Most finance teams spend two weeks building a board report that gets reviewed in ten minutes. The formatting alone could take days. And if one number changes, the entire approval cycle restarts.
In this episode, I sit down with Fabian Ferrada, Senior Solutions Engineer at Insight Software. Before moving to tech, Fabian spent over a decade in financial and operational leadership for a publicly traded company, carrying P&L responsibility on major projects across South America and the Middle East.
We break down what a great board presentation actually looks like versus what most teams are delivering. Why three out of four manual disclosure processes contain at least one number appearing differently across documents. The real cost of broken reporting, and it is not just overtime. How to present bad news to a board and keep their trust. The difference between board reporting and investor reporting and why most manual processes can barely handle one. And a real case study where a company with 12 subsidiaries across 6 countries cut their disclosure process from weeks to days.
If your team dreads reporting season or your board deserves better than what you are currently delivering, this episode will show you what the fix actually looks like.
This episode is brought to you by Insight Software. Learn more at insightsoftware.com/board-reporting
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Today's episode is brought to you by Insight
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 Software, which has an automated disclosure management
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 solution that will lift the burden of endlessly
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 copying and pasting your financial data from
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 Excel into Word or PowerPoint. This speeds up
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 the narrative reporting process for annual board
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 and investor reports and eliminates fatal errors.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 Go check it out at insidesoftware .com slash
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 board dash reporting. Welcome back to the Diary
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 of a CFO podcast. I'm your host with Sia Kamon,
00:00:29 --> 00:00:30 a sitting CFO with a background in accounting
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 and FP &A. I started this show because I believe
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 that the way companies build and lead their finance
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 function determines whether they scale or fall
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 apart. Each week, I sit down with CFOs, CEOs,
00:00:41 --> 00:00:42 strategic business partners who talk about what
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 actually looks like, building the right teams,
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 getting systems and controls in place, partnering
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 with the business and doing it all without burning
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 out. Today, I'm so delighted to have with me
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 Fabian Ferrada. Fabian is a Senior Solutions
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 Engineer on Insight Software, EPM Pillar, where
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 he helps finance leaders modernize a full journey
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 from financial planning and analysis to board
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 ready disclosure. Before moving to tech, he spent
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 over a decade in financial and operational leadership
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 for a publicly traded infrastructure services
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 company carrying P &L responsibility on major
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 pipeline projects across South America and the
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Middle East. Welcome to the show, Fabian. Thank
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 you, Wasiya. Pleasure to be here. The pleasure
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 is mine because what I like about your career
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 journey is that you went from being in the trenches
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 to now being on the other side of the table helping
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 finance leaders with their board reporting process.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 When it comes to board... presentations, I would
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 like to hear from you. How would you describe
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 what a great board presentation really looks
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 like? Yeah, it's a great question. I always start
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 with context first. I think it's important that
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 the information is always readily available.
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 And then that way you have the information behind
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 it as well, because whether it's a good number
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 or a bad number, that the context is always most
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 important. So having a system that allows you
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 to be able to have that at your fingertips. It's
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 always going to make board reporting or any type
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 of reporting that you're doing internally or
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 externally much, much easier. Nice. So having
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 contacts and having a great system. Speaking
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 of system, here's what usually happen, right?
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 Inside most companies, the typical process of
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 preparing a board meeting takes about two weeks.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 Okay. And that's after month and close. and yet
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 another two weeks. And then you're going to the
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 meeting and some board members may look maybe
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 at a few slides, a few minutes, maybe they can
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 ask a question and then they move on. Like how
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 do you make sure that the two weeks of preparation
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 actually adds value to the process? The two weeks
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 of building and then moving on in 10 minutes
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 is something that a lot of us have dealt with
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 before. So because the document answers, you
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 know, what happened, but not what does this mean
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 for us? So what should we do about it specifically?
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 Those two weeks matter when the report is straightforward,
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 you know, it's for the conversation itself but
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 we want to make sure that you know all of our
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 CFOs or all of our executive leaders who walk
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 out of those rooms that they're the ones that
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 have the information readily available to them
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 and then from there you know you're not finishing
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 and working on formatting that it's just they're
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 readily available quickly. Okay. And so what
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 would you say is the difference between a board
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 that leaves a meeting feeling informed and one
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 that probably leaves feeling confused? Like sometimes
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 the underlying numbers are exactly the same.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:22 Yeah, exactly. And that's a great point, right?
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 Because it's almost never just the numbers. So
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 the board that leaves confused, they're usually
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 the ones that were handed a document and they
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 read it in real time. Boards that leave informed.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 They had someone that guided them through it
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 itself. So there's explanations. It wasn't just
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 the numbers, but again, it's kind of going back
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 to the context itself. Those decisions, it's
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 in front of them. So we want to make sure that
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 the data is the same throughout. It's completely
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 different experience in those regards when you
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 can have that better story in that context. Okay.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 And then when you say context, can you dive a
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 little deeper into that? Because sometimes I
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 think because we sow so much into the number,
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 we assume that the other people also do. And
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 so their elements of the context that we may
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 leave out. So how would you define making sure
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 that we provide enough context for the information
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 we're presenting? Yeah, absolutely. So typically
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 with disclosure management itself, we're always
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 tying some type of narrative with a number output
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 itself. So the context around why revenue went
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 up, why revenue went down. So those specific
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 items that are going to tell that story. And
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 then from there, you can start to ask questions,
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 identify root causes, and then... take actions
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 on those. So if I just tell you, you know, revenue
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 was up, but there's no context as to why it went
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 up, we can't keep doing those best practices.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 Or if something needs to be modified or changed,
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 we want to make sure that we have a good understanding
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 of why it changed. And that's what I'd mentioned
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 before, that system itself, if it's supporting
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 you, and it's giving you all of that information.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 you'll be able to get that context at your fingertips
00:04:51 --> 00:04:55 for, for everything. True, true. And so thinking
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 about, I like you to say revenue went up. Um,
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 I feel like we have to get now used to presenting
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 bad news to the board. And so how would you say
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 someone can effectively present bad news to the
00:05:05 --> 00:05:09 board and live with their confidence still intact
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 and don't feel like it impaired their reputation
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 or maybe damage a relationship with the board?
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think taking ownership
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 is most important, right? If a number is bad,
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 your leaders are going to find out. So your job
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 is to make sure that they don't find out cold.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 The finance leaders who handle this well, they
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 already have the answers and typically they're
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 answering three specific items. So what happened,
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 why it happened, and what we're doing about it.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 So they own the story. The one who struggles
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 are usually the ones who spend the whole reporting
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 cycle building the document and had five minutes
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 left to think about the narrative or that context
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 that we were just discussing. When the story
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 owns you instead of the other way around bad
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 news, it feels and lands like a crisis. Wow.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 I like how you say you don't want them to find
00:05:53 --> 00:05:59 out cold. No surprises. Exactly. So as we thinking
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 about preparing for a board meeting and we know
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 there is bad news. Um, I know typically for myself,
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 I've learned to have like meetings before the
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 meetings. Um, but what are other ways maybe you
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 found that really helped kind of lend that story
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 better with the board? Yeah, that's a great question.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 Building in feedback loops within the process
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 is really important. And a lot of the customers
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 that we end up speaking with and that we've kind
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 of had these discussions with, typically it's
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 a broken process. So making sure that we can
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 help automate that process and then having that
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 feedback loop to provide context at every stage
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 is really, really important. Hmm. So everybody
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 knows what's going on and there is a, yeah, I
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 really like that. I really like that. So what
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 would you say is an ideal feedback loop in the
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 board reporting process? What does it look like?
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 Yeah. So a lot of times we're managing, you know,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:51 multiple revisions, a lot of different contributors.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 There's a lot of individuals that are involved
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 throughout that whole process itself. Um, everyone
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 owns a specific portion of that document and
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 say a larger organization or for a smaller organization,
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 there's going to be one individual that wears
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 more. hats. So making sure that we have again
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 those those feedback loops ahead of time that
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 we can go through that process quickly and then
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 ask the necessary questions that are meaningful
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 that are going to help drive decisions moving
00:07:15 --> 00:07:16 forward. That's the biggest thing is making sure
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 that the process can help facilitate that. Yeah.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 And the version control. I, when you said multiple
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 version, I was like, Ooh, I wonder what version
00:07:23 --> 00:07:27 I'm on. Is it five or seven? Yeah. And we have
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 a lot of technology today that allows us to be
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 able to communicate quickly and effectively.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 But when we don't have a version control or a
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 system in place to make sure that we can manage
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 that with proper documentation, it's very easy
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 to get lost in kind of who's reviewing what.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 And so since you've described what a great presentation
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 looks like and what a great process will look
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 like, what are the things I usually get in the
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 way of financing actually being able to deliver
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 that? Yeah. So a big thing, again, I talk about
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 process and a lot of the time is you want to
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 spend typically about 20 % of that time. You
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 want to make sure that we're spending as to why
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 that report changed. And then 80 % of the time
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 is going to be the other way around. So gathering
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 the data, formatting, reconciling information
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 and chasing updates. So, you know, in a broken
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 manual process, it's typically the other way
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 around, but in a great process, we're able to
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 flip that around. So the goal for that well -structured
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 disclosure process really puts you in a to make
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 sure that you're saving time or compiling, you're
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 being strategic about thinking about all the
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 necessary items to make the system and the process
00:08:30 --> 00:08:31 better, but then also making better business
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 decisions. Okay. And in that 80 and 20 rule,
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 what does it actually look like during the week
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 before the board meeting or during those two
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 weeks, right? Because if I'm spending just 20
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 % of my time putting it together, which is like
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 ideal, what am I doing with the other 80 % of
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 my time? Yeah, absolutely. So ideally we have
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 an opportunity to have meaningful conversations.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 with all of our contributors, right? So there's
00:08:53 --> 00:08:54 a lot of different individuals that are going
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 to be contributing. So now you have an opportunity
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 to understand the intimate nature of your business,
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 the whys. Again, going back to revenue, why did
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 it go up? Why did it go down? Everyone that's
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 part of the process, they're very intelligent.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 They have a lot of insight and we want to make
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 sure that we can spend time with them understanding
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 what's going on and not just putting them to
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 work on a manual process where 80 % of their
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 time is gathering data, compiling, formatting,
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 building presentations, et cetera. Yeah, that
00:09:21 --> 00:09:28 formatting. It hurts. Yeah. You'd be surprised.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 We actually have a lot of our customers that
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 we talk to. That's one of their biggest complaints
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 is when they go to generate a document, you know,
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 font is off, margins are off, columns are off,
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 you know, small things that just have no value
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 added to the process. A lot of that can be eliminated.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 Oh, gosh. I remember when I started in FPNA,
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 because I was a controller and then I went to
00:09:47 --> 00:09:51 FPNA. I would hate the time of reporting because
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 I felt like my time was more spent on formatting
00:09:54 --> 00:09:58 the green arrow or the red or the stable. And
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 then if there was an extra digit and we went
00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 from thousands to millions, that's a lot. And
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 sometimes it's hard to quantify what is the real
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 cost of that, right? Like not just a dollar amount,
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 the frustration behind it. I mean, the person
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 doing it, the quality of what comes out, you're
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 probably frustrated. Like what would you say
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 is a real cost of not having the right process?
00:10:20 --> 00:10:21 There's an interesting metric that we always
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 look at. we're talking to our customers, a lot
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 of our questions up front, we're asking, you
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 know, what does your process look like? Who's
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 doing what? How long does that take? And that
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 boils down to what we define as a cost of inaction.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 So the cost of inaction specifically, it's a
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 pretty simple calculator, but it's a really good
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 metric that you can actually start to apply when
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 you're looking at wasting inside of your process.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 So the fact that we have individuals that have
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 a salary, they're fully burdened, they're being
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 paid regardless from say an overhead perspective.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 And then that individual, have them working in
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 Microsoft Word and or Excel formatting cells,
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 making sure the font's correct, the margins are
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 aligned, those types of tasks just become very,
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 very wasteful. So regardless of what's going
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 on, you're going to have a cost and the cost
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 of doing nothing is very, very high sometimes
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 when you sit down to look at that process versus
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 fully automating it with a solution, let's say.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 Wow. Tell me more about that cost of inaction
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 because it's time, like you said, you're going
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 to pay them anyway. Yeah. how are you really
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 adding value, especially now that, you know,
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 with things moving that the way they are with
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 technology advancing so much, there's so much
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 pressure and then also a need for finance to
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 be that strategic business partner. But formatting
00:11:33 --> 00:11:37 arrows from green to red and changing margins,
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 that's a lot. So when you think about the cost
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 of inaction, what would you say is something
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 you want people to really consider when it comes
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 to that or think about? Yeah, I definitely say,
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 you know, the cost never shows up on an invoice
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 itself. You know, it's the conversations that
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 don't happen in the board meeting themselves.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 So when a finance team spent the week building
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 the document, they walk in exhausted and they've
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 had no time to prepare for say questions. So
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 the CFO who should be saying, you know, here's
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 what this means for our Q3 strategy. Instead,
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 they're hoping nobody asks about the footnote
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 on page 11 that they didn't have time to verify.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 So that's a real cost. Not the overtime, not
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 the stress. It's the insight that never made
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 it to the report itself. into the room. Those
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 types of items themselves, it's really hard to
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 quantify. But again, when we look back at kind
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 of that cost of inaction, it can become very
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 high, especially when you start to take into
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 consideration all the different contributors
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 times, what they do and the amount of time being
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 spent on non -value tasks. Yeah. And I feel like
00:12:36 --> 00:12:40 there is so much of that still in financing today.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 So not just for board reporting. I mean, accounting
00:12:43 --> 00:12:47 and I feel like COVID accelerated us, a lot of
00:12:47 --> 00:12:48 companies going digital, but there's still a
00:12:48 --> 00:12:53 lot of broken processes. and information not
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 flowing the right way. And you get to a point
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 when you think about reporting, because at the
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 very end, does it even make a difference? Can
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 I send the same report to this person versus
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 that person, to this stakeholder versus the next?
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 So there's even, I think, a bit of confusion
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 between the difference between board reporting
00:13:11 --> 00:13:13 and investor reporting, right? Because you're
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 doing so many reports, you're trying to streamline
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 everything. And then you wonder, is a report
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 you give to the board the same as one you would
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 give an investor? And should it be? Yeah. And
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 that's, that's a great distinction. And the kind
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 of high level, simple answer is no. And the distinction
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 does matter. So your board report, it's a, it's
00:13:29 --> 00:13:33 a governance. conversation that you need to have.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 So the board needs to understand what's happening
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 in the business, exercising judgment, and then
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 making decisions. They know the context. Your
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 investor report itself, or say your regulatory
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 filing, it's a comparability conversation. So
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 the audience itself has measured you against
00:13:48 --> 00:13:52 other companies, against prior periods. against
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 the standard itself. So they don't have the internal
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 context, same underlying numbers, say two completely
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 different audiences, two different purposes,
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 and then two different levels of required precision
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 when we're reporting. So the challenge itself
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 is the most manual process can't actively serve
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 both audiences well because the process was barely
00:14:12 --> 00:14:16 handling one itself. Wow. So it goes back to
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 having the right context and system. at the beginning,
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 so that whether it's reporting to the board or
00:14:21 --> 00:14:25 reporting to investor, it's easier, right? And
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 it's because, yes, both needs to be different
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 because, you know, like governance for one. But
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 when you think about what happens when the numbers
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 in one don't quite match the numbers in the other.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 right? So you present something on the board,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 something is weird, and it's not the same. How
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 do you handle those kind of situations? Yeah,
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 so an interesting stat that we can kind of look
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 at is three or four manual disclosure processes
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 contain at least one instance of the same number
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 appearing differently across the documents themselves.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 And again, this is coming from conversations
00:14:58 --> 00:15:02 that I've had with existing customers and prospects
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 as well. So that's one of the most common stories
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 I hear, and it's almost always a manual process
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 story. So in roughly three out of the four manual
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 kind of disclosure processes that we evaluate,
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 you do have that inconsistency. There's multiple
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 documents in some cases. You could say have your
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 annual report, your preliminary press release,
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 and then say an internal board deck. All of those
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 things need to be saying the exact same thing.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 And it's not always a good situation to be in.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 We start to lose credibility when those things
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 start to be misaligned. And nobody that's caught
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 in that type of situation is always. I'm going
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 to be walking away, you know, feeling comfortable
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 at the end of the day. So there's nothing worse
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 than that. Yeah. And I think sometimes too, the
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 person doing the board presentation is not the
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 same person doing the investor presentation.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:51 So if you don't have the single source of truth,
00:15:51 --> 00:15:55 if I can say like, It's hard to be consistent.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:59 Like that's, that is scary. Yeah. And then say
00:15:59 --> 00:16:04 you bring in a multi national organization with
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 different time zones and different individuals
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 that are all reporting up to, uh, you know, the
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 head office and then having to collate and then
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 compare and consolidate that becomes very, very
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 tricky. Let's take a quick break to talk about
00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 a problem most finance teams face when creating
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 narrative reporting for their boards and investors
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 at year end. You make a copy of your previous
00:16:25 --> 00:16:28 report, spend hours searching for the latest
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 data from different systems or people, then copy
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 and paste those numbers in manually. By the time
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 you're done, the data has changed and you have
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 to start again. That's where today's sponsor
00:16:38 --> 00:16:42 comes in. Insat Software gives your finance team
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 a tool that automatically pulls data from your
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 ERP and other sources and updates it as it changes.
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 Your team can then collaborate directly in one
00:16:51 --> 00:16:55 document, working with one source of truth. When
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 you're stressed by a reporting deadline, a simple
00:16:58 --> 00:17:01 click to refresh will have your report ready
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 in no time. To learn more, check out their webinar,
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 Break Free from Manual Disclosure, and visit
00:17:07 --> 00:17:11 insidesoftware .com slash break -free to watch
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 and banish copy paste errors forever. The link
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 will also be in the show notes. And let's get
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 back to the show. Yeah. So at that point, what
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 kind of tool or system can really help bring
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 that together? Right. The fact that I could have
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 somebody else working on the broad presentation,
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 somebody else working on investor relations,
00:17:30 --> 00:17:33 somebody else working on different entities across
00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 the globe. Like what kind of tool can really
00:17:36 --> 00:17:39 help bring all these numbers together and provide
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 that single source of truth. So we're not just,
00:17:41 --> 00:17:45 you know, increasing our margin of errors just
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 by doing it every quarter. Oh, yeah. So within
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 the Insight software that we have a disclosure
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 management solution that actually helps with
00:17:52 --> 00:17:56 that. And when that solution itself is being
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 kind of discussed, we want to make sure that
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 we understand the full use case of the business.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 So just as we had mentioned before, the individuals
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 that have internal reporting versus external
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 reporting, who are the key stakeholders? We want
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 to make sure that we're managing version control.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 You have a proper audit trail. And in many cases,
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 there's individuals that are dealing with internal
00:18:16 --> 00:18:20 and external auditors as well. So having a clear
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 understanding of the version, what changes happened.
00:18:24 --> 00:18:25 And then if the auditors come back and say, hey,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:30 I'd like to see a version of you know, this report
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 with my comments and then all the changes afterwards.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 That can become very time consuming and can become
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 very complicated as well. So making sure that
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 you can have all of that in one solution becomes
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 really, really important. Then you layer in data,
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 making sure that you can support multiple data
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 sources. So again, going back to say a multinational,
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 there might be someone in say Chile that's operating
00:18:51 --> 00:18:54 in a different ERP system. There might be someone
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 in the United States that's operating on another.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 And we want to make sure that you have a means
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 and a mechanism to collect that data and then
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 consolidate it appropriately into these reports.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 That's the big, big factor there. Oh yeah. And
00:19:07 --> 00:19:10 I can see how it can make life so much easier
00:19:10 --> 00:19:13 in those instances, right? Because I feel often
00:19:13 --> 00:19:17 time what we forget about company growth, a lot
00:19:17 --> 00:19:21 of time it's not organic, right? acquired another
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 entity. There was a lot of integration that was
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 not organic. And so maybe we build for being
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 at, let's say, a size of 1 and we end up
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 being 5 within like two years. And then
00:19:33 --> 00:19:38 your solutions didn't catch up. They didn't evolve
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 as fast as you did. And so now you find yourself
00:19:41 --> 00:19:44 in those situations where, oops, the business
00:19:44 --> 00:19:47 expecting me to operate at such a higher level
00:19:47 --> 00:19:51 than my systems allows me. to operate in. So
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 I'm curious to hear from you for the finance
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 leader that is listening right now and they recognize
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 themselves in this conversation. What should
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 be their first step? What will be the first thing
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 that should change? Yeah, you know, I always
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 think about, you know, how do you eat an elephant?
00:20:06 --> 00:20:09 It's one bite at a time, right? Like we hear
00:20:09 --> 00:20:13 that often. I tell my kids that as well. I'd
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 say you want to start with your most painful
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 process. So you can't tackle everything. Just
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 the one that costs your team the most time and
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 stress every cycle. So going back to that cost
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 of inaction, you can actually quantify that with
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 that metric itself. So identify every step in
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 that process where a number is being manually
00:20:31 --> 00:20:35 re -entered somewhere. That's the list that you
00:20:35 --> 00:20:38 want to make sure that you're compiling. And
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 all of those are risks that you're building into
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 the process as well. So that becomes your roadmap.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 You don't have to overhaul everything at once.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 You can access one source, automate one link,
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 and then run it in parallel with your current
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 process for one cycle. So you can see the differences
00:20:53 --> 00:20:57 between that switch. You can start making comparisons
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 and then making improvements as well. So for
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 smaller companies, the whole journey can take
00:21:02 --> 00:21:05 about four weeks. You don't have to stop reporting
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 to fix. the reporting problem itself. Well, that's
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 very encouraging because, you know, there is
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 always that wonder, is it going to be a big IT
00:21:11 --> 00:21:14 project? Like, will I have to freeze my team
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 for so long? So it's very encouraging to hear
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 that. So after the four weeks, like what what
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 actually is different? Well, like when they start
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 the process, what are the first things that they
00:21:25 --> 00:21:29 go? Oh, that is so cool. I'm just curious. Yeah,
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 you know, it's. It's going to be different between
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 every organization, but there are a lot of commonalities,
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 right? So it's not a change to your accounting
00:21:36 --> 00:21:39 system at all. That's the thing most people assume,
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 and that's not the case. So if you think of it,
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 say, like, you know, plugging in appliances,
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 the power source doesn't change. You just get
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 to use a new piece of equipment there, right?
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 A new appliance itself. So your accounting data
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 stays where it is. the disclosure management
00:21:55 --> 00:21:58 solution connects to it. It'll go ahead and pull
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 in the numbers through the data connection automatically.
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 You change nothing on the source side. And one
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 of the things that makes the transition feel
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 less scary is that we are able to load previous
00:22:10 --> 00:22:12 year's report information into, say, a template
00:22:12 --> 00:22:16 on day one. your team's going to look at their
00:22:16 --> 00:22:19 own document in a new system. So it really doesn't
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 feel foreign. It feels like their report, just
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 working in a different way and the way that it
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 should be. Nice. So all you have to do is maybe
00:22:26 --> 00:22:29 change your period and the whole report is like
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 brand new. Absolutely. Yeah. And that's the biggest
00:22:31 --> 00:22:34 kind of wow factor. Yeah. So that would have
00:22:34 --> 00:22:37 resolved my red arrows and green arrows problem
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 I had when I started. It's a PNA for that. Yeah.
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 And you think, I mean, you're describing the
00:22:42 --> 00:22:46 roll forward process. beautifully, right? I want
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 to be able to click a button, set a few fields,
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 and then I get my new data for the new quarter,
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 new period, new year, whatever that might be
00:22:54 --> 00:22:56 and how you're reporting is going to update automatically.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:59 And that can take a matter of minutes instead
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 of days where you have a manual process that's
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 broken, right? Yeah. And your mouse is as tired
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 as you because you're like literally dragging.
00:23:08 --> 00:23:13 Yeah. We need to get a new mouse. Yes. That's
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 when you start understanding why people have
00:23:15 --> 00:23:18 huge mouths. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's funny.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 I'd show you the mouse that I use because I have
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 to make sure that I don't like get cramps in
00:23:23 --> 00:23:25 my arm from being in a weird position all day.
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 Exactly. You know how bad it is, but it's size
00:23:30 --> 00:23:35 of the mouse, right? Yeah, exactly. That's too
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38 awesome. Yes. So I'm curious, like once you get
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 to a point where you don't need a bigger mouse
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 to do your reporting, right? Like because you
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 have a better system and now you have time on
00:23:45 --> 00:23:49 your hand. Like what, at that point. How do we
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 get our teams to be better strategic partners?
00:23:52 --> 00:23:56 Because now you save time. I have more time to
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 review, more time to check. What will be now
00:23:58 --> 00:24:02 the next steps for the team so that now with
00:24:02 --> 00:24:05 that time saved, they're able to add even more
00:24:05 --> 00:24:09 value beyond just submitting a board report.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:12 Yeah, absolutely. So I'll go back to another
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 stat. that as we're kind of going through and
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 preparing for this conversation today, we did
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 a case study with a company called Sheri SE.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 So they had 12 subsidiaries. They were in six
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 different countries, four different currencies.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 And we were able to do a 60 day implementation.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 So it was literally weeks, weeks to days. So
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33 the first thing that they noticed is that when
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 a number changed, they don't have to manually
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 find every place that it appears and then update
00:24:38 --> 00:24:41 it itself. So it just updates automatically.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 So that sounds small, but it changes the entire
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 rhythm of the reporting cycle itself. So for
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 that week, those two weeks that we were talking
00:24:48 --> 00:24:51 about, it becomes much, much easier. So Share
00:24:51 --> 00:24:54 ESC, it was a publicly traded technology company
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 with the 12 subsidiaries that I had mentioned.
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 They had a process where a single number change
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 could restart their entire approval cycle all
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 over again, because they were managing different
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 languages in German, English throughout their
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10 process. So having to translate all of that and
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 then make sure that things link back together
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 was very, very... So after implementation, their
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 consolidated financials are ready in one to two
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 days, including all the schedules. And their
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23 disclosure process went from several weeks to
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 a few days in all reality. So their group of
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 accounting specialists put it this way. They
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 no longer have to worry about numbers getting
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 lost in translation, you know, pun intended.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 Yeah. And that's the difference about, about
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 the week itself. That is amazing. That is amazing.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:42 Um, curious to hear, right? So now they have
00:25:42 --> 00:25:44 more time to review. Definitely your headache.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 When you said how many times that that number
00:25:46 --> 00:25:49 P I went like, ouch indeed. Right. Because you
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 change one revenue number is going to change
00:25:52 --> 00:25:54 your margins. It's going to change everything
00:25:54 --> 00:25:59 else. Versus one little thing in the expense
00:25:59 --> 00:26:03 section, right? And so I know we think about,
00:26:03 --> 00:26:05 again, strategic business partners. How can we
00:26:05 --> 00:26:09 go back and really add value internally and externally
00:26:09 --> 00:26:13 as well? Yeah, so the biggest value, I'll use
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 your example where you have an individual manually
00:26:15 --> 00:26:18 ticking and tying out the document. Value can
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 be measured there immediately and it kind of
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 goes back to that cost of inaction discussion
00:26:21 --> 00:26:24 we had previously. How long does it take that
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 individual to do something that that shouldn't
00:26:26 --> 00:26:30 be happening. That's an instant value back to
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 the business. And then we're able to take existing
00:26:32 --> 00:26:36 resources, give them time back, potentially get
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 home to their families as well. So we can talk
00:26:38 --> 00:26:42 about the cost to the business, but what's the
00:26:42 --> 00:26:45 cost to the individual themselves? We want to
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 make sure that we can retain that talent also.
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 So making sure that we build a process around
00:26:49 --> 00:26:51 them to help them and be cognizant of that is
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 really, really important. And that's a big value
00:26:53 --> 00:26:56 that gets understated many, many times. I agree.
00:26:56 --> 00:27:02 Like that human element is so important because
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 yeah, yes, I didn't like the mouse I was using.
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 I was frustrated most days. Like I was extra
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 grumpy. I know probably snacked a little extra
00:27:10 --> 00:27:13 Cheetos those days when I had to present it.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:17 And I think we often forget how this wears on
00:27:17 --> 00:27:20 us as human beings, right? So I'm curious to
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 hear from your experience when you're on the
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 other side of the table. First, is that what
00:27:24 --> 00:27:28 made you run away from being in the trenches
00:27:28 --> 00:27:32 to advising? And like, what was your best way
00:27:32 --> 00:27:36 to cope? in those moments, like while you were
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39 trying to make the change. Yeah. So for me personally,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:42 you know, I spent time as a financial and administrative
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 manager for a business unit in South America.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 I ended up transitioning into project management
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 and I had that large P &L responsibility. The
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 biggest thing that I disliked about the process,
00:27:53 --> 00:27:56 we had a manual process, was the fact that it
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 was just non -value added tasks that I was doing.
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 And I knew it was coming every single month,
00:28:01 --> 00:28:03 right? It was something that I knew. So on this
00:28:03 --> 00:28:06 day, starting here, I gotta go heads down and
00:28:06 --> 00:28:08 I'm not gonna see family, I'm not gonna see friends,
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10 and we're gonna be in the trenches doing the
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 work for as long as it takes to make sure that
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 we meet our deadline. So for me, that was kind
00:28:14 --> 00:28:18 of the biggest thing. You say it kind of jokingly,
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 but it was true. That was something for me that
00:28:20 --> 00:28:22 I had a young relationship, I should say, just
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 had recently gotten married and I wanted to make
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 sure that I could stay married as well. So that
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 was a big transition for me. And then moving
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 into the other side of consulting, project management,
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 reporting as well. All of those things kind of
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 drive you down at the end of the day to... be
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 able to do internal reporting or external reporting.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 So all of the activities, all of the business
00:28:44 --> 00:28:47 processes, operational processes, everything
00:28:47 --> 00:28:49 ties together, weaves together to make sure that
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 we're reporting and doing things accurately.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 So a miss on my end will have a large impact
00:28:54 --> 00:28:57 on the business. Let's say If I don't get my
00:28:57 --> 00:28:59 forecasting correct, if I don't have a system
00:28:59 --> 00:29:02 around me to be able to understand the context
00:29:02 --> 00:29:06 and then tell my board exactly, hey, we had a
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 $60 overage because equipment got caught
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 in customs and we're getting demurrage charges
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 and I didn't know about it, now I have a $60
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 explanation that I have to give. But at
00:29:16 --> 00:29:19 the same time, I was able to tell them, now we've
00:29:19 --> 00:29:22 identified, we've contacted customs, we're moving
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 to make sure that we don't keep hemorrhaging
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 money. And those types of things happen, right?
00:29:28 --> 00:29:31 I mean, it's life. And thank you so much for
00:29:31 --> 00:29:34 sharing your perspective on that because yes,
00:29:34 --> 00:29:37 if you don't allow your employee to have effective
00:29:37 --> 00:29:40 systems, like it does wear on you. I'm sure that
00:29:40 --> 00:29:43 you're probably very happy that you're helping
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 other teams actually get out of reporting hell
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 with this culture management now. Yeah. And when
00:29:49 --> 00:29:52 we have those conversations and I tell my story
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 as we're going through that, that process itself,
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 it really helps kind of ground the conversation
00:29:57 --> 00:30:00 to say, I was in your shoes. Like I really understand
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 it and I want to help. I'm not here just to try
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 to sell you something. I truly want to make your
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 life better. Yeah, because I know how it feels
00:30:07 --> 00:30:10 that time of the month where you know you're
00:30:10 --> 00:30:13 going to be miserable. I knew. That's why I like
00:30:13 --> 00:30:16 when you said you know you're going to be miserable
00:30:16 --> 00:30:19 at those times. So now I'm curious, what are
00:30:19 --> 00:30:21 some of the things that you like to do outside
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 of work now that you are? on the other side of
00:30:23 --> 00:30:26 the table. Yeah, absolutely. So the big thing
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28 that I spend a lot of my time doing is trying
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 to be outside with my family. We have a small
00:30:30 --> 00:30:34 little off -road camper. We do get outside a
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 lot, mountain biking, rock climbing. I'm an avid
00:30:36 --> 00:30:39 rock climber as well. I do Brazilian jiu -jitsu.
00:30:39 --> 00:30:42 I just got my black belts about a year ago. So
00:30:42 --> 00:30:45 I do that three to four times a week. Yeah. And
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47 there's a lot of lessons that I'm able to learn
00:30:47 --> 00:30:49 from that that I bring into the business world
00:30:49 --> 00:30:53 as well. And then I also roast specialty coffee
00:30:53 --> 00:30:55 as well. I had a beautiful trip to Australia
00:30:55 --> 00:30:59 where I had a friend that was a master barista
00:30:59 --> 00:31:01 and coffee consultant. I didn't even know that
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 was a thing. So that brought me down the world
00:31:03 --> 00:31:06 of specialty coffee. And now I roast my own coffee
00:31:06 --> 00:31:09 as well. So just a few activities like to stay
00:31:09 --> 00:31:12 busy. Oh wow, that is so cool. I'm curious to
00:31:12 --> 00:31:15 hear what is one lesson from jiu -jitsu that
00:31:15 --> 00:31:17 you bring into the business world. Yeah, I'd
00:31:17 --> 00:31:22 say the most difficult thing for starting jiu
00:31:22 --> 00:31:24 -jitsu is getting on the mats day one. It's deciding
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 to make the change, right? You're going to go
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29 through a process and to become a black belt,
00:31:29 --> 00:31:32 it can take a long time. But understanding that
00:31:32 --> 00:31:34 you're taking one step and you're learning something
00:31:34 --> 00:31:37 new, taking on say that new process and then
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39 making sure that you're committing to that process.
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 Ultimately what ends up happening is you start
00:31:42 --> 00:31:44 seeing the systems in place are there to support
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 you to make life easier and then you can get
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 through very, very challenging situations. So
00:31:48 --> 00:31:52 it's not often anymore that I get an opportunity
00:31:52 --> 00:31:54 to kind of tie both of those things together,
00:31:54 --> 00:31:57 but it is very, very true. you know, sometimes
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59 you're the hammer and sometimes you're the nail
00:31:59 --> 00:32:01 is a big saying that you'll hear jiu -jitsu.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:05 Oh, wow. Wow. Thank you. Thank you so much, Fabian,
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 for being on the show. It was such a joy having
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 you. Awesome. Thank you so much, Wes. I really
00:32:09 --> 00:32:12 appreciate it. Thank you. And that's all for
00:32:12 --> 00:32:14 today's episode of the Diary of a CFO podcast.
00:32:14 --> 00:32:18 I hope it was as insightful and enjoyable as
00:32:18 --> 00:32:20 it was for me. If so, please leave a review and
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 subscribe on whatever platform you're listening
00:32:22 --> 00:32:25 on. It really helps this conversation reach other
00:32:25 --> 00:32:27 finance leaders who need them. As always, if
00:32:27 --> 00:32:30 you have any questions or want to go deeper on
00:32:30 --> 00:32:33 anything, reach out at ask at thediaryofacfo
00:32:33 --> 00:32:38 .com or visit thediaryofacfo .com. Thanks for
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 tuning in and I'll see you in the next one.