BLOG

Blog, Leadership | 11 Jan 2022 |

  To get an outperforming team we believe you need to have a shared vision that can lead you to collaborate around measurable and achievable goals. Equally as important, the ‘shared’ vision has ‘shared understanding’ with respect to what we (as a team) believe it means in practice.  

By Aidan Parsons | Blog, Leadership, Finance Business Partner | 27 Oct 2021 |

How conscious are you of your communication style for the desired partnering outcomes you seek with the teams and stakeholders you work with?   We are going through 5 communications styles and what their impact is on business partnering.

Strategy, Leadership | 7 Sep 2021 |

Quick fix, don't we love them. And that's fair enough.    When an unforeseen problem is identified, there's a sense of urgency that comes with it. Everything has to be solved like, yesterday...    But what if solving the issue right away was a big waste of time and money? Let’s go back in time and take the example of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC.  

By Lance Rubin | Strategy, Technology, Finance, Change Leadership | 26 Aug 2021 |

By Rob Phipps | Strategy, Culture, Change Leadership | 25 Aug 2021 |

hat’s the ROI? Probably the most common, and important, business question.    Without being able to measure the impact of your culture initiatives it is very difficult to determine if you are spending your efforts in the right areas, if you are heading in the right direction and of course, to secure funding to support your initiatives. It’s also really hard to improve on something if you don’t have a base to start from.  So where to start to measure your culture efforts?

Strategy, Finance, Change Leadership | 17 Aug 2021 |

We continue celebrating our clients' achievements, here is another great story from Paul Lobanov. Paul is one of those finance leaders who has valued the importance of stepping back, looking at the situation and bringing an open mind to possible pathways and ‘better’ solutions. Equally, as we’ve worked with Paul he has the extremely admirable trait of being self-reflective; willing to explore different ways of thinking and potentially being ‘wrong’. Paul has shared some of his story below in growing as a strategic finance leader.

By Rob Phipps | Strategy, Leadership | 10 Aug 2021 |

Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see” – and that goes for every member of your organisation, most obviously the senior leaders and the key protagonists.  An issue often brought up, when a company culture is not at its best, is that “expected behaviours” in line with the company values don’t seem to apply to everybody. This can dramatically impede your culture efforts...

Strategy, Finance, Change Leadership | 10 Aug 2021 |

One of the highlights of our work is helping great people on their journey. We are glad to share with you some of their inspirational stories and achievements.  Kate Urlich is a talented Finance leader who decided to embark on developing her strategic leadership skills as a finance professional. Her tenacity, growth mindset and dedication to her business has positioned her well to make genuine step-change in her career a reality. 

By Lance Rubin | Strategy, Leadership | 29 Jul 2021 |

When a finance team starts to explore  technology,  they often have to look into the way they currently do things and how that might change. This can be very confronting especially when they realise ,  or  when it is  put out in the open  for all to see ,  that the way they were working was flawed or highly error-prone. This is very important to address as this  feeling of being "wrong" can limit the ultimate success and change that the technology is intended to produce.  

Strategy, Leadership | 22 Jul 2021 |

A team’s  capacity  to  welcome change ,  when it is needed ,  is partially based on  their ability  to cope with uncertainty, tak e measured  risks and  “work in the grey” . This can prove to be challenging  if team members can’t relate to  the company’s vision or feel that  they  are contributing to a greater purpose   through  their work .

Strategy, Culture, Change Leadership | 21 Jul 2021 |

it has been acknowledged for years now that company culture does have an impact on its overall performance and that neglecting it can lead to lost opportunities for synergies and cost efficiencies, lost customers, lost employees and increased injuries to name just a few.  So why would the ROI of organisational culture still be in question? Is the belief in ROI really the issue?

Strategy, Finance, Automation | 14 Jul 2021 |

A brand-new sales system is in place. Now your sales representatives have access to this latest tool you expect your revenue to go through the roof but, things barely change... Panic, maybe this wasn't the right technology, what about trying another one or adding a new feature etc.   There you go; your organisation has the Shinny Tech Syndrome...

Strategy, Partner, Clone | 1 Jul 2021 |

Strategy, Leadership | 30 Jun 2021 |

Strategy, Leadership, Culture | 25 Jun 2021 |

Company culture is often mistaken to be only about big words and big ideas. That intangible and mysterious thing floating in the air that everyone should somehow know about, understand and be part of.    While it is true that you can feel a company culture without always being able to pinpoint it immediately, it is actually much more structured and tangible than one might think. One very important aspects of culture is consistency between what is encouraged and how employees, at all levels, can demonstrate culture in action.  

By Brad Eisenhuth | Strategy, Leadership | 16 Jun 2021 |

Strategy, Leadership | 9 Jun 2021 |

Have you ever been to one of those “Strategy Day” where, in the end, everyone just goes back to their BAU and nothing changes? Why would that be?   There are  potentially   a few  reasons .   But  one could be that no one really understood how to make the strateg ic direction  happen . As in  concretely ,  on a daily basis.     Team members were left to their own device not knowing the who, the what ,  the how and mostly the  WHY . As a result, they all went back to what they know and what keeps the wheel turning.     S o  what is and what is not an  implementable  strategy . Read more...  

Strategy, Leadership, Culture | 1 May 2021 |

Don’t get us wrong, we love a good automation. We literally co-design automation and process excellence with several companies right at the minute. But before we did  that,  we  ensured  with them that this is really what they  need and looked at the bigger  picture  to guarantee  their   success in the future.   Does the following scenario sound familiar?  You r  organization  invests in  a big flashy  system or tool  thinking it will so l ve all  their  issues.  They spend  a fortune,  contract an implementation  team   and...  there’s no real return on investment .     So was the system the issue or should you look further. Read more...  

Lance Rubin, Financial Modelling, Blog | 16 Nov 2020 |

Modern financial modelling and related tools are helping to create this value for their users in a faster and more sustainable way. The ability to model and shape decisions is increasingly becoming a "must-have" in the toolkit of accounting and finance professionals, helping them provide meaningful insights and flexible scenario reviews to support complex decisions.

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 15 Sep 2020 |

They have partnered with the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand to provide leaders in public practice the opportunity to take part in a hands-on, highly practical program which can successfully transition your practice into a sustainable and impactful Business Advisory practice.

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 9 Jan 2020 |

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 1 Jan 2020 |

The most amazing of those predictions was the jet pack invention. Jetpacks were developed by Gravity, simply awesome! Well done to the Gravity team.

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 1 Jan 2020 |

By Lance Rubin | Strategy, Leadership | 27 Dec 2019 |

This issue of speed is not only important because of the adage that time is money, but also because slow Excel files exacerbate the human brain’s already poor error-detection abilities. According to usability-engineering expert, Jakob Nielsen: 0.1 second is about the limit for having the user feel that the system is reacting instantaneously 1.0 second is about the limit for the user's flow of thought to stay uninterrupted, even though the user will notice the delay.

By Lance Rubin | Strategy, Leadership | 27 Dec 2019 |

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 31 Oct 2019 |

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 22 Oct 2019 |

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 9 Oct 2019 |

Podcast, Aidan Parsons | 15 May 2018 |

By Lance Rubin | Leadership, Lance Rubin | 25 Apr 2018 |

Despite writing a blog on the differences a year ago (albeit FM vs Analytics), many were not clear on the differences. It's almost analysis paralysis with all the jargon and especially when misused and twisted by software vendors around what it means to do modelling and analytics within the packages they are selling. The purpose of this blog is really to go a little deeper into predictive analytics and financial modelling.

Lance Rubin | 18 Jul 2017 |

There is of course a lot more hype around Big Data and Data Analytics because it has enabled such significant changes to our lives, which is a good thing. Breaking traditional business models (no pun intended) and enabling new ones.