financial housekeeping and relationship building. Leveraging tools like LinkSquares can streamline diligence. How is the CFO role evolving as the company grows? The evolving CFO role focuses on maintaining healthy growth through efficiency gains. Leveraging AI can create automation and leverage resources. Looking ahead, CFOs will focus on scaling efficiently while capturing market opportunities. Data-driven decisions will guide accelerating or focusing on efficiency. https://youtu.be/yLGTVa1Buhk Links Best Practice Accelerator – Prepare for a Fundraising Process Luigi Testa on Linkedin Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Timestamps Introducing Luigi Testa. (0:11) Growth strategy and finance leadership with a legal tech company CFO. (2:32) CFO role, responsibilities, and experience. (5:38) Fundraising and growth for a tech startup. (11:26) Fundraising, financial housekeeping, and legal tech tools. (13:12) Building relationships for fundraising and networking. (18:35) Fundraising and due diligence for startups. (21:16) The evolving role of CFOs in business. (27:25) Leveraging AI for business efficiency and growth. (30:00) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Ashley Vukovits, joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show ahead of the March GrowCFO Best Practice Accelerator that will give you practical tools and advice to plan a fundraise. She will be the guest in the first of three workshops in the accelerator. Ashley is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently managing director of Liftbridge CXO. Liftbridge CXO specialises in placing fractional CFOs in start-up to scale-up stage technology companies to help them reach the next level of growth. Ashley has been involved in fundraising with many organisations and has experience across different types and sizes of deal. She brings this experience into the podcast conversation with Kevin. Ashley discusses various fundraising strategies for early-stage companies, including angel investors, venture capital, private equity, and debt financing. She emphasizes the importance of knowing cash runway and having a fundraising plan. Ashley explains that different fundraising stages involve different expectations, from a focus on leadership and vision at early stages to providing detailed financial data and substantiation when raising larger rounds. Cultivating long-term relationships with potential investors throughout a company's growth is key to fundraising success. Ashley highlights the importance of existing investors re-investing during her experience fundraising in a problematic 2021 market. Thorough preparation for private equity fundraising is especially important due to increased scrutiny of financial data and processes. Ashley has helped companies improve their readiness through practice diligence runs. Effective management of the fundraising process relies on clear communication and follow-up. The CFO often plays a central "glue" role in driving this while keeping the CEO focused on running business operations. Upcoming best practice accelerator workshops between Ashley and Kevin will provide deeper dives into preparation, relationship-building, due diligence, and other actionable fundraising strategies. https://youtu.be/PSDfMGDWzbw Links Best Practice Accelerator - Prepare for a Fundraising Process Mentoring at GrowCFO Ashley Vukovits on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Timestamps Fundraising strategies for early-stage companies. (0:11) Fundraising stages and strategies for startups. (3:22) Fundraising strategies and best practices. (8:26) Due diligence in private equity investments. (15:02) AI's role in fundraising and due diligence processes. (18:59) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Aneal Vallurupalli is a young CFO making a big impact. His career progression is remarkable, moving from investment banking to CFO roles at various companies, including his current role as CFO at Airbase. Aneal joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to talk about the state of Fintech in 2024. Airbase is revolutionizing finance by streamlining company spending processes through a platform that handles payroll, accounts payable, expenses, and physical/virtual cards. Aneal discussed how Airbase's finance team works closely with product and engineering to develop the platform while also assisting sales and customers. He outlined the importance of the platform's breadth, depth, and consumer-grade user experience for mid-market companies. Aneal Vallurupalli provided some insights into FinTech growth and competition: Aneal believes what matters most is having a strong product and target market that highly values that product. Airbase has found product-market fit and a retaining customer base. He predicted 2024 could be a tough fundraising year for companies without those key strengths, as many 2021 FinTech startups may need to raise funds but lack traction. Aneal noted Airbase had avoided frequent fundraising rounds by controlling its own destiny through a strong business model and multi-year runway from its last raise over 2 years ago. He acknowledged the FinTech funding environment has been volatile, with openings and closings in the IPO, M&A and private placement markets every few weeks. As a CFO, Aneal's focus is assuming the worst and planning accordingly to position Airbase well if market conditions turn. Aneal discussed Airbase's strategy around AI, which is focused on using AI to drive down friction and time for finance professionals within their customer base and employees using the product. For example, developing expense management capabilities allows expense reports to be submitted with no touch by the employee. He also said AI will impact finance teams' day-to-day tasks, such as making expense report submission more seamless. However, he noted AI is not the central theme at Airbase - it is woven throughout the platform to enhance the user experience. Aneal and Kevin agreed that AI tools will be more useful as companies improve their data strategies and ability to analyze clean, homogenized data from various systems. Kevin highlighted the importance of data quality for AI to produce accurate results. https://youtu.be/C-utxGR_j0A Links Aneal Vallurupalli on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Automation Accelerator Timestamps Revolutionizing finance with a young CFO. (0:11) Career progression from investment banking to CFO roles. (1:07) Streamlining company spending processes. (5:39) FinTech growth, market competition, and recession predictions. (11:24) AI adoption in finance and its impact on teams. (17:15) AI, data strategy, and giving back in the finance industry. (20:03) Remote-first business model and its pros and cons. (25:42) Remote work challenges and self-starter hiring in fast-growing companies. (30:43) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Nicolas Boucher joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO show and shares his experience implementing AI in finance. Nicolas teaches people how to get started with AI in finance, and this is the focus of the conversation. He discussed many ways of using ChatGPT as an assistant rather than just a search engine. Nicolas discussed how to structure prompts to get the most value from ChatGPT, and gave some great examples, such as drafting letters, writing procedures, and generating training content. ChatGPT can also be used for data analysis, problem solving, and exploring automation opportunities using Python. Kevin and Nicolas discussed the rise of AI-powered assistants like Copilot, more natural language interactions, and increased automation of finance tasks. They emphasized experimenting with AI tools, identifying automatable tasks, and staying up-to-date on new capabilities through communities and courses. Nicolas has 15 years of experience working in finance, first as an auditor at PwC and then at a large French multinational company, Thales, similar to Boeing. He is passionate about helping people grow both personally and professionally. This led him to coaching and training others throughout his career. He now runs his own coaching and training business. Nicolas started sharing his insights on LinkedIn which helped grow his audience and career. He now works as a trainer and consultant focused on teaching AI and ChatGPT for finance professionals. His goal is to help as many people as possible learn how to implement useful AI tools in their work. He has developed practical and advanced courses on the topic. https://youtu.be/uamDikynzgE Links Nicolas Boucher on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Join the AI Finance Club GrowCFO FP&A Boot camp GrowCFO Automation Accelerator Timestamps Implementing AI in finance with Nicolas Boucher. (0:11) Using AI language model GPT for writing tasks. (4:16) Using AI tools for training and problem-solving in finance. (11:06) Using AI tools for data analysis and automation. (15:10) Automating finance tasks with Python and AI. (21:48) Finance technology trends and the role of CFOs. (26:21) Using AI tools for productivity and automation in business. (33:37) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In part 2 of the three-part mini-series on AI for finance, Adam Shilton returns to the GrowCFO show. A year ago, Adam spoke to Kevin Appleby about what's likely to happen in tech for finance in 2023. 12 months on, they repeat the conversation, but for 2024, the focus is very much on AI. Adam is the founder and podcast host at Tech for Finance and a leading voice on Linkedin. Adam discussed current AI tools for finance and how they are advancing with multimodal capabilities and advanced data analysis features. He highlighted experimenting with different models to find the best fit. Adam talked about using AI for personal productivity through automating tasks, improving workflows, and using it for data analysis. He gave examples like Notion AI, GPT for Sheets, and Microsoft CoPilot. CoPilot Pro has recently been released to all Office users. If ChatGPT was the gamechanger in 2023, then its likely to be CoPilot in 2024. Kevin shared his experience using AI tools for podcasting and building learning materials. They discussed using tools like Motion and Fathom to improve meeting productivity and participation through transcription. Adam predicted greater AI autonomy in 2024 that works towards outcomes without human intervention. He and Kevin emphasized the importance of process optimization before implementing AI and using it to do more with less through tools like Lean. https://youtu.be/uHjEvmi8Xfg Links Adam Shilton on Linkedin Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn AI for finance part 1 with Isaac Heller Unlock the power of Microsoft Copilot Easy ChatGPT Hacks Every CFO Should Know GrowCFO Automation Accelerator Timestamps AI tools for finance professionals. (0:12) Using AI for finance, including personal productivity and data analysis. (3:24) Some practical examples of tool;s Adam and Kevin are using (8:44) Using AI tools to improve productivity and meeting efficiency. (10:55) AI technology and its applications in business. (16:11) AI autonomy and prompting technology. (20:38) AI language models in business. (22:52) AI-powered copilot in Microsoft Office. (28:18) Automation, AI, and process optimization. (32:52) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Kevin Appleby interviews Thomas Zweifel about his career as an author and consultant. Thomas explains that he writes books based on mistakes he has made working with clients in different cultures and industries so that others can learn from his experiences. Thomas is an award-winning author. Some of the books he mentioned writing include Culture Clash, about mistakes made working in different cultures, and Strategy into Action. His most recent book, Gorilla in the Cockpit, discusses how biases at the start of projects can lead them to fail. Their discussion touches on the importance of culture when executing strategy. Thomas talks about discovering the "bottle" of underlying assumptions that guide an organization's thinking. He also emphasizes that the CFO has a key role to play in determining what activities are still relevant to the strategy and saying no to things that are obsolete. When discussing strategy in an uncertain world, Thomas advocates for his "Strategy and Action" approach of focusing on catalytic 100-day projects rather than multi-year plans. This allows organizations to test ideas quickly and adjust course if needed. Other topics covered include biases that can derail projects from the start, focusing each day on meaningful accomplishments, and using displays and routines to keep teams oriented towards strategic goals. Throughout, Thomas emphasizes examining assumptions and standing in the future as keys to strategic execution. Links Dr Thomas D Zweifel on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Best Practice Accelerator - Deliver Your Business Growth Plan Free video training with Thomas: 4 Secrets for Realizing All Your Commitments (Professional, Financial, Personal) with Freedom, Power and Peace of Mind. Thomas' Books on Amazon UK and USA Timestamps Introducing Thomas Zweifel (0:11) Strategy execution and leadership challenges. (0:20) Project failures and biases in decision-making. (4:02) Unconscious biases in decision-making in business. (8:18) Strategy execution and cultural analysis. (12:09) Strategy and decision-making in a rapidly changing world. (17:02) Productivity tips for putting strategy into action. (24:14) Time management and productivity strategies for leaders. (28:28) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Tom Ricca-McCarthy, CO-Founder and CEO of Lucidity joins Kevin Appleby to talk about how to execute your business strategy. Kevin and Tom discuss executing business strategy and the challenges involved. Tom explained that while formulating strategy is relatively easy, execution is the difficult part where a strategy needs to be translated into clear activities and goals. They discussed how communication is key to ensure everyone understands the strategy and their role. A common pitfall is strategies end up as documents sitting on shelves gathering dust rather than being implemented. Kevin and Tom agreed the starting point is identifying what to stop, start, and continue from the strategy. They stressed the importance of measurement and reviewing progress regularly. Tom is GrowCFO's guest at the February Best Practice Accelerator "Deliver your business growth plan". The accelerator gives GrowCFO members a two-week practical challenge, and the podcast provides a flavour of the tools and techniques Tom and Kevin will share during the accelerator. Tom looked forward to helping participants in the accelerator focus on putting strategies into action using the right tools for planning, communication, and monitoring. https://youtu.be/IJPFGD8dGpY Links Tom Ricca-McCarthy on Linkedin Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Best Practice Accelerator - Deliver Your Business Growth Plan Timestamps Executing business strategies with a focus on CFO's role. (0:11) Strategy execution challenges and mitigation strategies. (7:34) Communication and strategy alignment in organizations. (13:56) Strategy execution and planning. (19:50) Strategy, execution, and review frequency. (26:10) CFOs' role in data-driven decision-making. (31:15) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the first of a 3 part mini-series about AI in finance, Isaac Heller, CEO of Trullion, joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO show. Isaac describes himself as a proud Texan. Following a sabbatical in 2019, he started a side project, SMRT, that became a Saas startup, Trullion. Trullion is a next-gen technology company building a single source of truth for the Accounting world. Trullion has offices in New York & Tel Aviv. Isaac and Kevin discussed how AI is impacting the CFO role. Isaac's company, Trullion, uses AI to automate accounting workflows like revenue recognition and lease accounting. This saves time and money for both accounting teams and auditors. They talked about other areas CFOs should apply AI, such as customer support/success using chatbots, marketing content generation, and financial planning/forecasting using AI-powered tools. CFOs should also push other departments to leverage AI. The costs of AI will initially be high due to computing needs, but will likely decrease over time following trends like Moore's Law. CFOs need to be aware of emerging AI-related costs and avoid vendor lock-in. AI could change how professional services firms charge by moving to more fixed-fee models. - Automating accounting workflows with AI - Other AI applications for CFOs include customer support, marketing, financial planning- Early AI adoption will have high computing costs that may decrease over time- CFOs should avoid vendor lock-in and be aware of emerging AI costs https://youtu.be/NccF10QsZqA Links Isaac Heller on Linkedin Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Finance Transformation Boot Camp GrowCFO Automation Accelerator Trullion Timestamps Introducing Isaac Heller. (0:11) Automating auditing tasks with AI. (3:30) AI's impact on financial closes and cost savings. (8:29) AI's impact on CFO roles and responsibilities. (12:31) AI's impact on productivity and profitability. (18:44) AI costs and strategies. (22:44) AI in accounting and finance for a CFO. (29:02) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Finance teams are changing rapidly. AI and digital transformation are removing many traditional accounting roles, and the modern finance team needs to learn new skills. But how do you upskill your finance team? Award-winning author, executive coach and HR professional Marlo Lyons joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to specifically answer the question, "How do you upskill your finance team?" Marlo discussed with Kevin how finance leaders can develop talent within their teams. Some of the key points discussed included: Developing a workforce plan: This involves forecasting how finance functions and jobs may change with automation/AI, determining the appropriate size of the finance team, and identifying any new skills that will be required. Spotting talent: Marlo recommended looking at soft skills like learning agility when evaluating current staff who may be ready for more strategic roles. These types of skills are important for developing leadership potential. Using 360 feedback and succession planning: 360s provide insights from colleagues while succession planning involves creating profiles for future roles to determine what skills individuals need to develop to be ready for promotion or new opportunities. Aligning values with skills and career path: Understanding one's values helps identify fulfilling career paths aligned with both individual interests and company needs. This improves engagement and retention. Prioritizing learning agility in recruiting: Given talent shortages, companies don't need to find candidates ticking every box but rather those with the flexibility to learn new skills, especially when onboarding support can be provided. Marlo Lyons is the author of Wanted - A New Career, which was awarded best self-help book of 2022. https://youtu.be/Bc7QhV5yZhI Links Marlo Lyons on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Finance Team Skills Assessment Wanted -> A New Career: The Definitive Playbook for Transitioning to a New Career or Finding Your Dream Job on Amazon Timestamps Introducing Marlo Lyons (0:12) How to upskill your finance team (1:28) Workforce planning, talent spotting, and soft skills. (4:54) Leadership, development programs, and finance team collaboration. (9:45) Leadership development tools and techniques. (14:09) Career coaching and identifying values for job satisfaction. (18:17) Values, culture, and diversity in the workplace. (23:10) Evaluating talent and workforce planning. (28:24) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Christian Wattig joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show. Christian runs the FP&A boot camp in the USA and is the founder of FP&A Prep. FP&A skills are in greater demand than ever. Kevin and Christian explored how to improve your FP&A skills. Christian discussed his background growing up in Germany and working for large consumer goods companies like P&G and Unilever. He talked about moving to the US and then transitioning to work in tech at Squarespace. Christian explained how he started teaching FP&A courses, which led him to found his own training company. Some key topics discussed included the importance of understanding both the numbers and the business, the role of AI in forecasting and analysis, and how accuracy needs to be balanced with enabling decision-making. Christian sees continued opportunities in teaching and public speaking going forward. What FP&A skills do you need? Christian discussed how understanding the business is as important for FP&A professionals as understanding the numbers. He talked about how forecasting and analysis require solving puzzles with the numbers but also understanding people and psychology when it comes to business partnering, influencing stakeholders, and communicating the company's financial story. Christian emphasized that having an impact goes beyond just creating models and reports - FP&A professionals need to convince others to take their recommendations and implement changes. He stressed the importance of asking the right questions to understand what really matters to business partners beyond just dollar impacts. The impact of AI in FP&A Christian shared his experience implementing a machine learning model for forecasting at Unilever. He found that it initially provided more accurate forecasts than their previous methods. However, he realized it was difficult to explain variances in leadership used to traditional forecasting approaches. This led Christian to understand that the focus of AI should be on experimenting with different input metrics and data granularity rather than adjusting individual forecasts. He also noted that working with AI requires viewing past data as if it hasn't happened yet to train models continuously. Christian believes AI can help with tasks like summarization and storytelling for FP&A professionals, but humans still need to apply judgment and address uncertainty. https://youtu.be/fzsEkDA1kzA Links Christian Wattig on Linkedin Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO FP&A Boot camp FP&A Competency Framework Timestamps Introducing Christian Wattig (0:11) Career progression and FP&A experience in various industries. (0:20) FPGA training program and its impact on finance teams. (3:36) Implementing zero-based budgeting and managing stakeholder expectations. (10:19) Forecast accuracy and decision-making in finance. (14:36) Using AI in financial analysis and decision-making. (20:48) AI use in podcast production and storytelling. (29.05) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Catherine Marks, former VP of Finance at Depop joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO show. Kevin interviews Catherine about evaluating a finance function and, in particular, her experience applying this to her finance team at Depop. Catherine discusses the 5-step process she used at Depop to do this. She highlights tools like the GrowCFO size of finance team report and competency frameworks that can help. Catherine also shares lessons from applying this process at Depop as they grew and were acquired by Etsy. This provides a valuable framework for finance leaders to evaluate their teams and plan the right structure for the future. Catherine outlined 5 steps: 1) Understand the business strategy and needs - Catherine stresses starting by understanding where the business is headed in the next 3 years and what financial support will be required. This provides important context for evaluating the finance function. 2) Benchmark the finance function size - Catherine recommends using the GrowCFO size of the finance team report, which benchmarks team size based on 10 factors. This helped her assess where Depop was positioned. 3) Map roles and responsibilities - It's essential to document the day-to-day responsibilities and any project work to understand capacity and skills needs. Catherine learned to avoid underestimating project work. 4) Assess existing team members - Tools like the GrowCFO competency frameworks and strengths finders can provide insight into individuals' skills, ambitions, and development areas to identify gaps versus future needs. 5) Evaluate team dynamics - Assessing how well the team works together and implementing initiatives for continuous improvement, like workshops for ideas, helped Catherine motivate and energize the Depop finance team. https://youtu.be/g_LoU0ghOvo Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn The Size of a Finance Team: 2023 GrowCFO Report GrowCFO Competency frameworks January GrowCFO Quest - Assess your finance function Timestamps Evaluating finance functions and teams. (0:12) Finance team structure and development. (5:41) Team dynamics, leadership, and finance transformation. (11:40) Business structure, transactions, and investors. (16:26) Finance team structure and operations. (21:12) Reshaping finance function for future growth. (25:53) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes. You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net