CFO ANZ Series - March Edition 2023

Overview

Digital transformations, economic uncertainty and political tensions have led to much disruption and change. As such, organisational design and change management remain a top priority for CFO, especially now, as organisations are seeing the fallout of too much change and uncertainty.

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, Procurement, Supply Chain and IT teams and how we can enable and optimise IT Costs and implementations

The CFO's crucial rule in 2023 and beyond

Doing more with less and looking at what automation can do for organisations in times of change

Strategies to help leaders survive and thrive despite of change resistance

What to expect

• 4+ Full Day Program
• Discovery conversations 1:1
• Speakers 30+
• Practitioner:Vendor 20:1
• 40+ Sessions Full Day Program

What we will cover

• Organisational Resilience: Strategies to help leaders survive and thrive despite of change resistance
• The Impact of the CFO: The CFO's crucial rule in 2023 and beyond
• Finance Automation: Doing more with less and looking at what automation can do for organisations in times of change
• Finance & Supply Chain: The synergies between Finance, Procurement and Supply Chain and how we can optimise Costs and IT implementations

Agenda

• 8:30 am Welcome address & introduction by Sit-Down(Grand Ballroom)
• 8:35 am Arrival and Registration(Grand Ballroom)
• 9:05 am Financial Close Fatigue?: Learn how to do More with Less(Grand Ballroom)
• 9:30 am The synergies between finance, procurement and supply chain(Grand Ballroom)
• 9:55 am Execution Intelligence – From ideas to action(Grand Ballroom)
• 10:20 am Networking Morning Tea(Grand Ballroom)
• 10:50 am Top opportunities for CFOs in an evolving world(Grand Ballroom) The role of the CFO is constantly evolving, and finance teams are increasingly expected to do more with less. To create moments that make businesses run better, CFOs need to look for innovative solutions to empower their teams to achieve as much as they can, and as quickly as they can. Join Jonathan Beeby, Managing Director of SAP Concur ANZ, to learn how CFOs can turn challenges into opportunities such as: Investing in digital solutions to streamline finance operations Driving sustainability that’s good for business and the planet Using data and insights to make informed decisions to maintain business resilience Attracting and retaining the right talent
• 11:15 am Finance Automation: Doing more with less and looking at what automation can do for organisations in managing the resistance to that change(Grand Ballroom) During this edition we get together with Simon Rennie of Merri-bek City Council to discuss the importance of working with all stakeholders to ensure buy in from all, to break down the silo mentality. Finance automation may have many benefits. But the mere mention of the word puts many employees' backs up and derails any effort to introduce it before they've even started. As more companies tackle transformation, CFO's need to make sure they stay ahead of the change curve. Join us during this session as we look at: Strategies to help leaders survive and thrive despite of change resistance Synergies between Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, and IT Teams and how we can enable and optimise IT Costs and implementations
• 11:35 am Selecting the right FP&A tool for your organisation(Grand Ballroom) This session will cover the key considerations when selecting an appropriate technology for your Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) tool. We’ll take you through an in-depth evaluation of the capabilities of FP&A technology, both functional and non-functional, and how to manage the success of your selection process and implementation.
• 0:00 pm How a Financial Close Solution can help achieve your F&A priorities(Grand Ballroom) This session will focus on the direct and indirect benefits of implementing a Financial Close Solution and how it is relevant no matter your finance and accounting priorities. We will explore what a Financial Close Solution is, the value that is realised by teams and organisations that adopt it and explore leading practice on deployment and optimisation.
• 0:25 pm Networking Lunch & Exclusive Roundtable: Using digital controls to mitigate the risk of cybercrime(Grand Ballroom) EFTSURE
• 1:55 pm Building organisational resilience in your leasing arrangements(Grand Ballroom) Commercial tenants were severely impacted during Covid-10 lockdowns with tenants having impaired utlisation of the leased premises but with unchanged lessee obligations. This highlighted the level of risk carried by commercial tenants in their lease arrangements, and the overdue need for change to lease norms and terms. CFOs have the opportunity to lead change in tenancy arrangements to reduce tenant risk, thereby contributing to organisational resilience as firms look to recover from the pandemic impacts. This presentation provides CFOs with practical insights and strategies that help tenants achieve more business-friendly tenancy arrangements. Key learnings: Why and how current lease norms increase business risk Strategic and tactical initiatives to improve your lease arrangements
• 2:20 pm Building on organisational resilience – why effective communication is vital for organisational resilience and how to do it(Grand Ballroom) Why good communications matters in the finance space How to engage with stakeholders and deliver the right message What is needed to streamline communication as a finance executive
• 2:45 pm Thriving from COVID and improving organisational resilience through times of change and resistance(Grand Ballroom)
• 3:10 pm Panel Discussion: Doing more with less and looking at what automation can do for organisations in times of change(Grand Ballroom)
• 3:40 pm Event Wrap Up and Closing Remarks by Sit - Down(Grand Ballroom)
• 3:45 pm Networking drinks(Grand Ballroom)

Speakers

• Simon Rennie · Chief Financial Officer, Merri-Bek City Council A Highly qualified collaborative, innovative and grounded finance and business leader. ◊ Strong interpersonal, communication and relationship skills, with the ability to develop trusted relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders, both internal and external. ◊ Outstanding negotiation skills with strong financial and corporate competencies ◊ Strong strategic and commercial acumen, with the ability to oversee a wide range of business plans and projects. ◊ Adept at implementing innovative methods, procedures, and solutions that improve efficiencies whilst maintaining a high standard for the community. ◊ Skilled at leading, mentoring and supporting diverse teams.
• Sharon Li · CFO, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Sharon is a commercially minded and proactive charted senior finance professional with 15 years of experience enabling commercial and for-purpose organisations to optimise strategic outcomes via efficient and effective utilisation of business resources; improving organisations’ sustainability and agility under various external environments; and implementing new business and cultural initiatives. Proven history of strategic leadership, effective financial management, IT transformation, compliance
• Jake Kahonde · Head of Finance, BYSTRONIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD Jake is an astute, and energetic finance professional (chartered accountant) with significant experience in all facets of finance leadership, strategy, data analysis, project management, finance management and business partnering developed across a diverse range of business sectors. He is a Lean Six Sigma certified practitioner with process improvement projects specialisation. He is experienced in stakeholder engagement across all levels of the organisation including oversight of procurement.
• Neshika Pillay-Naidoo · Special Adviser, Strategic Procurement, Deakin University I have 20+ years supply chain, contract procurement and purchasing turnaround experience with leading engineering firms and banks. I have a credible portfolio of experience in designing, leading and implementing procurement transformations.I have 20+ years supply chain, contract procurement and purchasing turnaround experience with leading engineering firms and banks. I have a credible portfolio of experience in designing, leading and implementing procurement transformations. Activity
• Dylan O'Donnell · Managing Director, LPC Victoria Dylan is a shareholder and Managing Director of LPC Victoria. He has 20+ years of experience providing strategy, advice and representation for occupiers of commercial real estate, from SMEs to ASX-listed and Fortune 500 companies. He specialises in complex real estate transactions, portfolio optimisation and building clear business cases for real estate and workplace initiatives. He always takes the time to understand his client’s business circumstances and frame the problem the business is so
• Sharon Arasu · Head of Tax, Treasury, Risk & Systems, carsales.com Limited Sharon Arasu is the Head of Tax, Treasury, Risk and Systems at carsales.com Limited (ASX:CAR). As the Head of Tax, she brings an abundance of practical experience in the areas of direct and indirect taxation across a variety of jurisdictions and has successfully transformed herself into a broader commercially focused finance leader. As Treasurer, she has effectively navigated the challenges of raising debt financing in volatile times and continues to guide the global carsales business through an evolution of its capital management structure. She has translated her analytical, communication and negotiation skills from the tax world into the broader enterprise risk management sphere, managing the evolution of carsales’ global risk management process along the path to best practice as its Head of Risk, ensuring that risk is both operationalized and managed adequately within the business whilst also being highly visible and managed strategically at the executive and Board level. And, to keep things interesting, she also leads the teams that manage carsales’ CRM and ERP systems as the Head of Systems, helping them work closely with the business to identify opportunities to improve and optimise the use of these systems within the business, prioritise development work in light of resource constraints, and manage system implementations across the global business. As a Finance Executive, she brings authentic leadership, humour and a passion for encouraging and developing people in everything she does. She contributes to the wider development of the Finance community by regularly speaking at conferences both in Australia and in Asia Pacific and is a willing and active mentor to those seeking to communicate more confidently and further develop their careers beyond their current specialisations. She has a particular skill in making the boring interesting and the complex easy to understand, and she enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills with anyone who will listen. She is especially passionate about encouraging specialist professionals to broaden their horizons and embrace new skills. Sharon Arasu is the Head of Tax, Treasury, Risk and Systems at carsales.com Limited (ASX:CAR). As the Head of Tax, she brings an abundance of practical experience in the areas of direct and indirect taxation across a variety of jurisdictions and has successfully transformed herself into a broader commercially focused finance leader. As Treasurer, she has effectively navigated the challen
• Alex Viniarsky · Business Development Manager, eftsure
• Michael Galanos · Business Development Manager, eftsure During his five years in auditing at global accounting powerhouse, EY working in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications division (TMT), Michael noticed that many of his clients’ payment controls were inadequate in facing an increasingly digital threat landscape. Manual process and policy solutions left Michael wanting. As colleagues and clients were mentioning an emerging solution, Eftsure, he was somewhat familiar with the business at the time Eftsure approached him in late 2021.
• Bob Boyne · Business Solution Lead, Financial Close, Tridant Bob Boyne is the Business Solution Lead for Tridant’s Financial Close Solutions practice. Bob is a Chartered Accountant with Masters in Professional Accounting. His professional career consists of experience in the big 4 working both in external audit and finance transformation consulting for Deloitte both in Canada/Australia. For the last six years of his career, he has focused on helping organisations evaluate, implement, and optimise solutions for the office of finance with a specialisation
• Jonathan Beeby · Managing Director, SAP Concur Australia & New Zealand, SAP Concur Jonathan Beeby is the Managing Director of SAP Concur, and has been with the company since 2014. Jonathan works with organisations across Australia and New Zealand on new ways to use automation to achieve greater cost and operational efficiency gains, and to help businesses digitally transform and adapt to an evolving landscape. Outside of work Jonathan spent a year as a helicopter pilot and instructor and is currently learning Portuguese.
• Willem Boshoff · Executive Director, Corporate Performance Management, Tridant Willem Boshoff is an Executive Director of Tridant and leads the Performance Management practice, focussed on improving FP&A and S&OP. Willem has combined his passion for technology and interest in finance, recognising the need for organisations to respond faster, particularly in recent times, to help them do more with less, ensuring that the solution set for senior finance stakeholders addresses optimisation in their monthly finance cycle.
• Craig Albiston · Executive Director, Supply Chain, TMX Craig Albiston leads the Supply Chain consulting practice across Australia and New Zealand at TMX Global. Craig has over 25 years of experience working with businesses and clients across several key sectors including retail, consumer and industrial products, transport and logistics, energy and resources, defence, telco and healthcare. Craig offers deep subject matter expertise in business and corporate strategy, supply chain management.

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.
• eftsure Eftsure is a leader in fraud detection and payment protection. Our pioneering fraudtech solution brings financial controls into the digital age and helps organisations of all sizes mitigate the risk of incorrectly processing (EFT) payments, whether as a result of cybercrime, fraud or human error. Eftsure’s unique approach allows its customers to cross-reference payment information in real-time, immediately prior to processing them, against an ever-expanding network of over 2.5 million Australian organisations. In a world in which scammers are actively adopting new fraud tactics, such as social engineering, phishing and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, Eftsure helps supports organisations to remain secure. With Eftsure, organisations acquire peace of mind knowing that EFT payments are being directed to the intended recipient and that they’re avoiding the growing risk of human error and digital fraud.
• Tridant www.tridant.com.au
• Anaplan Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE: PLAN) is a cloud-native enterprise SaaS company that enables enterprises to orchestrate business performance. Based in San Francisco, Anaplan has over 20 offices globally, 175 partners and 1,600+ customers worldwide. Business leaders rely on our platform to connect supply chain, finance, workforce planning, sales & marketing teams, systems, and insights from across their organisations to continuously adapt to change, and transform how they operate, create, and accelerate business success. At Anaplan we challenge legacy thinking and software that isn’t flexible for the modern organisation. We put our customers first to create heroes, unlock potential, build trust and confidence. We have architected the only platform offering that will take the time from planning to decision to zero. Together with an ever-growing number of users, a rich partner ecosystem and an active community, we all work together to deliver business value with the power of Connected Planning at every level within in every organisation. To learn more, visit anaplan.com
• BlackLine
• SAP Concur SAP® Concur® is the world’s leading brand for integrated travel, expense, and invoice management solutions, driven by a pursuit to simplify and automate these everyday processes. The highly-rated SAP Concur mobile app guides employees through business trips, charges are directly populated into expense reports, and invoice approvals are automated. By integrating near real-time data and using AI to analyse transactions, businesses can see what they’re spending and avoid possible blind spots in the budget. SAP Concur solutions help eliminate yesterday’s manual tasks, make today’s work easier, and support businesses to run at their best. Learn more at concur.com.au
• TMX

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