Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Ashley Johnson emphasizes that financial planning and analysis (FP&A) should empower leaders to own their budgets rather than simply dictate them. She forbids the question, “Is this in my budget?” and instead encourages leaders to consider their priorities and trade-offs.She believes in a proactive approach to budgeting, where FP&A supports […]
1,007: The Art of Financial Storytelling | Ashley Johnson, CFO, Planet
When she was an international studies major living abroad, Ashley Johnson tells us, she met a U.S. ambassador whose unvarnished advice subsequently led her to divert her career path away from the diplomatic corps of the U.S. Foreign Service. "I had thought that I would be going into the State Department," she recalls. However, a…
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Ep 34: From Rearview to Road Ahead
On our latest episode three forward looking Planning Aces shared deep insights into optimizing financial performance. The conversation highlighted the significance of predictive metrics and proactive financial planning, with a strong focus on leading indicators to guide business strategies. Detailed exploration of operational efficiencies, particularly in sales and marketing, was discussed as a method to improve…
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989: The Homecoming: A Tale of Growth, Leadership, and Return | Jeremy Johnson, CFO, Dayforce
Back in September 2021, Jeremy Johnson, senior vice president of finance at Ceridian (now Dayforce), decided that it was time to test his mettle—a step that would lead him to returning from a long personal journey with a leadership perspective somewhat different from what he had expected might be the case. Determined to challenge himself…
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Ep 33: Driving Value Beyond the Balance Sheet
This episode our Planning Aces emphasize the importance of leveraging one's breadth of experience, stepping beyond traditional FP&A roles, and focusing on execution to bring significant value to organizations. They also emphasize the evolving nature of finance professional interactions and the idea that strategic insights can serve as catalysts for organizational change, prompting shifts in…
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The Mentoring Round | Matt Wolf, CFO, DRINKS
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Matt Wolf highlights his broad perspective, gained from a background in data analytics and software, which enables him to understand and support various organizational functions beyond finance. By minimizing surprises through transparency and openness, Wolf believes this can be a strategic advantage, reducing the need to be reactive and allowing […]
972: Recalibrating Your Strategic Lens | Rachel Stack, CFO, Cologix, Inc.
Not unlike that of many of her CFO peers, Rachel Stack's journey toward becoming a CFO has been punctuated by pivotal transactions. No single example of this turns out to have been more complicated or rich with lessons than what Stack refers to simply as "the take-private of Zayo." However, before the path forward for…
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945: Achieving a Management Rapport | Doug Lindroth, CFO, Tealium
Doug Lindroth tells us that he is not likely to forget the day that Google filed its S-1 registration statement simply because it was on the same one that semiconductor distributor Memec filed its own S-1. Back in June 2004, Lindroth was CFO of Memec when the firm’s management opted to file a registration statement…
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936: Where the Puck Is Headed | Michelle Hook, CFO, Portillo’s
It was late 2020 when Michelle Hook ended 17 years of fruitful career-building at Domino's to accept a CFO appointment at fast casual restaurant chain Portillo’s. “The two things that I was looking for were to be passionate about a new brand and to feel a culture fit,” recalls Hook, who adds that she…
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The Last Mile to the CFO Office | CFO Chris Kramer of Axonius
CFO GUEST: Chris Kramer of Axonius
919: Adopting a Broader View | Chris Kramer, CFO, Axonius
Among the different career highlights that Chris Kramer shares with us, perhaps none is as memorable as what might be called his "Indiana Jones moment." Having distinguished himself as a “technical accountant” during the first half of his career, Kramer was often dispatched to observe and scrutinize the accounting practices of prospective acquisition targets in…
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902: Finding Your Fire | Celeste Ackert, CFO, Fairmarkit
Of all of the places future CFOs could have been employed in the late 1990s, the printing division of RR Donnelley might seem to have been among the least likely. However, what's important to note is that this period predated the wide deployment of EDGAR, the database system that electronically automates the collection, validation, and…
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