The CFO Corner

Adeel Mushtaq is a dynamic professional specializing in investment management and treasury, boasting extensive experience in finance, operations, and business transformation.

GUEST BIORyan Belcher is the Founder and CEO of Spendwise, a business spend management software company with over 500 customers managing billions of dollars in spending through its system. He has a consulting practice that specializes in providing executive financial services to businesses. Previously, Ryan was the Corporate Controller at FoxHollow Technologies Inc, a publicly traded medical device company, and worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an accounting and management consulting firm, in the assurance and business advisory practice.EPISODE SUMMARYRyan Belcher, the CEO of Spendwise, highlights the importance of embracing change and technological advancements in the field of corporate finance. He emphasizes how technology has transformed the CFO's role in recent years, with a focus on understanding and implementing technological solutions to drive growth. Ryan notes that cloud-based solutions have leveled the playing field for small and medium-sized businesses, allowing them to compete more effectively with larger organizations. He believes that while AI and automation may take away some accounting jobs, the strategic and judgment aspects of the finance and accounting roles will still require human input. 

GUEST BIOJeremy Foster is Chief Financial Officer at Austin-based Talroo.com, the data-driven job and hiring event advertising platform that helps businesses reach the candidates they need to build their essential workforce. He has more than 15 years of experience as a senior executive, primarily in the technology and banking arenas. He’s been CFO or COO for 3 Inc. 5000 companies, two of which have made the Inc. 500, and all three have been recognized by the Austin Business Journal as among “Austin’s Best Places to Work.” At Kasasa, he guided strategy for a $25B bank product portfolio, managed an analytics team responsible for product performance and financial reporting for 800 banks and credit unions, and led the development of an enterprise-grade business intelligence platform. Jeremy holds an MA in Communication and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, where he was an inaugural Meyer Fellow.EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, Talroo CFO Jeremy Foster discusses the evolving role of CFOs and their focus on identifying and resolving bottlenecks to enable business growth. He explores the impact of technology on finance and accounting, as well as the significance of empathy in certain job roles that AI may not replicate. He also addresses the U.S. capital market situation, its effect on fundraising, and strategies for businesses to choose safer banks. Jeremy highlights the benefits of moving to a cloud-based system and the impact of AI and automation on certain job roles. Finally, he mentions the importance of empathy in certain jobs, which AI may not be able to replicate. 

GUEST BIOSam Gupta is a leading ERP thought leader with almost 20 years of experience in digital transformation, focusing on financial systems and ERP. As the #1 thought leader in the ERP category on Thinkers 360, Sam has contributed to large transformation projects for Fortune 500 companies and now works with SMEs as a Principal Consultant at ElevatIQ. He regularly shares his insights at industry events, blogs, publications, and hosts the WBSRocks podcast, where he chats with top influencers and executives about digital transformation and business growth.KEY TAKEAWAYSSam points out that the biggest obstacle to adopting new technology is often resistance to change and a lack of understanding of what it takes for successful implementation. He stresses the importance of investing in groundwork like data modeling and process improvement to truly leverage technologies like AI. If the foundation is strong, technology can work wonders for a company.He also notes that people sometimes hold on to information as a form of job security. While technology might automate some accounting tasks, the role of accountants will shift towards more troubleshooting skills. Sam believes humans won't be entirely replaced by machines, and advises companies to focus on the prep work needed for technology adoption, including training, implementation, and change management, in order to see real business results.

GUEST BIOStefanie Krievins is a trained coach and facilitator with a background in HR consulting, executive and business coaching, nonprofit management, and process and systems design. She is the host of the "Hot Mess Hotline," a podcast for ambitious leaders aspiring to reach the C-suite. Throughout her career, Stefanie has collaborated with organizations ranging from 5 to 1,500 employees across various sectors to develop business plans, strategize, provide training and development, and implement CRM solutions. Stefanie holds a certification in solution-focused methodology from Erickson International and is a member of the International Coach Federation. She has a Master's degree and prior to starting her own business in 2014, Stefanie worked in both small businesses and regional and national nonprofits.EPISODE DESCRIPTIONIn this CFO Corner interview, Nick Ezzo speaks to Stephanie Krievins, a trained coach and facilitator, about digital transformation within the corporate scene. She explains that digital transformation should impact every function of a business and how it is the technology that solves some of the business problems, but where the organization faces roadblocks is with people not adopting the technology. Stephanie sees digital transformation as the opportunity to align the customer, employee, and all stakeholder experience across all lines of the business so that data flows in and out cohesively. However, the biggest challenge in digital transformation is change management as human beings have a natural fear of change, and the oldest part of the brain sees fear and change as stress and death. This fear can lead to job loss, livelihoods taken away, and people's lives falling apart. The brain goes through fear in half a nanosecond, and people can't manage their way out of it without self-awareness.

GUEST BIOJack Sweeney is host and creator of the CFO Thought Leader Podcast, a popular Apple podcast and author of THE CFO YEARBOOK, 2022. A career business journalist, Jack is today a senior contributing writer to Forbes.com and was the recipient of the Excellence in Financial Journalism Award 2018 by the NYSSCPAs. He is the former editor in chief of Business Finance Magazine (Penton Media) and the founding editor (and former editor in chief) of Consulting Magazine (ALM Media). He served as editor of Integration Management and Washington Technology (The Washington Post Cos.) Prior to the Post Cos., he worked as a reporter for CMP Media (Informa) in London. Jack is today Managing Director of Middle Market Media, LLC., a creator of audio content serving middle market business audiences.EPISODE SUMMARYIn this episode, Nick interviews Jack Sweeney, who is the host of the CFO Thought Leader Podcast, author of the CFO Yearbook 2022, and a senior contributing writer to Forbes.com. According to Jack, The CFO role has changed in the last 5-10 years, with finance leadership broadening, the number of finance stakeholders multiplying, and new CFOs rejecting traditional professional narratives. The early 20th-century CFOs were not leaders in the C-suite, and most managers did not want to interact with them. However, with the rise of management and finance leadership, today's CFOs have an expanded role in organizations.Jack discusses how storytelling can help finance leaders improve their communications skills. The human brain is wired to remember stories, so interviews with CFOs that contain origin stories or anecdotes are likely to be engaging. The conversation then moves onto technology, with a focus on the SaaS model and how it's enabled finance leaders to better understand the customer experience. SaaS CFOs are innovators in the current business landscape, and the adoption of cloud computing has led to more computing power at our fingertips, which has enabled new solutions like AI, machine learning, and natural language technology. The conversation then mentions ChatGPT, a non-financial metric tool that can help finance leaders better understand customer lifetime value.

Dr. Bill Conerly connects the dots between the economy and business. He is a business economics consultant, a Senior Contributor to Forbes, and holds a Ph.D. from Duke University. He has worked in economics and corporate planning at two Fortune 500 corporations and a major bank, where he was a senior vice president. In this conversation, Nick interviews Dr. Bill Conerly, a business economics consultant who helps business leaders understand how the economy is impacting them. Dr. Conerly works with CFOs in corporate America, providing forecasting and suggesting items that should be on their to-do list, such as addressing the tight labor market. He believes the US is headed for a recession in late 2023 or early 2024, but it will be moderate. Despite the inverted economic outlook with respect to low unemployment rates, he thinks this supports his thesis as layoffs headlines always come before actual layoffs, and initial claims for unemployment insurance are headed down. Dr. Conerly advises CFOs to think flexibly in an uncertain environment and to be prepared for multiple scenarios.In Bill's opinion, the institutional knowledge that employees possess is important. This should be accounted for as an asset on the balance sheet. The cost of labor is also going up, and the cost of technology is coming down. Bill believes that robots may take away mundane tasks from accounting and finance jobs, but human judgment is important in determining the correct numbers and being creative in finding solutions, which cannot be supplanted by technology.

Manish Gupta is a highly experienced hotel manager with over 15 years in the industry. He is a strong leader known for making tough decisions while considering human emotions and fairness. He has successfully navigated hotels through challenging times by managing cash flow, implementing innovative sales and marketing strategies, and maintaining customer satisfaction and employee morale. Manish has expertise in implementing systems such as ERP, management reporting, and financial planning and analysis. He is dedicated to learning and development, innovation, and creating business growth opportunities through partnerships. He is also an advocate of lean management. Manish has seen a significant change in the role of a CFO in the past 5-10 years. With the advent of automation tools such as SAP and ERP, the finance role has shifted from collecting and verifying data to using and analyzing the data presented by these systems. He mentions that earlier the budgeting process was done in Excel, which was a nightmare to manage and required a large team, but now it is done through platforms that automate the entire process, reducing the need for manpower. He also mentions that finance professionals now need to focus on analyzing data and making decisions, rather than just collecting it, as automation has made routine tasks like collecting data redundant.In this clip, Manish talks about the impact of technology and automation on accounting jobs. He believes that robots may not completely take away all accounting jobs, but they may take over the day-to-day mundane tasks, which is already happening. He mentions how robots are already being used for tasks such as scanning invoices and categorizing them. Manish thinks that the robots will take over the junior roles in accounting but may also create new jobs. He advises the audience to be ready for change and focus on soft skills, which AI may not learn in the future. He also suggests that people should be ready to learn new skills as technology continues to evolve.

Melissa Leon is an author and co-owner of Two Sense Consulting. With over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, Melissa is passionate about helping other ambitious women with financial literacy and time management. As a mother of three and small business owner, she has firsthand experience balancing various responsibilities and is skilled at guiding others in doing the same.In this podcast interview, Melissa talks about her mission to help small business owners with financial literacy. Her company offers services such as bookkeeping and teaching owners how to read and interpret financial reports like balance sheets and cash flow statements. Melissa also discusses her passion for financial literacy and shares her latest book, which focuses on simplifying tasks for a more efficient life. She also shares her love for Amazon Alexa and the exciting new advancements in automation for finance and accounting, where systems can categorize incoming emails. 

Ruchi Kasliwal has a career characterized by her ability to build and lead finance and accounting teams from the ground up. She is driven by a passion for making finance organizations key partners within companies and fostering collaboration across departments. Her dedication and hard work have enabled her to achieve great success in building scalable and successful companies that optimize both human and system resources. Kasliwal has the distinction of taking two companies public and has earned recognition in the industry for her resilience and perseverance in building strong and empathetic teams. Ruchi is the head of finance and operations at Novo Insurance. Novo Insurance is a subsidiary of TeleNav, a company that has been in the navigation software business for over 20 years. Novo Insurance provides insurance based on a person's driving behavior and aims to improve driving habits. Ruchi's role includes finance, accounting, FP&A, reporting, systems integration and streamlining processes. She believes that the role of the CFO has changed and evolved over the years, moving from a traditional financial role to a business partner and strategic leader for the organization. In the next five to ten years, Ruchi sees the role of the CFO becoming more tech-savvy and focused on leading high-quality teams by providing them with the right tools and resources.In this conversation, Ruchi discusses the importance of automating routine and mundane tasks in accounting, such as data entry and reconciliation, to free up time and resources for more strategic and valuable tasks. Ruchi believes that automation can help companies save money, improve cash forecasting, and make better investments, but also stresses that human analysis is still necessary to make meaningful decisions. 

Kenny Jen is a member of Pilot's CFO Services, where he advises startups at various stages on finance, fundraising, and strategy. Before joining Pilot, Kenny managed product development, supply chain, and strategic finance for a consumer goods startup in Los Angeles. Before that, he was an investment associate at a venture capital fund. Kenny has consulted companies in a wide range of industries, including health and wellness, SaaS, CPG, marketplaces, and retail.In this episode, Kenny speaks about the role of finance and the CFO. He believes the role has changed over the last 5 to 10 years from data collection and accuracy to systems building and interpretation of that data. He sees the role of finance and operations coming together, with CFOs and finance teams becoming a part of the strategic element and working closely with operations. Kenny mentions that the most exciting innovation in accounting and finance is around automation and streamlining manual processes. He highlights the challenge of balancing execution and data collection with the processing time and brain power to interpret that information. 

You can learn a lot from someone who spends a good deal of time with CFOs and Controllers.Lindy Antonelli, Partner, Armanino LLP, highlights the rise of the Controller as one of the key trends of the last few years.Lindy gives her perspective on how technology can improve finance and accounting at all companies, not just the largest firms.She also provides perspective on how COVID-19 has altered the landscape of corporate finance forever.

In 2002, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act dramatically reshaped the accounting landscape forever. What happened in the last two decades to continue that evolution?Robert Goldenberg, CFO of 6sense, helps make sense of today’s modern finance and accounting departments’ critical trends.Rob enlightens us about the challenges—and the opportunities—of running a distributed F&A function during a pandemic.He also gives some great advice about corporate finance’s exciting new phase of innovation and how it benefits accounting people just starting their careers.

According to Ray Langhaim, CFO of NICE inContact:Being an Accountant is like being an Offensive Lineman in the NFL.No one notices you until you’re called for a penalty or you miss your block.Ray has some sage advice for up-and-coming Finance professionals as well. Learn to use data to tell a better story. Embrace tools like AI and machine learning to gain a competitive advantage. Help the leadership team understand and move the levers of growth.(He also makes an on-point pop culture reference to actor/rapper/film producer Will Smith.)

You can’t automate relationships, you can’t automate human interaction and collaboration.That’s some of the most valuable things that a finance team and a CFO can bring to an organization.Janelle helps us understand technology's role in the lives of finance and accounting teams. She also describes what the CEO and board expect from the CFO and how data and insights make the finance team an integral part of a company’s growth.As part of the new generation of finance leaders, Janelle Gorman is responsible for financial reporting and analysis, compliance, and financial operations to support and drive York IE and their portfolio companies’ growth.

Welcome to the very first episode of the CFO Corner.The podcast is hosted by Nick Ezzo, the VP of Marketing at Auditoria.ai. So what can you expect to hear when you listen to each episode?For our first season we’ll be releasing some classic episodes from our CFO Corner show. You’ll hear from CFOs primarily about finance automation and AI. This season will be released for 16 episodes.In our second season, we’ll be switching up our style to a primarily conversation-based podcast.We’ll bring on CFOs and corporate finance professionals to hear about the innovative approaches and technology they have used to scale and grow their organizations. Episodes will typically be around 10-15 minutes. We’ll cover topics such as automation, new technology and disruptive trends in finance, how to reduce errors in data, how to improve forecasting, and more. CFOs and corporate finance executives will share the challenges they’re facing with mundane repetitive tasks and give their takes on what they’d like to see in the corporate finance function that can help achieve a stress-free working life. This is the podcast for you if you’re ready to learn about the innovative approaches that are out there to quit copy-pasting PDFs and finally free yourself to analyze data and guide the business.If you have any ideas for possible episode topics that we should cover on the show, or you know someone that would be a perfect guest, make sure to connect with us via email at cfocorner@auditoria.ai. The more input we get from listeners, the better this podcast is going to be.Thank you so much for listening to the CFO Corner. Make sure to subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. Until next time!