INTHEBLACK

CFOs can learn a lot about pricing and leadership from Costco.  In this episode of How CFOs Think, the former Costco CFO Richard Galanti explains how Costco Wholesale – a multibillion-dollar global retailer with warehouse club operations in 14 countries – has used pricing discipline, operational efficiency, transparency and long-term thinking to build customer loyalty and value.  Listeners will learn:  Why Costco maintains strict limits on product mark-ups  How operational efficiency helps protect customer value  Why Costco sometimes accepts lower short-term earnings  How transparency shapes relationships with investors and suppliers  What the CFO contributes to major capital and strategic decisions  Why monthly performance reviews support better decision-making  What new CFOs should focus on during their first 90 days  How long-term financial discipline can support shareholder returns  Tune in with special guest Richard Galanti, who will also be speaking at CPA Congress 2026.  Host: Ky Chow, media trainer, journalist, writer and presenter  Guest: Richard Galanti, who joined Costco in 1984 after helping raise the company's original outside capital as a banker and spent close to 40 years as its CFO.  Richard Galanti will appear at CPA Congress 2026.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:  With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

Technical expertise can produce exact numbers. However, communicating what those numbers mean is a different, but incredibly valuable, skill.  This episode explores why storytelling is becoming an increasingly important capability for accountants and finance professionals.  You will learn:  Why peer credibility matters alongside formal authority  How storytelling can help financial insights drive action  Why numbers can influence behaviour, not just describe performance  How technical professionals can develop their communication skills  How the TLC framework can structure thinking, presentation and communication  How to make financial recommendations stand out to busy decision-makers  Explore the story behind the numbers — and why narrative is becoming an essential finance discipline — with special guest AJ Kulatunga, a leadership keynote speaker who will be speaking at CPA Congress 2026.  Host:  Jackie Blondell, Editor, CPA Australia  Guest: AJ Kulatunga,  a leadership keynote speaker specialising in execution intelligence for CFOs  AJ Kulatunga is speaking at CPA Congress 2026.   You can learn more about him at his website.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube.  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting:  With Interest  INTHEBLACK  INTHEBLACK Out Loud  Excel Tips  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected] 

Change is the one constant in today's work landscape.  This episode sparks fresh ideas on leading people through change without losing their trust or buy-in.  Expert guest Richard Gerver – who has worked with Google and Deloitte and will speak on Leading Humans Through Continuous Change at CPA Congress 2026 – looks at why restructures so often fail on the human side, not the technical one.  He explains why:  Asking questions beats presenting answers  Change works better when people have ownership of it  Organisations need to move from "managing change" to becoming comfortable with continuous change  Leaders should unlock the ideas and potential already inside their organisation  Psychological safety and leader vulnerability are essential to innovation  Resilience isn't about asking people to cope with more, it's something leaders help build  If you're leading a team through a restructure, a system migration or AI adoption, this conversation reframes resilience as something you build deliberately, not something people simply have or don't.  Give it a listen this week.  Host Tahn Sharpe, INTHEBLACK Editor, CPA Australia  Guest: Richard Gerver, award-winning change and leadership speaker with a background in education, innovation and human potential  For more information on Richard Gerver, head online to his international speakers bureau page.  Richard will speak at CPA Congress 2026.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@CPAaustralia/podcasts  And don't forget to click subscribe to the channel for a wide range of content that will help your career.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance and accounting:   With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/excel-tips   Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]  Chapters: 00:00 Richard Gerver on leadership vulnerability and empowering teams 00:29 Introduction to Richard Gerver, change leadership expert and educator 01:27 How Richard Gerver transformed a failing school through empowerment 04:54 Employee empowerment vs top-down change management 06:15 Why continuous change is the new normal for leaders 10:51 How to get employee buy-in for organisational change 13:00 Leadership, psychological safety and encouraging innovation 16:58 Resilience, failure and learning in a changing workplace 20:29 Leading humans through change, AI adoption and ERP transformation 22:25 Richard Gerver's advice for finance leaders managing major change projects 23:41 Key takeaways and CPA Australia Congress 2026 preview

What does responsible leadership look like when short-term performance still matters?  This episode explores stewardship as a practical approach to balancing profit, purpose, stakeholder interests and long-term value.  Key learnings include:  What stewardship means in today's leadership environment  Why organisations are shifting from short-term thinking to long-term value creation  The connection between purpose, values and leadership effectiveness  How leaders can build cultures of accountability and responsibility  Balancing stakeholder expectations in a complex world  Practical actions individuals can take to become better stewards in their own roles  This podcast aims to help leaders understand how a stewardship mindset can drive both sustainable business success and meaningful societal impact.   Tune in now.  Host: Patrick Viljoen, ESG Lead, CPA Australia  Guest: Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of Steward Leadership Institute and an internationally recognised author, speaker and leadership expert whose work has challenged executives around the world to rethink the purpose of leadership and the role of values in driving sustainable success.  You can find more about Steward Leadership Institute on LinkedIn.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. Head to our podcast page CPA Australia - YouTube  And of course, click subscribe to the channel today.  We deliver regular content that will help boost your career skills and capabilities.  Additionally, INTHEBLACK online has stories on everyday ethics issues.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips Excel Tips | CPA Australia  With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]   Email the podcast team at [email protected]  

Growth is not the problem. Undisciplined growth is.  Does revenue growth without financial discipline create value or destroy is the question at the centre of this expert-led episode.  The 2025 Australian Accounting Awards CFO of the Year Priyan Fernando explains why revenue growth can mask falling margins, tightening cash flow and weakening financial discipline.  Listeners will learn:  Why growth does not necessarily create profitability or value  Where profit commonly disappears as businesses scale up  How cash flow differs from profit  Which KPIs growing SMEs often overlook  What a fractional CFO looks at first when entering a business  How dashboards can improve financial visibility  How finance leaders can challenge the assumption that growth always equals success  Where to start when a fast-growing business has weak financial discipline  For SME owners, CFOs and senior finance professionals, the discussion offers a practical perspective on financial controls and questions that matter as a business scales up.  Tune in now.  Host: Ky Chow. Ky is a business journalist, media trainer, writer and presenter.  Guest: Priyan Fernando. Priyan is a CPA and founder of fractional CFO practice Metrix Advisory. He is also the 2025 Australian Accounting Awards CFO of the Year.  Learn more about Metrix Advisory at its website.  Loving this episode?  Listen to more INTHEBLACK episodes and other CPA Australia podcasts on YouTube. Head to our podcast page CPA Australia - YouTube  And of course, click subscribe to the channel today.  We deliver regular content that will help boost your career skills and capabilities.  Additionally, INTHEBLACK online has stories on everyday ethics issues.  CPA Australia publishes four podcasts, providing commentary and thought leadership across business, finance, and accounting https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts  INTHEBLACK https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack  INTHEBLACK Out Loud https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/intheblack-outloud  Excel Tips Excel Tips | CPA Australia  With Interest https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/tools-and-resources/podcasts/with-interest  Search for them in your podcast platform. Email the podcast team at [email protected]