CFO ANZ Hybrid Series - May Edition 2022

Overview

Whether you’re a leader, your people need your support to foster a culture of curiosity, sharing, iteration and continuous improvement. To boost innovation and optimisation in the workplace, we not only have to look at the culture of innovation but we also have to put equal importance on the culture of optimisation.

And given the current climate and the past 2 years it's more important than ever to look at our strategies as CFOs to ensure optimum business outcomes and organisational objectives.

Join us as we take a look at:

The synergies between Finance and IT teams and how we can enable and optimise IT Costs and implementations

The CFO's crucial rule in carrying out digital transformation

Defining what trusted teams look like with agility and flexibility in mind

How to become adversity quotient (IQ+EQ+AQ)

Strategies to help leaders survive and thrive despite of change resistance

Creating a path of purpose, empathy and growth to increase innovative contribution

What to expect

• 20+ Sessions 1 Full Day
• Current proven case studies Finance Transformation
• Speakers 15+
• Interact with 20 leaders in your field in their most sharing moments Executive Roundtables
• Practitioner : Vendor 20:1
• IT cost and spend management Spend Optimisation
• Developing empathy skillsets and communication skills Leadership and Management
• A day with 150 finance leaders 150+Attendees

What we will cover

• Building Agility Across Finance Teams Defining what trusted teams look like with agility and flexibility in mind
• The Power Of EQ How to become adversity quotient (IQ+EQ+AQ)
• The CFO's Crucial Rule in Carrying out Digital Transformation Strategies for Finance leaders to fast rack digital transformation with cost optimisation in mind
• Developing Empathy Skills Creating a path of purpose, empathy and growth to increase innovative contribution

Agenda

• 8:30 am Leveraging Process Automation to Transform Financial Operations(Plenary) Attend this session to explore insights around governance, risk and compliance, including: What technology & architecture can help drive your business processes A risk temperature check and support for finance leaders to determine better ways to consider and manage risk Cost vs efficiency insights to help your organisation
• 8:55 am Evolve Speaker- The Secret Tools of Modern Leaders(Plenary) KG exposes the impact of some of the most well-researched and effective tools of great leaders. His talk tackles specific leadership skills and techniques that leaders of all levels can use
• 9:20 am Leveraging Digital Transformation in Financial Automation(Plenary) Extending traditionally siloed processes and controls beyond the Office of Finance into the broader organisation will better inform business decisions and reduce risk. But to truly achieve transformation, it is imperative that operations are conducted in a connected, collaborative ecosystem and should not only communicate critical financial data and status across the enterprise. Automation is changing the finance game. Proven to reduce time spent on high-volume tasks whilst reducing the risk of reporting errors and misstatements, digitisation of finance comes in multiple formats. Organisations need to understand the salient tools and technologies that are helping to transform financial practices.
• 9:45 am Keynote: How to Become Adversity Quotient Across the Airline Industry(Plenary) Leaders need to have an excellent intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ); and a high adversity quotient (AQ). Their IQ helps them make rational decisions and process situations quickly, while their EQ keeps them level-headed no matter how stressful the problem. Meanwhile, AQ plays a critical role in the success and power of an organisation. They can quickly get back up after a failure, which is the most valuable asset of a leader. Join this session to learn: How to increase your EQ and AQ capacity Understand how to develop your teams EQ and AQ Understanding adversity quotient or resilience is a must to survive
• 10:10 am Morning tea and networking break(Plenary)
• 10:40 am CFO Confidence through Report Automation and Accuracy(Plenary) Many companies are experiencing increasing pain with internal and external reporting and disclosure processes because of growing data volumes and heavier demands from management teams and stakeholders. They need a collaborative report process that simplifies and automates the combination of numbers and narrative - reducing risk and saving multiple manual hours. Join this session to learn how companies like ANZ, ING Bank, Ingham’s and Charter Hall have streamlined this process with a purpose-built platform allowing them to meet the ever-increasing array of regulatory and statutory mandates and internal reporting demands. Benefits include: Saving time and increasing accuracy with automated data and validations Streamlining document creation by managing workflows and due dates Preserve a single version of the truth with controlled collaboration Ensuring all documents are consistent and accurate with version control, shared content, and audit trail
• 11:05 am Creating Value Through Business Intelligence and Business Partnering(Plenary) Join us in this session as we get together with Santiago Spada taking us through a journey to understand and gain insights from a CFO’s perspective, we’ll dive a little deeper into: The role of Finance: from number crunchers to true business partners How Data Analytics is changing completely the way we operate in Finance Converting “data” into “insights” and transform them into “business opportunities”
• 11:30 am Intelligent Revenue: The Missing Link Between Finance and Sales(Plenary) Sales organisations are built to withstand change. Yet despite advancements in automation and heightened pressure to succeed, companies still struggle to understand their data and deliver on revenue targets. Too many organisations fall short in forecasting and hitting their numbers because their revenue funnel is missing a key component: the ability to capture and effectively use data. According to new research 49% of sales leaders today are looking for greater accuracy in their sales forecasting and 40% want greater agility, in real time. Source: The State of Global Enterprise Sales Performance. And today sales and finance are looking to change how they approach revenue. Companies want improved revenue operations, and organisations are accelerating their digital transformation initiatives. The biggest gap that exists in revenue operations today is INTELLIGENCE -- it’s missing INTELLIGENCE -- that is what sales and finance leaders are really looking for.
• 11:55 am Lunch and networking break(Plenary)
• 0:55 pm Evolve Speaker- Helping Humans Think in New & Different Ways(Plenary) Enhancing Thinking Skills is the next big opportunity to unleash higher performance in every individual, group and team. Dr Ken Hudson's helps leaders and their teams enhance the way they think in fast, simple and effective ways. Generate amazing ideas & solutions – in minutes! Become unstuck Boost your energy Create new growth Make a big impact (in a short time).
• 1:20 pm A Growth Mindset is needed for Finance to adopt new Trends and resolve Challenges(Plenary) In the new world, post covid, the Finance organisation is facing an environment of even more changes and challenges than they did pre covid. This means the Finance organisation culture, in most cases, must change to a Growth mindset. By changing the culture, Finance will be able to adopt new trends quickly and can resolve challenges promptly. In this presentation we will discuss what a Growth mindset is and how this can be incorporated into the Finance culture before discussing the trends and challenges that finance need to incorporate/ resolve to ensure Finance becomes the Trusted Business Advisor.
• 1:45 pm A Leadership Journey: Moving from expertise to team and energy building(Plenary) These days it’s not enough to give your team the right tools. Join this session to hear from a leader on tips and tricks to empower your team, unblock barriers and bring energy when external challenges arise. Join us for this session as we discuss: How do you successfully lead through a virtual team Unblocking barriers to allow your team to thrive under pressure Asking the right questions and challenging teams to strive for excellence
• 2:10 pm Global Best Practices for I2C (Invoice to Cash)(Plenary) With most organisations focusing on working capital optimization as the #1 priority, they need an effective way to supervise customer orders, invoicing, payments, collections and disputes. Finance teams typically spend a disproportionate amount of time on routine transactional processes while devoting too little time to other efforts, such as strategizing, analysing and planning. With HighRadius, CFOs can automate processes to create competitive advantage, speeding up business workflows and empowering decision making. The above premise mirrors the driving force for us to explore ‘Global Best practices for Invoice to Cash process in CFO’s office’ as a critical topic of discussion with leaders.
• 2:35 pm Afternoon tea and networking break(Plenary)
• 3:05 pm Evolve Speaker- Problem Solving & Lateral Thinking - Growing from Adversity(Plenary) What does a Global Pandemic and the loss of all four limbs have in common? In his light-hearted yet captivating take on adversity and pragmatism, Tom Nash elucidates the links between being forced to think differently to solve problems, and the lateral thinking methods involved in overcoming challenges. From overcoming the roadblocks of Path Dependency and Defensive Decision Making, to dividing and conquering problems creatively, identifying false assumptions and testing ideas that others don’t bother to. An uplifting discourse which takes solace from the knowledge that no matter what threats lurk on the horizon… we all have it within us to overcome them.
• 3:30 pm Repositioning and Aligning the Finance Value Proposition(Plenary) During this session Peter Crewe-Brown, CFO since 1988 in big, medium and small companies, will share his truth and the quirkiness of his journey over 35 years. If it is vanilla you are seeking in this graveyard shift, you won’t hear it here. Come with an open mind and we are sure you will take away at least one idea to be a better CFO! During this 20-minute session he will cover: The biggest challenges confronting CFOs in a fast-moving world – and what you can do about it! CFO Leadership Essentials in the 21 st century – AKA embracing digital transformation! Creating a Kaizen-mindset in your Team and Organisation….

Speakers

• Severine Yerriah · Chief Financial Officer - Unilever ANZ, Unilever • CA qualified with strong financial, accounting, and commercial acumen and tertiary qualifications - Masters of Commerce (high distinction/distinction average) • Comprehensive understanding of financial and budgeting processes and demonstrable experience initiating and implementing significant financial change • Experience identifying training needs in order to develop appropriate solutions; as well as experience designing, writing and facilitating new training courses (up to 60 people) • Excellent verbal and written communication skills with ability to convey ideas, thoughts and requirements in a clear, concise and persuasive way • Lateral thinker with a proactive approach taken to develop innovative solutions to problems; and experience contributing to strategic organisational goals and direction • Excellent management skills with ‘hands on’ approach and proven track record leading people to develop and execute business goals. Includes recruiting, training, coaching, mentoring, delegating and dealing with performance issues • Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills with demonstrable success quickly building effective relationships; successfully garnering support; and working collaboratively in complex multi-stakeholder environments to influence positive outcomes • Organised with good time management skills; excellent attention to detail; and ability to effectively prioritise and plan workload to meet deadlines and handle multi-tasking • Computer literate with excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office, SAP, Oracle Financial Advisor and Business Objects
• Vargi Thillainathan · CFO, Air Niugini I am a leader who delivers results with integrity, passion and inclusiveness. My strengths are in developing strategy, identifying commercial opportunities and creating the right environment across the team and organization to effectively exploit the opportunity for long term success. During significant business transformation, I have improved profitability and return on capital of operating units through process and business model innovation, commercial negotiation and the use of big-data analytics to deliver more effective commercial and operational outcomes. Team members have described me as a “leader who people want to work for” and a leaders who “inspires his team to do better”. Removing roadblocks and using design thinking, lean and agile methodologies to redesign processes across both the team and broader stakeholders has enabled me to improve effectiveness and measured engagement scores in each team I have led.
• Gilbert Joseph · Head of Corporate Finance, Holcim Australia Pty Ltd Gilbert Joseph is a successful finance professional with 15 years experience working for an international blue chip organisation in the Industrial product sector. He has developed a passion for business turnaround strategy, leadership in transformational projects and strategic planning through 15 years experience with a large scale, complex and capital intensive global business. Currently, he leads a team of nine highly engaged FP&A business partners and is passionate about excellence. He is collaborative in his approach and consults with various stakeholders, but ultimately takes ownership and is result-driven. Through passion, enthusiasm and inclusion, he inspires those around him. As a leader, he can empathise with others which enable him to build trust and rapport amongst his peers and colleagues. Key strengths: business and strategic planning, talent development, capital investment appraisal, continuous improvement, board reporting, stakeholder and change management.
• Nadia Adelstein · Portfolio Manager, Factor A branding & events expert, with 10+ years experience in exponential marketing, Nadia thrives on bringing stories to life through creativity. Working overseas for 12 years on both agency and brand side, she has a unique approach to business strategy.
• Santiago Spada · CFO, Pirelli Tyres Australia I am a highly energetic and results driven Finance Executive, obsessed with process improvement and innovation. With a clear appetite for challenges, I have a proven ability to successfully develop and mentor Finance teams from diverse backgrounds and transform them into true business partners, supporting and contributing to the business growth agenda. With an entrepreneurial mindset and a preference for fast-pace environments, I have a natural ability to adapt to a constantly disruptive landscape. My optimistic mindset, problem-solving and resilient attitude, enables me to identify improvement and growth opportunities and set a solid roadmap to success.
• Keriann Edwards · Senior Sales Manager, insightsoftware Keriann Edwards has 20 years working in the financial reporting and planning solutions space across various ERP systems. She started her career as an implementation consultant in New Zealand designing solutions specifically for the JD Edwards market. For the past ten years, Keriann has guided clients through their buying journey to get the most out of their technology investments and drive better business outcomes with purpose built, best of breed solutions from insightsoftware. She is passionate about customer experience and providing her clients with opportunities to explore and leverage the entire suite of solutions insightsoftware has to offer.
• Ralph Stein · Finance Transformation Consultant, Wolters Kluwer I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of ANZ and have a Diploma in Corporate Management from Institute Corporate Managers, Secretaries and Administrators. Also, I have completed certificates in Design Thinking, Big data, and robotic process automation. I have over 25 years’ experience in the Finance transformation space, working on transforming the finance and operations procedures, processes, and systems by challenging the status quo and simplifying and standardizing by using the latest tools, techniques, and technologies. I have worked in the Media, Aviation, Communications, and Information Technology industries: Currently I am a Finance transformation consultant and AP ESG SME at Wolters Kluwer, focusing on the CCH Tagetik planning, forecasting, consolidation, supply chain, and ESG processes.
• Chris Ellis · Director, Pre-Sales, Nintex Chris Ellis, Pre-Sales Director at Nintex, gained invaluable experience in SharePoint, Office 365 and the Nintex Platform as a pre-sales solution specialist within the partner network. Hailing from Aberdeen in Scotland, his work with the Nintex Platform exposed him to the full lifecycle from analysis and requirement gathering to delivery, support and training, contributing across a spectrum of projects in various industries and in some interesting places
• Fintan Diviney · Director, APAC, Trintech Successful sales leader and IC with experience at Trintech, Oracle, Adaptive Insights, and Hyperion, achieving top sales awards and winning landmark deals with major banks, telecommunications, and government organisations. He has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry in various roles, including sales management, alliance management, sales, pre-sales, and consulting. He works for leading solution providers across all sectors and the government. He worked in start-up environments as well as large enterprise organisations. Successful across direct and channel sales roles as an individual contributor and a multi-disciplinary business leader. Typical growth has been 20-30% YoY, and he is a passionate professional who cares about my customer’s success.

Partners

• Trintech At Trintech, we pride ourselves on providing enterprise-class financial solutions for the Record to Report process to organizations committed to transforming their financial process to best in class levels of efficiency and effectiveness. We understand the deadlines, dynamics and challenges of managing the Record to Report process.
• insightsoftware Reach a higher level of financial intelligence with finance-owned solutions that enable fast, accurate reporting, forecasting, planning, and close directly from your core financial systems. insightsoftware enables the office of the CFO to connect to and make sense of enterprise data that is currently spread across a range of point solutions, adding context and building confidence and trust in that data so they can achieve a greater level of financial intelligence across their organization, which is how best-in-class finance teams operate. Over 25,000 organizations worldwide rely on insightsoftware’s portfolio of financial reporting, business dashboards, budgeting and planning, consolidation and close, tax provisioning, and transfer pricing applications to provide them with increased productivity, visibility, accuracy, and compliance. For more information visit www.insightsoftware.com.
• Xactly Xactly has helped thousands of companies and millions of sellers around the world beat their revenue targets. Using Xactly’s solutions, leaders look past the current quarter to create revenue streams for long-term growth. The Xactly Intelligent Revenue Platform marries artificial intelligence and 16 years of proprietary data in easy-to-use applications. Sentiment, process, and trend analysis come together to form accurate machine forecasts. Quick identification and implementation of revenue plans, quotas, and territory improvements are easy. And, rapid calculation of even the most complex compensation plans keeps sales reps motivated and on track. This makes the Xactly Intelligent Revenue Platform the only solution that aligns seller behavior with boardroom strategy to create a resilient, predictable, and profitable business.
• Nintex Nintex is the global standard for process intelligence and automation. Today more than 10,000 public and private sector organisations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimising business processes. Learn more by visiting www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA).
• Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the health, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. CCH Tagetik, a part of the Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting division, provides solutions to CFOs for Corporate Performance Management. For over 20 years, CCH Tagetik has collaborated with finance organizations to optimize multiple business processes including budgeting, planning & forecasting, consolidation, reporting, analysis and disclosure management in one unified platform, available on Cloud and On-Premise. We have implemented a full range of Corporate Performance Management processes including more than 2500 applications at more than 1300 customers across various industries. Recently recognised by Gartner as the Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning & Analysis Solutions (FP&A) and 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Close Solutions (FC), and we are ranked among the highest level of customer satisfaction in the market every year. CCH® Tagetik is one of the fastest growing global software companies in the industry. A global vendor exclusively focused on simplifying and streamlining business processes for the CFO and the Office of Finance.
• HighRadius HighRadius offers cloud-based Autonomous Software for the Office of the CFO. More than 700 of the world’s leading companies have transformed their order to cash, treasury and record to report processes with HighRadius. Our customers include 3M, Unilever, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Sanofi, Kellogg Company, Danone, Hershey’s and many more. Autonomous Software is data-driven software that continuously morphs its behavior to the ever-changing underlying domain transactional data. It brings modern digital transformation capabilities like Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation, Natural Language Processing and Connected Workspaces as out-of-the-box features for the finance & accounting domain. Finance business stakeholders have been led to believe that they have only two choices: pick an application software vendor that digitizes a paper or Excel-based process to an electronic system of record, or, choose a middleware platform for AI or RPA to build and maintain in-house, domain-specific capabilities. In contrast, HighRadius Autonomous Software combines the best of both worlds to deliver measurable business outcomes such as DSO reduction, working capital optimization, bad-debt reduction, reduce month close timelines and improve productivity in under six months.

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