Financial Excellence With Game Changers, Presented By Sap

The buzz: Change. Managing the roles and functions of Finance can be challenging, from compliance complexities and managing cash, to closing the books and building business plans, while contending with economic, regulatory and competitive forces and internal customers. Software vendors are trying to help Finance run more efficiently and cope with constant change. The experts speak. Rob Kugel, Ventana: “Never ask of money spent, where the spender thinks it went. Nobody was ever meant, to remember or invent, what he did with every cent.” (Robert Frost). Renee Ford, Accenture: “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” (Bill Gates). Birgit Starmanns, SAP: “It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer.” (Shanna LaFleur). Join us for Innovating for the New Finance Organization.

The buzz: Three. Your company may have already implemented, at least partially, a Three Lines of Defense model. But when faced with technological challenges such as getting the most effective tools, or integrating different systems, the process can be time-consuming and reactive rather than optimized and proactive. Key questions you may ask: How can risk management activities coalesce into a cohesive assurance program within the wider system of internal control? How can you leverage technology to establish a Three Lines of Defense model that delivers sound assurance supported by continuous auditing? The experts speak. Ganesh Ram, PwC: “Do. Or do not. There is no try” (Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back) Kevin D. Heckel, Deloitte: “Managing the risks we face today requires layer solutions including security, vigilance and resiliency.” Jérôme Pugnet, SAP: “the term ‘Three Lines of Defense’ appears to come from medical research.” Join us for Three Lines of Defense: Can Technology Help?

The buzz: Rev Rec. Revenue recognition is the single most important item on your company’s financial statement and to your organization. The IASB and FASB already announced new converged revenue accounting standards – but they may be delayed a year. If you haven't started planning for the impact, what should your next steps be? If you have started, should you adjust for the delay? And have you read all 700 pages of new rules? The experts speak. Chris Smith, PwC: “It's just an accounting change, how hard could that possibly be?!” Julie Zielke, EY: “This quite possibly will be one of the most transformative accounting pronouncements of our time.” David Furgason, Deloitte: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou) Pete Graham, SAP: “A good plan executed today is better than the perfect plan executed tomorrow.” (George S. Patton) Join us for New Revenue Recognition: Here Yet?

Today’s buzz: Profitability. Despite sophisticated business intelligence tools that enable analysis of Big Data, and the renewed popularity of profitability and costing analysis, many companies still can’t get a grip on fundamental planning inefficiencies or rebound from recent economic instability. If you’re among them, it’s time for your finance organization to rethink their approach to data and their role in the business. Bottom line: Who should own profitability and the best practices to build a more profitable future? The experts speak. Gary Cokins, Analytics-Based Performance Management: “There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” (da Vinci). Jon Essig, CPA, Optimal Solutions: “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so” (Galileo). Rob Jenkins, SAP: “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” (Niels Bohr). Join us for Predicting Profitable Performance in Challenging Times.

The buzz: Zoom! Marathons. Formula One. Internet downloads. Streaming video. In scenarios like these, we intuitively know faster is always better. But for Finance, how important are true real-time processes – or is “near-real-time” fast enough? To help you find the answer, we’ll explore which processes can benefit from real-time information, what your Finance team can do with real-time in-memory technology not possible in the past, and the benefits of having true real-time information at your fingertips. The experts speak. Celina Rogers, CFO Publishing: “The practicality of technology may distinguish it from art, but both spring from a similar, distinctly human yearning” (Nicholas Carr). Tony Rogan, Accenture: “Some are born to sweet delight; some are born to endless night” (William Blake). Birgit Starmanns, SAP: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” (Albert Einstein). Join us for Your Finance Processes in Real-Time: How Fast Is Fast Enough?

The buzz: The CFO. The concept of the strategic CFO – responsible for more than just numbers – is not new. But now there's a new technology-driven dynamic in Finance, a nexus of powerful forces driven by in-memory, cloud, mobile, and social. It's not only changing how CFOs can operate, it also gives them the potential to re-imagine the processes underpinning the Finance function, as well as their role as information steward and advisor to the business. How exactly is this impacting the way CFOs are evolving the Finance function and their role within the business? The experts speak. John Steele, Deloitte: “Finance is either the center of the universe or the bottom of the hill – either way all roads lead there.” David Dixon, TruQua: “Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine” (Peter Sondergaard). Henner Schliebs, SAP: “He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander” (Aristotle). Join us for The Strategic CFO: Re-Imagining Finance.

The buzz: Payments. As the daily drumbeat of the news spotlights retail credit card breaches and other payment problems, it’s clear that the payment industry is ripe for change. Innovations like Square, Google Wallet, and ApplePay are attempting to disrupt the consumer payments market. And B2B payments, notoriously stuck in the past, are also seeing game-changing progress. The experts speak. Gloria Colgan, Market Platform Dynamics: “Rome wasn't built in a day.” (French circa 1190, English circa 1538) Matt Johanson, Discover Network: “Innovation is not a new topic. What’s different now: the key areas have reached tipping points creating an environment in which truly innovative solutions can start to become reality.” Drew Hofler, SAP: “The most recent US innovation that fundamentally changed the way payments are made between businesses, and the one that still accounts for only about 40% of those payments, was introduced the same year as the Betamax video tape!” They will be joined by Matt Johanson, Discover

The buzz: Fraud. As hard as you work to implement effective anti-fraud processes, voracious and savvy fraudsters are working even harder, and perhaps smarter, to thwart you. Good news! Predictive analytics technology can help you understand emerging fraud patterns and adapt against new types of attack, but only if you use the tools effectively. What will it take for your leadership to make this a priority? The experts speak. Derek Snaidauf, Deloitte: “The beginning is the most important part of the work” (Plato). Michael P Cangemi, Cangemi Company: “The uninspected (inevitably) deteriorates” (34th US President Dwight D. Eisenhower). Jérôme Pugnet, SAP: “Fraudulent actors often exhibit repetitive patterns. As we recognize these, we can apply heuristics to predict when they are about to occur again, and help stop them; but for complex, evolving fraud vectors, we turn to machine learning…” (Blog at Airbnb). Join us for Fighting Fraud: Predictive Technology to the Rescue? – Part 3.

The buzz: Revenue recognition. Revenue is the single-most important item on your company’s financial statement. Now that the IASB and FASB have announced their converged revenue accounting standards, it’s time to prepare for new requirements. It’s not a matter of whether these new will impact you, as well as organizations across the world and across industries. It’s a matter of how much. What can you do to prepare? Have you read the entire 700 pages about the new rules? The experts speak. David Furgason, Deloitte Consulting: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them” (Maya Angelou). John McGaw, EY: “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit” (Ronald Reagan). Pete Graham, SAP: “Watch the pennies, and the dollars take care of themselves” (Benjamin Franklin). Join us for New Revenue Recognition Standard: Now What?

The buzz: Risk. Critical questions are raised by recent IA research and surveys of internal auditors seeming to suggest strong support for involving Internal Audit in enterprise risk management. Are IA practices really changing and departments transitioning to provide risk management advice and opinions to the business? Are Boards and senior execs actually asking for this? Perhaps most important, are any conflicts inherent in such a new role for IA? The experts speak. Robert D. Gould, Internal Audit, Harley-Davidson: “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” (Mark Twain). Thomas Bamberger, Chief Audit Executive, SAP: “Information exchange between Risk Management, Compliance and Audit is key for full transparency.” Bruce McCuaig, Governance Risk and Compliance Solutions, SAP: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” (Arthur Ashe). Join us for Internal Audit: New Role in Enterprise Risk Management?

The buzz: Now! If true real-time” access to information is necessary for your Finance organization to be effective, they need to leverage in-memory technology for day-to-day and period-end processes. The benefits – instant insight to improve financial performance reporting and to predict the financial outcome of business decisions – can position Finance as a true strategic partner to the business. Are you there yet? The experts speak. Celina Rogers, CFO Publishing: “Computer people still are concerned with greater speed and bigger memories. But the challenges increasingly will be not technical, but to convert data into usable information that is actually being used” (Peter Drucker). John Steele, Deloitte: “The future is now.” Birgit Starmanns, SAP: “The key to good decision-making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter” (Malcolm Gladwell). Join us for the Impact of Instant Processes and Insight on Finance.

The buzz: Mobile Finance. Mobile technology can now put a range of sophisticated analytics tools into the hands of your Finance organization to support planning, budgeting, and forecasting on-the-go. Having the agility to create and deliver timely reports on a mobile device sounds exciting, even sexy – right? But as with all innovations, there’s work to do before you can reap the benefits. Your executive team needs to really sponsor it, not just pay lip service. Your Finance team has to adopt, adapt, and integrate the right tools into a strong mobile strategy. And you need to train the right team of talent to optimize it. Are you there yet? The experts speak. Nick Castellina, Aberdeen: “He who fails to plan is planning to fail” (Winston Churchill). Kaan Turnali, SAP: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” (Leonardo da Vinci). Pete Graham, SAP: “Remember that time is money” Benjamin Franklin). Join us for Mobile Finance – Are You Ready?

Today’s buzz: Bribery and Corruption The global economy brings great opportunities. And great risks. On your home court or a new playground, whether perpetrated by your staff or a third party, new flavors of bribery and corruption fraud schemes are keeping regulators, boards and executives awake at night. Can technology help them sleep? The experts speak. Vincent Walden, Ernst & Young: “Fraud is similar to fashion. Things get hot, then fade away. In the early 2000s (pre-SOX) ... financial misstatements and ‘cooking the books.’ In the mid-2000s, stock-options backdating was hot. For the last 4–5 years, it is FCPA (and insider trading)...”. Thomas Fox, attorney, independent consultant: “Your compliance program is a living entity; it should be constantly evolving”. Melissa Lea, SAP: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” (Warren Buffett). Join us for Compliance: Focus on Anti-Bribery/Anti-Corruption.

The buzz: Change. Managing the roles and functions of Finance can be challenging, from compliance complexities and managing cash, to closing the books and building business plans, while contending with economic, regulatory and competitive forces and internal customers. Software vendors are trying to help Finance run more efficiently and cope with constant change. The experts speak. Rob Kugel, Ventana: “Never ask of money spent, where the spender thinks it went. Nobody was ever meant, to remember or invent, what he did with every cent.” (Robert Frost). Renee Ford, Accenture: “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” (Bill Gates). Birgit Starmanns, SAP: “It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer.” (Shanna LaFleur). Join us for Innovating for the New Finance Organization.

The buzz: Planning. How healthy is your planning and budgeting process? If you’re using an heirloom Excel spreadsheet recipe with gut-feeling and short-term MBO ingredients, your CFO is surely hungering for more substance. Today, with mainstream, end-user focused tech tools, you have no excuse to NOT include modern technologies in planning and budgeting. Ready to base decisions on realistic insights instead of wishful thinking? The experts speak. Steve Player, Beyond Budgeting: “If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle the boat” (Navy Admiral W. H. McRaven). Paul Davis, NTT Data: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena” (Theodore Roosevelt). Pras Chatterjee, SAP: “Everything you can imagine is real” (Picasso). Tune in for answers to the pressing question, Predictive Planning: Fiction or Reality?

The buzz: IA. Technology innovations are giving your Internal Audit (IA) team a real opportunity to shift from its traditional role as a deliverer of assurance and protector of existing value to a new role of trusted advisor. With its corporate level positioning and cross-functional role, IA may also be in the running to play a lead role in identifying and helping to manage risk – perhaps as your company’s command center for risk. Is there more ahead for IA? And how should you measure its expanded value? The experts speak. Paul Sobel, Georgia-Pacific: “You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” (George Bernard Shaw). Carey Oven, Deloitte: “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed” (Theodore Roosevelt). Bruce McCuaig, SAP: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” (Henry Ford). Join us for Internal Audit at a Turning Point: Command Center for Risk?

The buzz: Predictive. Today's finance organization charter is broadened, with core functional deliverables enhanced by service to most functions company-wide. There is no excuse not to use modern technology. Predictive analytics is no longer the PhD thing for specialized SAS programmers in the basement. Predictive is a must for a modern controller, accountant and treasurer, especially if you hope to meet and outperform your CFO's goals. The experts speak. Anders Reinhardt, VELUX: “A fool with a tool is still a fool” (Grady Booch). Nancy J. Jones, Educator: “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise… But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom” (Charles Spurgeon). Rob Kugel, Ventana Research: “You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there” (Yogi Berra). Henner Schliebs, SAP: “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future” (Niels Bohr). Join us for Predictive Analytics and Finance: Role Play

The buzz: Cloud. Finance is warming up to adopting the Cloud, to help provide strategic advice to the business, operate more efficiently, and maintain compliance. But Finance first must figure out how to balance ease of ownership, low-cost predictable subscription model, less IT dependence, with concerns about security and data integrity of critical finance information in the Cloud. When? The experts speak. Joshua Greenbaum, Enterprise Applications Consulting: “The Office of the CFO needs to be split into the Office of Financial Compliance and the Office of Financial Innovation so we can ignore the former and stop driving financial innovation based on what a regulator thinks is innovative.” David Dixon, TruQua: “Behind every cloud is another cloud” (Judy Garland). Neil Krefsky, SAP: “You are not here to shrink down to less, but to blossom into more of who you really are” (Oprah). Join us for Is Finance Ready for the Cloud?

The buzz: Change. Managing the roles and functions of Finance can be challenging, from compliance complexities and managing cash, to closing the books and building business plans, while contending with economic, regulatory and competitive forces and internal customers. Software vendors are trying to help Finance run more efficiently and cope with constant change. The experts speak. Rob Kugel, Ventana: “Never ask of money spent, where the spender thinks it went. Nobody was ever meant, to remember or invent, what he did with every cent.” (Robert Frost). Renee Ford, Accenture: “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” (Bill Gates). Birgit Starmanns, SAP: “It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer.” (Shanna LaFleur). Join us for Innovating for the New Finance Organization.

Today’s buzz: Trade. As companies put in place better processes and tools to manage cross-border business transactions, they continue to face increasing multi-national legislative requirements that increase the compliance burden, but also provide an opportunity for a competitive edge. Can technology really help your company reduce complexity and accelerate international trade? The experts speak. Kevin Riddell, Tremco: “You have to be a little strange to get trade compliance.” Rajen Iyer, Krypt: “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” (Theodore Roosevelt) Marcus Puschke, SAP: “Trade isn´t about goods. Trade is about information. Goods sit in the warehouse until information moves them.” (C.J. Cherryh) Join us for more insights on Trends in International Trade Management.