
Sit-Down | CFO ANZ | Feb 2024 | Melbourne
Navigating Uncharted Waters: Empowering Australian CFOs to Steer Financial Success Amidst Economic Uncertainties in 2023
Collins Square, Melbourne
Hosted by Factor
- 500 attendees
- 29700 hours
Overview
In the dynamic landscape of 2023, Australian CFOs face the critical task of guiding their organisations through economic uncertainties. This edition emphasises the need to empower these financial leaders with strategic tools and insights to navigate the uncharted waters successfully. By adeptly managing risks, embracing innovation, and making informed decisions, Australian CFOs can play a pivotal role in ensuring their companies' financial triumph despite the challenging economic backdrop.
What we will cover
- Strategic Risk Management: Analysing evolving economic landscapes to proactively manage financial risks and ensure organizational resilience.
- Data-Driven Insights Leveraging advanced analytics and real-time data to make informed financial decisions, optimising resource allocation.
- Agile Financial Planning Developing flexible budgeting and forecasting strategies that can swiftly adapt to changing market conditions.
- akeholder Communication Establishing transparent communication channels with stakeholders to build trust and align financial objectives.
Agenda
- Registration & welcome coffee(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) REGISTRATION & WELCOME COFFEE
- WELCOME ADDRESS & INTRODUCTION(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
- CFOs as agents of change: driving organisational reinvention in an evolving economy(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
- FIRESIDE CHAT: Driving Transformation and Innovation in Finance.(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) The finance industry is undergoing a significant transformation driven by technological advancements and changing consumer expectations. The finance sector is redefining traditional practices and exploring new avenues for growth and customer satisfaction. This session highlights the pivotal role of innovation in reshaping the finance industry to drive transformation in this dynamic environment. Join James Osborne, Head of Finance for Jemena Networks, as they share their experiences. James, the head of finance of a leading Energy Distribution company, will discuss his passion for placing Finance at the heart of decision making and keeping things simple (utilising reporting tools…utilising storytelling…) Key Takeaways: * Ensuring Finance bring value-adding partnering skillsets * Overcoming challenges in stakeholder management and maintaining strong business partnerships. * The role of finance leaders in fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement and driving business transformations.
- Tackling Support Risk & ROI to Drive Digital Transformation(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) While managing the rising costs of non-strategic legacy applications and technologies, organisations are struggling with the need to modernise their ERP and technology platforms. Enterprise software providers have long imposed their agendas and timelines for transformation, at great financial and operational expense. What are the risks, how can business leaders recognise them, and what are the alternatives? Adwin Singh, Enterprise Architect at Rimini Street in the Asia/Pacific region, will present key takeaways and discuss how large organisations are overcoming these challenges to successfully implement digital transformation.
- NETWORKING AND MORNING TEA(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
- Modernising Your Financial Close(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) What are the risks of your current Financial Close process and how do leading organisations modernise mindset and the tools they are working with to complete key control activities.
- Transformative Finance: Maximising Automation for Business Partnering Excellence.(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) Join Tim Brown, the Vice President of Asia Pacific FP&A at Wells Fargo, as he shares his journey in streamlining and automating financial processes to enable successful business partnering. Discover how his team leveraged existing tools to achieve transformative results, delivering financial and management reports within five days of the month-end. Key takeaways include: 1) Unlocking efficiencies and redeploying resources through automation. 2) Strategically leveraging existing technology for transformational change. 3) The role of automation in enhancing business partnering capabilities. 4) Building a culture of value-added finance functions through streamlined processes.
- Prioritising visibility and data driven planning to pave the way for growth.(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) Amidst the economic impacts, the political tensions and supply chain challenges over the past year, when we close in on the Australian landscape, specifically in the finance function, our research at Sit-Down shows an interestingly even split yet overwhelming emphasis on organisations tackling: Talent, Retention, Hybrid/Remote Workforce Management Planning & Performance Management Growth and Maintaining Healthy Cashflows.
- The Power of Digital Transformation(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) Delve into the transformative power of digital initiatives in finance and how CFOs can harness them for growth - Digital transformation trends impacting the finance sector - Strategies for successful digital adoption - Challenges and opportunities in the digital age
- Peer Connect(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
- LUNCH BREAK(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
- Pushing the boundaries of commercial innovation(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) Delivering best-in-class products and services. Expanding the boundaries for R&D and commercial partnerships. Redefining the playing field for innovation. Healthcare company Sanofi employs around 100,000 people in 100 countries, with a global network of close to 70 manufacturing and 20 research and development (R&D) sites. Its Australian arm has 650 staff who work on a diverse array of therapeutic projects from vaccines to rare diseases.
- FIRESIDE CHAT: Resilience in a Volatile World(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) Financial leaders discuss strategies to manage and mitigate risks in an increasingly unpredictable global market. - Identifying and preparing for emerging financial risks - The role of technology in risk management - Strategies for building a resilient financial infrastructure
- FIRESIDE CHAT: Pathway to Profitability: Navigating Growth, Resilience, and Cost Efficiency in Diverse Industries(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) Dive into the intricate journey of a business professional who has not only spanned various industries, from the logistics sector to the wine sector in both Australia and Canada to maritime services in Sydney but also led crucial transformations focussed on a singular galvanising KPI: profitability. Understand how businesses can maintain growth, build resilience, and manage costs, all whilst ensuring profitability remains at the forefront. Join us for this engaging fireside chat that promises to be short, punchy, and packed with insights. Key Discussion Points: The Journey from Wine to Maritime: Delving into diverse industries and the uniqueness of their business models from selling a product to delivering a service Pivoting for Profitability: The experience in Canada and the emphasis on navigating the "pathway to profitability." Balancing Growth and Bottom Line: Exploring the dichotomy between top-line growth and bottom-line profitability. The Power of a Singular Focus: How one galvanising KPI can transform a business and its profitability trajectory. Interactive Engagement: Leveraging fireside chats and interactive discussions for better knowledge absorption and audience engagement.
- Finance and Economics in the Modern World: Challenges, Innovations, and AI(CFO ANZ Sit-Down) The world of finance and economics is constantly evolving, driven by technological advancements, changing market dynamics, and global economic shifts. To shed light on this dynamic landscape, our panel discussion brings together two distinguished speakers who have excelled in their respective roles within finance and economics. They will share their expertise, insights, and experiences, covering a range of topics from project execution to the role of AI in finance and the management of systemic risk. Our panelists will provide valuable perspectives on navigating this complex and ever-changing field.
- Closing Remarks(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
- END OF DAY AND DRINKS(CFO ANZ Sit-Down)
Partners
- 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.
- Rimini Street
- Oracle Oracle helps organisations simplify processes, innovate on demand, and drive predictive insight. Our solutions help banks bring new products to market faster, build customer-centric digital solutions, and achieve success through collaboration in an increasingly complex financial ecosystem.
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