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In this episode of CFO 4.0, Hannah sits down with Fiona Hathorn, CEO of Women on Boards UK, to chat about balancing the cultural fit with bringing something different to the Board, and top tips on setting out on your Board journey.

Fiona is the CEO of Women on Boards UK alongside advising a number of different boards and organisations, including Advisory Panel Member for the FRC, Advisory Board Member to Spktral, advisor to Peel Hunt, and Chair of Hanx's Nominations Committee.

This episode also covers:

• What skills & knowledge do you need to be on a Board? And how do you get them?
• How to find and identify Board opportunities? And how to identify if it’s a good opportunity for you
• How to make yourself stand out as a potential Board candidate?
• What does a typical Board recruitment process look like?
• Top tips on interviewing well

Links mentioned in this episode:

Fiona's LinkedIn
Women On Boards UK Website
itas Website

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In this episode of CFO 4.0, Hannah Munro chats to Jeremy Foster to discuss the role of the CFO, and the benefits of not thinking like a traditional CFO.

Jeremy is Chief Financial Officer at Talroo. He has more than fifteen years of experience as a senior executive, mainly in the technology and banking field. Jeremy has been CFO or COO for 3 Inc. 5000 companies, two of which have made the Inc. 500. 

Also covered in this episode:

• Jeremy’s unconventional journey to becoming CFO
• Benefits of not thinking like a traditional CFO
• Optimising finance structure and team design to achieve an agile finance function
• Insights into financial and resource strategy for high growth
• Top tips on how to approach marketing investments
• Jeremy’s essential tool list to create agile finance functions  

Links referenced in this episode
Jeremy's LinkedIn
Talroo

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In this episode of CFO 4.0, Hannah Munro talks to Clive Webb, Head of Business Management at ACCA. Clive deals with business and technology-related matters from the perspective of the CFO.

 This episode covers the Pandemic and Beyond for finance, and also explores the research Clive carried out about the pandemic, and also the future of finance as a function.

Also covered in this episode:

• Update on current research in the ACCA professional insights team
• COVID and the shift it has created within the role of finance
• Impact of volatility has had on the demands from the finance organisation
• New data skill sets needed within finance teams
• The importance of technology to the future of finance

Links referenced in this episode:
Clive's LinkedIn
ACCA Website
Finance's Journey to the Future Article

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Join us for the next instalment of Financial Transformation live where Hannah Munro talks about how to get started with mapping out your finance processes!

Topics Hannah covers include:

•  Top tips for getting started with process mapping
• What process mapping tools do we use?
• How to approach process mapping within your team
  ...and so much more!

Links referenced in this episode:

• Webinar: Automating your finance team with Sage Intacct
• Top 5 Process Mapping Tools for Beginners - Blog
• Remember to follow us on LinkedIn so you don't miss out on our future sessions!
• Learn more and sign up for live alerts for our sessions here

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On our newest episode of CFO 4.0, Hannah sits down and chats with Chris Argent, Founder of Generation CFO.

In 2009, Chris was frustrated by poor systems, poor reporting, and lack of time. It was in 2009 that he created Generation CFO. It started off as a small group over on LinkedIn, and is now a huge community with almost 70,000 members!

What else is covered in this episode?

• Chris’s journey to Generation CFO
• The shift in finance Chris has seen during his time at Generation CFO
• What changes are happening in finance teams today?
• Importance of people to the technological shift that’s happening
• Fixing processes vs automating them
• Getting started on your transformation journey

Links referenced in this episode

Join the Generation CFO Group on LinkedIn
Follow Chris on LinkedIn
Find out more about Generation CFO here

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On this episode of CFO 4.0, Hannah chats to Billy Scanlan, CFO at The Marketing Practice.

Billy joined The Marketing Practice in 2021, but has previously helped scale fast-growth, private equity-backed B2B businesses. In this episode, the two talk about getting that first CFO role, and how you can build your skills and capabilities to make you a good candidate for your first CFO role!

What else is covered in this episode?

• What is The Marketing Practice?
• Why Billy chose The Marketing Practice as his first CFO role?
• How to build the skills and capabilities to make you a good candidate for your first CFO role?
• How to find your first CFO role?
• What questions to ask before accepting the offer?
• How to make your first 90 days a success in your new role?

Links referenced in this episode
Billy's LinkedIn
The Marketing Practice Website

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On this week’s episode of CFO 4.0, we have returning guest, Monica Arora, EVP of Commercial Finance at Sage. Monica has been at Sage for almost six years helping build and develop out the commercial finance function and supporting the shift to a subscription focussed organisation. Prior to that she also worked for both Schneider Electric and Invensys PLC.

In Monica's current role at Sage, she sits on both the CFO leadership, as well as the COO leadership and we talk about what it takes to grow and develop an impactful commercial function.  

Also covered in this episode:

• How has the commercial part of finance developed over the last few years
• The changing criteria Sage now use to recruit people who give the right kind of insight
• How to identify the commercial skillset during the interview process
• Top tips on developing existing finance talent into more commercial roles
• Importance of educating the wider organisation on core finance skills

Links referenced in this episode:
Monica's LinkedIn

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In our newest episode of CFO 4.0, Hannah Munro chats to Lilly Miller, Chief Financial Officer at Planet Mark.

Lilly is a qualified accountant and has experience managing a diverse range of businesses and supporting many SMEs from her years in Corporate Recovery and as a Financial Controller.

This episode also covers:

• Lilly’s journey to Planet Mark
• Where does ESG fit within a CFO role?
• Lilly’s views on running a business from home
• What other areas can finance contribute to in terms of sustainability?
• Why should finance leaders try and push their ESG strategy forward?
• How to approach sustainability 

Links referenced in this episode
Lilly's LinkedIn
Planet Mark

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Join us for the next installment of Financial Transformation live where Hannah Munro will be talking about how you can reduce your month-end close!

Topics she will be covering include:

•  Stats around typical close times
• 4 steps to improve your month-end close
• Using timeline mapping to understand your current close process
• Common month-end bottlenecks
• Where should you be focusing to improve

If you would like to learn more about our Financial Transformation Live Community, visit here.

Follow us on LinkedIn to ensure you don't miss our future sessions!

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This episode of CFO 4.0, sees Hannah Munro, chatting to Brent Dykes, Founder, and Chief Data Storyteller at AnalyticsHero.

Brent Dykes has spent more than 15 years in the analytics industry, consulting with some of the world’s most recognized brands, such as Microsoft, Sony, Nike, Amazon, and Comcast. Brent brings a unique perspective on data storytelling, and how to communicate data effectively.

Brent is a regular Forbes contributor, publishing more than 30 articles on various data topics. He has also published his latest book, 'Effective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative, and Visuals'.

What's covered in this episode?

• What is a Chief Data Storyteller?
• Brent's journey to AnalyticsHero
• How to communicate insight within finance teams
• Frameworks that are being used to share insight throughout finance teams
• How to convey financial data through stories
• Top tips for getting into data storytelling for finance leaders

Links mentioned in this episode:
Brent's LinkedIn
Brent's Forbes articles

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