Bellwether Magazine - The New CFO | Today's Role Requires More Than Bean Counting

BELLWETHER

Volume 5 | Issue 4 | Fourth Quarter 2014

The New

CFO Today’s Role Requires More Than Bean Counting

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

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Rule No. 2 : Never forget Rule No. 1.”

Warren Buffett

Letter from the Editor

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Leadership

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Corporate Finance

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Cover Story

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Industry News

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Human Resources

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Technology

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MODERN CFO

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bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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Sales tax & the CFO. Automation = risk management.

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LETTERFROMTHEEDITOR

BELLWETHER

A Blytheco Magazine Volume 5 Fourth Quarter, 2014 www.blytheco.com www.bellwethermagazine.com STAFF EDITOR Apryl Hanson CREATIVE DIRECTOR Greg Went CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Devin Ambron Avalara Jen Colosi Joni Girardi Alan Hart Cheryl McKenna Scott Pape Shawn Paul Denise Renee Phinn Kelley Starr Kelvin Takhar Greg Went Bill Wiersma Paul Ziliak ADVERTISING SALES Ginger Kittinger SUBSCRIPTIONS www.bellwethermagazine.com Or contact Ginger Kittinger (800) 425-9843, Extension 2501 ginger@blytheco.com Bellwether Magazine is published by Blytheco with principal offices at: 23161 Mill Creek Road Suite 200 Laguna Hills, CA 92653 If you wish to be removed from the mailing list or to add names to the mailing list, send your request, including name, business name, and mailing address to the above address or to ginger@blytheco.com This is a copyrighted publication and all articles herein are covered by this copyright. Any use of the content for commercial reasons or other form or reproduction of material herein is strictly prohibited without prior, written approval of Bellwether Magazine.

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

LEADERSHIP

The New CFO’s Three New Challenges — and the Analytics Required

by Joni Girardi

B

eing a CFO used to mean dealing mostly with finance. Then the financial crisis of 2008 came along and the role grew into being a Chief of All Trades.

This has big implications for analytics.

“Anything we’re doing in the company, I’m always involved,” said CFO Gale Sommers, a mortgage banker quoted in a 2013 Forbes article.

With eyes on everything, the new CFO has developed an appetite for data of all kinds. And that raises three new challenges in particular, rarely faced in the ‘good ole days’ before the downturn.

Challenge One: The New CFO is Now ITs Partner The CFO’s new role presents an undeniable fact: IT has become a partner. No department head or other C-level data user has the same dependence on the IT operation and the enterprise-wide leadership.

The CFO is a natural.

The CFO’s need for data is profound. Data has become critical to the CFO’s function, even more so than any other department head’s function. Everyone else can count widgets, at least theoretically. But not the new-breed CFO, for whom there is no other way to navigate.

The new partnership shows potential benefits when the CFO realizes with brilliant clarity what IT is up against: IT is too busy, mostly, from doing work forced on it by rigid, old analytics tools.

Those old tools once worked fine. But smart people all over the organization have found a new appetite for data.

They use it every day to power the analytics to navigate through today’s tricky decisions. Questions change constantly, and each change is another demand on IT. Everyone — the CFO and decision makers in linesof-business, marketing, human resources, and other departments — wait while opportunities slip by. Knowing that competitors with self-service reports and data discovery are charging ahead makes the wait feel even worse.

They all know that organizations with capable new systems create and modify their own reports, and run data discovery, when they need to. The data in ERP and CRM systems is instantly available for any questions.

Challenge Two: Filling the New Leadership Role Finding and deploying such a new, powerful system takes leadership — and there’s no one better suited than the CFO. It complements the CFO’s other priorities. The CFO’s holistic oversight already stems waste that can leak through operational cracks. Also,

the CFO’s staff is well equipped to show the way. Its statistical and economic-analysis expertise is already ahead of other departments — and can mediate between IT and sales, marketing, inventory, HR, and other departments for more effective use of data in decision making.

Such leadership from the CFO would be welcome, according to a recent survey by the Consero Group of Fortune 1000 CFOs. An overwhelming majority, 81 percent, felt that their group was seen as a “strategic business partner.”

Challenge Three: Deploy an Analytics System That Satisfies Business Departments and IT The choice of system isn’t simple. The whole organization has to buy in — both business and IT. It has to relieve IT from the busy work of creating and modifying reports and configuring access to data. For business users, the new system has to eliminate the wait for IT. It also has to be easy to learn and easy to use.

That’s just the beginning. The new system finally releases the so-called “big data” for business users to create value with it. Data that awaits IT’s keys to unlock it has no value to anyone. Newly available data starts to infuse decision making across the organization.

In every department, users find that easily modified reports as soon as any change is needed leads to new insights and clarity. Opportunities are seized more quickly, the competitive edge sharpens, and the business hums a confident new tune.

Solution: The Enterprise-Level Analytics System Build for Mid-sized Organizations For the mid-sized organization, there’s only one system with the power and flexibility to perform for the CFO. DataSelf Analytics is an enterprise-level analytics platform that liberates everyone in both business and IT. It’s designed to enable ordinary business users to use data, and to let IT do the valuable work it’s meant to do.

By simplifying and amplifying best-of-breed technology, DataSelf Analytics leads to better decisions for CEOs, managers, salespeople — in fact, just about anyone from beginner to expert – with no help from IT. The new CFO breathes easier with DataSelf Analytics. Visit http:// www.blytheco.com/dataself/ to learn how

About the Author Joni Girardi is the founder and CEO of DataSelf Corporation, an innovative leader in business intelligence and analytics solutions for SMBs. Connect with Joni on LinkedIn at www.LinkedIn.com/in/JoniGirardi.

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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LEADERSHIP

Why Today’s CFO is a Thriving Professional H

by Jen Colosi and Bill Wiersma

ere’s a typical frantic phone call received at Colosi Associates:

“I need a new CFO. Our current CFO just doesn’t understand our business. I don’t think he’s been out to the operating locations more than once or twice. I need a business partner who’s not afraid to anticipate and to challenge the status quo. This person should help ensure the cross-functional leadership team works well together, even if functions sometimes have conflicting interests. We were just blindsided by an unfortunate inventory issue---an issue the CFO should have seen coming. In looking back, I don’t know why I’ve kept him around so long.”

Colosi Associates is a San Francisco-based consultancy specializing in recruiting Chief Financial Officers. And the above is the type of phone call they receive on a weekly basis. CEOs are expecting more of their CFOs ---whether they be high-growth clients or from more mature companies.

The speed of change and competitive business landscape are challenging Chief Executive Officers like never before.

Thus, they want their CFOs to help with more of the dayto-day ---transcending their traditional green-eye-shade job function. In some instances, CEOs are looking to their financial heads to oversee non-financial functions. Simply put, CFOs are expected to be more strategic and impactful on the company than ever before. What goes unsaid is the CEO wants their CFO to be a better professional.

As has been shared in previous Bellwether articles, professionals think differently---they hold unique mind-sets if you will. Two mind-sets are especially important in the case of of today’s CFO: #1-the professional has a bias for results and #2-the professional realizes (and acts like) they are a part of something bigger than themselves.

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Consider what David Axon of Accenture shared in a recent article, Career Tips for CEOs: “It is crucial as the CFO moves from a controlling role to a balanced role and can give decision advice. By the time [an event] hits the P&L it is largely too late to do anything about it. The CFO needs to understand what happens upstream and to make decisions at the front end about the supply chain and optimizing cash. It’s not just about explaining the accounting but what’s happening in the marketplace and in the business, R&D, plants and equipment to improve productivity, quality of service and the products they deliver.”

“The CFOs that can do that well have a lens into all elements of what drives performance in the business. CFOs who become CEOs rarely have a career solely in finance. They rotate through a general manager’s role and put [what they learn] into practice; they are held accountable for outcomes of performance rather than just accounting for those outcomes.” In other words, today’s successful CFO doesn’t just produce a history lesson, they produce real results.

Those results are first-and-foremost a by-product of their mind-set. Notice how the successful CFOs don’t have a silo mentality. They don’t define themselves (their identity) by their expertise in finance. Rather, they are a professional who happens to be really good at finance. In other words, their identity as a professional trumps their identity as a financial wizard.

It’s the professional in them that embraces a higher order of thinking, always remembering that the results that matter most are the company’s, not those of their department. As a finance person, they’re part of ‘something bigger.” And because the finance function is in the catbird seat (i.e. transactions from sales, marketing, operations, human resources and operations all flow to the accounting hub) they’re often in a unique position to make important observations about the drivers of performance within the business.

Steven Paladino, CFO of Henry Schein, is spot-on in his observation: “…the thing that people don’t always like is acting as a change agent. The finance person can ask: ‘Why are we doing it this way?’ The finance department has a unique viewpoint from which to ask these hard questions.

Some examples: What businesses should we be in? Are there businesses we shouldn’t be in? It is never a popular discussion at any company to have to say, ‘We’re in a business that maybe we shouldn’t be in, even if it’s profitable.’”

For the professional in the CFO’s role, we’re suggesting an expanded role---a more cross-functional one. That’s what most CEOs of mature companies (i.e. revenues from $20 million to hundreds of millions) are currently clamoring for.

The same is also largely true for start-ups.

Naturally this puts a premium on powerful relationships with colleagues, high levels of collaboration across departments, and leveraging technology where possible. For the CFO that never envisioned themselves as an organizational change agent, it also might feel insurmountable. We understand that feeling. In a subsequent Bellwether article, we plan on providing a few higher order ‘how-tos’ that should prove helpful.

While each organization is unique, the evolving role for the professional in the CFO’s role is unmistakable. Expectations have never been higher. What separates the successful professionals in the CFO’s role from the also-rans is identifying the drivers of performance and leveraging them. Inevitably it stretches the CFO beyond their financially-based comfort zone. But that is better than your CEO placing a frantic call to Colosi Associates.

About the Authors Jennifer Colosi is the founder of Colosi Associates, an executive search firm specializing in assignments for executive officers and senior leadership, with a focus on the finance and human resources functions. Connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin. com/company/3083179.

Bill Wiersma is the Principal of Wiersma and Associates, LLC, a consultancy that helps leaders create cultures based on professional ideals. He is also the author of two critically acclaimed books. Follow his weekly blog posts at www.WiersmaandAssociates.com/blog.

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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Need Approvals?

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

Purchase Requests | AP Invoices Expense Reports | Timesheets Requisition Procurement

AP Invoice Materials Automation Management

Project Time

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LEADERSHIP

WHEN TO OUTSOURCE AND WHEN TO IN-HOUSE

by Paul Ziliak

A

t a recurring Certified Public Accountant (CPA) networking event I host, a lively discussion ensued when an attendee raised this question: “What types of services should a company outsource and which ones are best kept in-house?”

Among the wide range of opinions the accounting professionals tossed about, most of them nodded in agreement in response to the following line of thinking: When outsourcing provides better quality service, faster, and at a lower cost than managing that process in house, this should be a no-brainer.

WHEN OUTSOURCING JUST MAKES SENSE Our company, xkzero, offers an easy outsourcing decision for mid-sized businesses that rely on less than truckload (LTL) shipping. The solution and service is called xkzero Transportation Management, powered by Echo Global Logistics and integrates with Sage 100 ERP and Sage 500 ERP.

YOUR SHIPPING DILEMMA For all of you who ship product by LTL common carrier, tell me if this process sounds familiar: 1. A customer requests a quote for one of your products.

2. Since margins are tight and freight costs can be significant, you want to understand the full freight cost at the time of the order. Likely, your customer cares about the freight cost too, especially if they are paying.

And if you are a salesperson paid commission based on gross profit, you care too.

3. Besides the cost of freight, you will need to know the transit time for delivery in order to properly set customer expectations.

4. If you use a third party logistics (3PL) freight logistics broker, you’ll do one of two things: call your broker rep or log onto a web portal. a. With either process, you will provide the 3PL with

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Bellwether Magazine | Third Quarter 2014

all of the variables necessary to obtain an accurate freight quote, including: i. Shipping point of origin ii. Shipping point of destination iii. Freight class iv. National Motor Freight codes (NMFC), if applicable v. Total weight vi. Accessorial charges (such as inside delivery, storage, and hazardous materials handling) vii. If any of this data is missing or inaccurate, expect an inaccurate quote. b. You will then be provided with one or more carrier options c. Next, record (somewhere) the quoted information so customer service/sales/shipping departments will be aware of your freight options. This is necessary since unfortunately there is no integration into your Sales Order– ERP system.

5. If you do not use a freight broker than you must do all of the above PLUS take these additional steps: a. Make calls to multi-carriers with whom you may or may not have relationships. Repeat ALL of the steps above with each call.

b. Since you are not using a freight broker, your success in getting market favorable rates depends on the volume of shipping you provide that carrier, combined with the assigned team member’s negotiating abilities and stamina for haggling with each carrier. c. Similar to the 3PL steps above, now you must also record each one of these quotes in your company’s databases so that employees in customer service, sales, and shipping departments will be aware of the freight options and your intentions.

engaging with Echo Global Logistics (Nasdaq: ECHO), a technology leader and one of the world’s foremost transportation brokers to determine if booking through them can lead to freight savings. The result is a contract offer guaranteeing rates for one to three years.

Are you tired yet?

xkzero Transportation Management adds all of the data elements necessary (even Freight Classes, NMFC codes and Accessorial charges) to quote, book and track shipments directly, accurately, and at the lowest cost, from within your Sage ERP. All this is done without having to constantly get on the phone or log onto a web site to conduct research.

To say that these grueling and inefficient processes described above are time consuming would be an understatement.

But sadly, it is a reality for many companies.

Following these steps often results in a delay of hours or even days before you are able to provide a complete quote to your customer. And the multitude of steps required leaves plenty of room for numerous mistakes, communication breakdown, wasted man hours and revenue loss.

Even worse, in situations when days–or even weeks–pass before the items are shipped, then the entire quoting and booking process must be repeated all over again.

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE Unfortunately, the process does not stop once the freight has left the dock. Now for each order you book, you must track the details and redirect any failed or late shipments. Your Accounts Payable department is then tasked with matching up each and every invoice received from all of those different carriers, and auditing the records to ensure that the final charge matches the expected price.

THERE IS A BETTER WAY Fortunately, there is a much better solution. xkzero Transportation Management is a software and service that transforms the entire LTL shipping process.

Then, as an Echo Enterprise customer, you will then have the option to streamline all of your processes—and save major time—through the complete integration for LTL shipping that xkzero has built within your Sage ERP.

You will be pleasantly surprised at the time savings. Also, as a result of the total shipping visibility you will have right within your familiar Sage system, both your internal and customer communications will measurably improve.

BUT WAIT. THERE’S MORE! As an Enterprise customer with Echo, you will also have an expert logistics team dedicated to your account ensuring that your inventory is properly classified, your guaranteed shipping rates are always kept current and that miss-shipments and late deliveries are tracked down and resolved. xkzero Transportation Management is designed to give your Accounts Payable department a break too. Weekly, you will receive an electronic file of all shipping invoices booked through Echo, audited to explain any differences between quoted amounts and what you ultimately were charged. When you are ready, simply push the button to bring those invoices automatically into your AP system.

Oh, one other thing: Echo automates your Bills of Lading too! So, Mr. or Ms. Accountant, how is that for an outsourced service?

About the Author Paul Ziliak is the co-founder of xkzero, developers of mobile and web commerce solutions for small and mi-sized B2B manufacturers and distributors, specializing in Sage ERP. Learn more at:

http://www.blytheco.com/xkzero/logistics.asp

With xkzero Transportation Management, users start by

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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CORPORATEFINANCE Are You Sick and Tired of EDI

Chargebacks?

By Shawn Paul and Cheryl McKenna

D

on’t you just hate it when you get a chargeback? Especially if it’s due to invalid or missing information on your outbound EDI documents such as ASNs, invoices or labels. We know that you don’t want and neither can you afford any more of those awful chargebacks. So here are a few tricks to cut down on chargebacks for good!

The Devil is in the Details To avoid chargebacks, everything has to be absolutely perfect in your inbound documents. A lot of times, issues that are not resolved during the sales order creation wind up getting dragged into your ASNs, invoices, purchase order acknowledgments, and even your labels. If you have experienced the logistical nightmare that is chargebacks, then you know how many tedious details you need to stay on top of for every single order.

Now Your Software Can Watch the Details FOR You Throughout the years, we’ve seen tricky retailer requirements result in what we’ll call “human detail malfunctions” (usually these are caused by a lack of caffeine added to constantly shifting retailer expectations). To counteract these “malfunctions,” you should look for effective EDI software that reports all exceptions to you. With order validation built into your software, you’ll experience fewer chargebacks, no matter how much sleep your employees got the night before.

EDI software should actively and automatically find potential issues in your data, then compile all issues into a report for you.

These reports should have details for each exception – whether it is contained in a sales order, an ASN, an invoice creation, or any other EDI document—and it should tell you where the exception is located so that you can quickly and easily remedy the issue. In addition, exceptions should be reported in an actionable, user-friendly manner so that anyone on your team can read them and correct the issues no matter their expertise in EDI.

The EDI software you choose should also come with strong and reliable customer service, so that when your employees encounter exceptions they don’t know how to resolve, they can get the help they need and keep productivity on track.

Are You Seeing a Lot of Exceptions?

Your employees must continuously validate inbound and outbound documents to make sure that there are no issues with the documents. This can result in a large amount of exceptions, but here’s how to fix that problem.

Much of the information from inbound purchase orders might not be necessary to create the orders but it must be returned on outbound documents. If you or your employees are deleting an item and replacing it with a new item, you’ll need to make sure that UDF (User Defined Field) info is entered on the new item. When this is not done correctly, there can be a lot of missing information to deal with on your ASNs and invoices.

In Conclusion With software that identifies chargeback issues for you, your company can greatly reduce your chargeback risk and you can also start to address those troublesome penalties. Software such as MAPADOC watches the details in your system for you. Not only does the program identify any problems in your data, it also gives you advice on how you can fix those problems quickly, easily, and with perfect retailer compliance.

About the Author Shawn Paul and Cheryl McKenna are consultants with MAPADOC, which is an effortless EDI solution integrated with Sage ERP systems.

Learn more at http://www.blytheco.com/mapadoc/ 14

Bellwether Magazine | Third Quarter 2014

MAPADOC EDI IS A COMPLETE AND TRULY INTEGRATED SOLUTION Check out our latest video and learn how MAPADOC can make your job a lot easier. http://bit.ly/MAPADOCedi When trading partners institute new rules, you will be ready.

MAPADOC provides a user-friendly way to map to and from Sage ERP fields, preset variables and user-defined fields (UDFs).

With MAPADOC, you will be able to: • Receive inbound documents • Process orders • Send out the necessary outbound documents

MAPADOC EDI is a powerful and flexible EDI solution that enables you to: • Integrate seamlessly with Sage 100 ERP, Sage 500 ERP and Sage ERP X3 • Access integrated documents which include: 850 Purchase Order, 810 Invoice, 856 Advance Ship Notice, and many, many more • Create UCC-128 labels • Use Visual Process Flows to receive inbound documents, process orders and send out the necessary outbound documents • Dramatically cut data-entry time and costs by eliminating duplicate entry • Improve communication with vendors and customers • Save time and money

MAPADOC EDI is a fully integrated, easy-to-use electronic data interchange (EDI) solution that integrates seamlessly with Sage 100 ERP, Sage 500 ERP and Sage ERP X3.

For more information: sales@mapadoc.com | www.mapadoc.com

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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CORPORATEFINANCE

by Denise Renee Phinn

T

hankfully, most companies don’t have to hire a new CFO every day, or even every year.

But carefully consider the current state and future trajectory of your company… do you have an impending need or foresee a potential necessity for a new financial head? We’ve assembled a panel of recruiting professionals to give you guidance on how to hire your next CFO. Ross Moy is an Executive Recruiter, Team Lead with Remix, located in Woodbridge, NJ, serving the New York City metropolitan region.

Ross has over 15 years experience as a recruiter, with seven of them as a corporate recruiter. Currently he focuses on filling upper finance and accounting roles such as Senior Accountants, Vice Presidents of Finance, Controllers and CFOs. Roscoe Bess has been with Parker and Lynch in Ontario, CA for 14 years. He manages recruiters and business development for this branch of the exclusive accounting/finance and legal technology executive recruiting firm.

Last but not least, Michelle Day is Blytheco’s in-house recruiter. She brings 17+ years of experience that spans working in temp and professional placement agencies, staffing for accounting, technical, engineering and IT positions. She has also managed recruiting and staffing companies.

Why Hiring A CFO Is Different From Every Other Position In Your Company and How Best To Prepare For The Process With his firm making placements day in and day out in the financial arena, this gives Roscoe Bess a birds-eye view into current hiring trends. “There is typically a higher volume of other management positions available throughout the year (such as senior accountants or controllers),” he shares. “But C-level placement requests don’t come across my desk as often. However, when they do, the sophistication of the search is raised and it can take longer to fill than the other roles.”

Ross Moy elaborates: “The CFO role is a strategic position in the company, so it can depend on what each individual company is really looking for. If they are looking for someone to just keep the books, that’s one thing. But if they’re looking for somebody to drive the growth of the company, that’s where you’ll have to decide what your hiring strategy should be. Depending on the company’s goal, that will determine the mindset you will approach your search all together.”

“For example: if the company is financially struggling and they need someone to generate capital, you’ll need to focus on finding someone who has done those things. If the company is looking to emerge in different markets, the ideal CFO is going to have that particular experience in their background. If the company just wants to sustain, they may not need a strategic CFO.” Michelle Day

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

contributes: “It is important to have a clear vision of what you’re looking for in the position and the role needs to be clearly defined.

This is true of any position but especially in a C-level role.”

When looking to fill a CFO position, typically other C-level management personnel are involved in the hiring process and can make it a more challenging and longer process. Michelle recommends: “Everyone involved in the hiring process really needs to be on the same page as far as what they are looking for and when.

It is imperative that the company and all the hiring team members are crystal clear on exactly who all will be on the hiring committee, what each hiring team member’s role is, and set a time table for when they want to have the new hire in place.”

A Recruiter’s Perspective On Which Soft Skills The Modern CFO Should Posses “Years ago,” says Michelle Day, “being the CFO used to be an “ivory tower” type of position and they were only involved with accounting.

But now they need to be able to wear a variety of hats. I’ve noticed that these days, the CFO is often working side by side with a COO or CEO to help outline and define the goals of the company.”

Roscoe Bess adds: “In our marketplace, our CFOs are heavily involved in other areas of the company such as risk management, human resources and IT. A lot of times, they are spearheading a conversion as well as doing all their other financial tasks.” In Ross Moy’s experience, he has seen CFO roles expecting experience with raising capital, mergers and acquisition and strategic planning, in addition to regular requirements such as the ability to manage cashflow and not over spend.

Michelle emphasizes that today, it’s not just about the job related certifications and skill set a CFO can bring to the table, but it is also about the soft skills. “Can this individual motivate people?” she posits. “Can they drive business success? Can they lead by example? Are they visionary? How well do they fit in with the culture of the organization personality-wise? Do they thrive in a team oriented or metrics driven environment?”

Since Roscoe Bess’s firm specializes in staffing for financial positions, including CFOs, he offers these top 5 characteristics and soft skills that the companies who contract him tend to request in their next CFO: “Number one is communication.

This person has to have the

ability to communicate on a higher level. Today’s CFO must be able to articulate their ideas to the different range of not only internal management but also to shareholders and external contacts as well.

If they’re dealing with banks, they have to be able to translate and communicate that information to those parties. They have to be able to lead teams and build consensus within the company, plus motivate the staff to really push forward and accomplish goals.

“Next, today’s CFO must have the ability to translate that financial information to the owners, the CEO, and the shareholders of that business. They have to be able to speak to people at their respective levels. I’m sure you’ve talked with some financial types before and it’s like talking to an IT professional… sometimes it’s a foreign language!

But they have to be able to break it down to us everyday people and explain, ‘ok, what exactly does that mean?’ What does that growth number mean, not only to this department but the company as a whole?

“Third, they’ve got to be able to think strategically. They have to embrace opportunities at every turn, especially as we’re coming out of the recession. There are a lot of opportunities for growth for companies so the CFO must be in the forefront to take advantage of them and do it where it makes business sense for the company.

“Fourth, they have to be transparent. The credibility of the CFO is ‘everything.’ They are the foundation of the company from a financial standpoint. They have to have high integrity and high ethics. That’s an absolute must because they are a reflection of the company.

“And finally, the CFO must be informed and be able to stay informed. They have to stay up on developments in their industry, their competitors industry, the broader landscape from a regulatory/ compliance standpoint. For example, Sarbanes-Oxley, FASB and SEC reporting is always changing and is more dynamic these days and they have to ask themselves are they keeping up for the company’s sake.”

How To Tell If Your Candidate – Who Looks Great ‘On Paper’ – Is A Good Culture Fit Recruiters, hiring managers and hiring committees must often play “Millionaire Match-Maker” when it comes to determining the best all around candidate for the open CFO chair. Literally. Because the results can be worth millions of dollars lost, saved or earned, depending on the match made.

Roscoe Bess makes it a point to get to know the person beyond the resume by using in-depth conversational interviewing techniques. He likes utilizing scenarios to learn what reactions candidates would have to specific situations. “Depending on the answers,” Roscoe shares, “and the more I interview and learn to read their body language, I begin to get a picture of their personality and how they might fit into the company I’m filling the position for.”

Michelle Day has a standard set of questions she likes to ask that delves deeper into a candidate’s background and personality, such as: • What do like about your current role?

• What would you change about the role?

• What would you change about the current organization you work for?

• What is your ideal job?

• What is your ideal work culture or environment?

“The responses I get to these types of questions,” says Michelle, “offer great insight into the candidate’s personality and I start to get a picture of how well they might be able to work within the environment of a particular organization.”

“I also pay attention to the types of questions candidates ask. Are they only asking questions about salary and benefits? Or are the questions surrounding the company’s culture or environment? That clues me into what is important to them.”

Beyond interview methodology, references also play a big role in the screening process. “References are critical,” contributes Roscoe.

“But when recruiting for an upper level position, it is sometimes hard to get from supervisors because they may be quietly interviewing. But usually references will either contradict or solidify the info given in the initial interviews.” Michelle agrees and likes to also use personality assessments, which give great insight into a person’s core personality.

How To Contract The Right Help For Your Search Not every company has the benefit of leveraging the skill-set of an inhouse recruiter. Michelle shares: “In-house recruiters have an innate knowledge of the company. An in-house recruiter has a greater level of familiarity to understand the culture, history and trajectory of the company. Nothing can replace having your recruiter work with the people within your organization who your new hire will be interacting with day in and day out.”

Roscoe Bess agrees. “Sure, an outside recruiter doesn’t know the company as intimately and an in-house person; they know what’s going on day to day, the 24/7 operations and moral of that company.

But on the other hand,” he offers, “an outside executive search firm has much agility, flexibility and mobility to gear recruiting efforts.”

“Some of the advantages of working with an executive search firm to fill your CFO position includes the fact that we are exposed to more and have a broader knowledge of what is going on in the market place over an in-house recruiter. Also, we get to develop relationships with a greater number of candidates and sometimes have access to privileged or more intimate information than may not be known or ascertained by an in-house recruiter who is just getting a resume from someone applying for a position.”

When working with an executive search firm, Michelle offers these words of wisdom: “Make sure you work with a firm that specializes in C-Level searches and or finance and account roles, not a broad search firm. The advantage is that they will have more resources and access to a wider variety of the right potential candidates for you, which could shorten your search time. It is also important to have thorough conversations with the search firm about why the position is open, your company’s background – where you’ve been and where you’re going, and what you are looking for in terms of skill set and personality.”

As an ‘outside recruiter,’ Ross Moy adds: “I like to spend time developing relationships with hiring managers & HR over time. I schedule as many meetings and lunches as possible. I am most successful when they realize this is more of a partnership. And when they invite me in to show me more of the inner workings of their company, that’s when I know we’re on track for a good long term relationship, not just a situation where I’m sending resumes.”

Whether you have a pressing or distant need for a new CFO, following our panel’s words of wisdom will help your company secure the right fit for the direction your company is headed in.

• What are your reasons for leaving past employers?

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

17

CORPORATEFINANCE

Breaking Down Service Software ROI: Approaches for Today’s CFO When Evaluating Software Investments.

by Kelley Starr

C

hief financial officers are faced with dozens of capital investment opportunities and it is their job to decide which will deliver the greatest ROI and therefore worth the expense. With the recent “Great Recession” still fresh in their minds, CFOs now demand faster ROI than in the past. In many cases, they are looking for a payback in less than one year: a much shorter timeline than it used to be. In addition, CFOs are more likely to look at technology-based productivity investments as a way to expand capacity without bringing on more staff.

Recently, CFOs have started seeing larger returns from their service departments.

With increasing customer and competitive demands, service is an area companies can no longer afford to ignore.

It’s up to the CFO to decide whether they’ll invest in the service software necessary to meet growing customer expectations and get the most out of each technician’s time in the field, or if they’ll ignore the demand for service and risk falling behind.

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In order to see the full potential or savings benefit of a software investment, CFOs need to look beyond the initial investment and calculate the benefits in terms of dollars as well as the intangible benefits of improved customer and employee satisfaction. So I’d like to offer a new way to look at software investments, based on the hard and soft savings of deploying a strong mobile field service solution.

Hard Savings – Breaking Down Dollars to See ROI Potential Let’s say you choose to invest in a provider with a software as a service (SaaS) subscription pricing model. If the user subscribes at $90 per month and bills at $75 per hour, the system can pay for itself if the technician can bill an extra hour and 15 minutes per month. In a typical work month (173 hours), that’s just a little more than 1% of their time.

While these are the numbers you’d need to break even or see a small return on your investment, service management software gives you the tools to save much more than just an hour and 15 minutes per technician per month; here’s one example:

Hard Savings Example: Reducing the Cash to Collection Cycle CFOs know how long it takes to provide service and gather enough information to process, invoice and collect their funds.

In field service, a manual system to collect service data like inspections, service work or time on-site may take up to a week. Often data is entered multiple times, which is error prone. Bills are then sent out and collections could take another 45 days or 60 days total.

An automated system can shorten that timeframe to as little as just one day. For example: armed with mobile technology, a service technician has all the information to service a client, track their time on-site, pull inventory from remote trucks, collect electronic signatures at the time of service and even process the payment before leaving.

Even a small $1M per year service company could recoup over $150,000 of accounts receivable if they can reduce their receivables from 60 days to one with a mobile field service solution.

Beyond Time-Savings: Soft Benefits of Enterprise Field Service Software While soft savings aren’t as appealing to a CFO looking for tangible returns, one might argue that they’re just as important if not more so. Here are three soft savings that strengthen companies who fortify service with technology: Customer Satisfaction: As your technicians get acclimated with the system, your customers will start seeing more reliable, faster service and you’ll start seeing higher satisfaction rates.

Company Branding and Reputation: As you see improved customer satisfaction, your company brand will gain a reputation for its strong service.

Employee Happiness: Your technicians use technology in their personal lives and they’ll enjoy the opportunity to improve their craft with the right technology in their professional lives. While it might be an adjustment at first, your technicians will ultimately thank you when they see their success rates rise and amount of busy work go down.

More management information, more quickly – a mobile field service application in the hands of technicians will yield more business information (such as key performance metrics like average time for work completion, parts consumption, etc.) – and quickly enough for management to react to changing business conditions.

Justify Your Investment: Find the Perfect Fit, Not just the Cheapest Option Competitive pressures are building for service organizations. While your paper-based strategy and manual data entry may have worked in the past, there’s no way you’ll be able to keep up and take advantage of your team’s full potential going forward if you keep using paper.

Ask yourself the following questions to determine where you can realize the biggest improvements in your service organization: Can a service technician make one more call per day if their schedule is optimized? If so, what is the incremental revenue to the business as a whole?

Can return visits on a repair be reduced by three or more per month?

By eliminating manual, paper-based processes, can you increase technician utilization?

Can schedulers establish repeating preventive maintenance contracts to decrease technician downtime?

Can access to the right inventory reduce the number of trips to the back office?

Can onsite billing reduce the cycle from 30 days to one?

Will faster technician response times and higher firsttime-fix rates improve customer satisfaction?

Can customer and technician alerts reduce confusion and complaints?

In order to find the best option for you, document your current system, determine which areas will deliver the biggest ROI, and invest in a mobile service management app that will deliver in those areas.

Learn more at: http://www.blytheco.com/field-service-software/

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

19

Lessons o Complian Performin

by Avalara

T

ax compliance practices are increasingly under the microscope and sales and use tax obligations are not as simple as they used to be. Many businesses today still calculate and resolve tax compliance manually, despite this process being inefficient, timeconsuming, cumbersome and prone to error.

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

on Tax nce from Top ng Companies Failing to comply can put your business at high risk for audit, which can be an expensive lesson.

Just how expensive? The average cost of an audit ranges from $34,000 to $60,000 according to Aberdeen Group. Wakefield Research puts that cost closer to $100,000. Whatever the cost, the bottom line is: You can’t afford to be complacent about compliance.

If your accountant came to you tomorrow and asked for reports on the sales and use tax you collected in the last 6 months, could you easily respond with the correct information? What about exemption certificates? Now picture an auditor who is questioning the figures on your sales tax returns for the prior three years. Could you quickly show him a process that allows for clear traceability?

For businesses with complex tax obligations, nexus in multiple jurisdictions, selling across multiple product lines, and companies growing and expanding into new locations, managing rate tables can become a logistical headache. There are thousands of rate, rule and boundary changes every year. In July 2014 alone, there were 2,500 rate changes.

For some companies, keeping rates and product taxability up-to-date within your ERP system can be a full time job. Collecting and maintaining exemption certificates for non-taxable sales can become cost-prohibitive and labor intensive. Add to that a return process that can take up to two weeks of staff time per month for most companies and you can see why manually managing your tax burden can quickly become inefficient.

If you are relying solely on disparate tax compliance processes, you may be unintentionally inviting

CORPORATEFINANCE

an auditor to your business’ door step. The best option is to be prepared long before the auditor comes knocking.

Top performing companies have realized a few key steps that can help alleviate the expense and challenges of a manual system: 1. Take a look at your current process and develop a consistent, defined workflow.

2. Find ways to increase sales tax calculation accuracy, while reducing paper waste, copies and hard copy retention.

3. Look into implementing an automated system that integrates with your financial application.

Smart companies are realizing this step can help shift the focus and time spent on their current sales tax process to revenue generating activities.

If automating your sales and use tax compliance process could benefit your company, consider talking with Blytheco about Avalara’s tax automation solutions for Sage and Netsuite. Automation can help alleviate the burden on your staff, reduce audit risk and increase customer satisfaction (employees too!).

Avalara AvaTax is the only endorsed tax solution for Sage making implementation easy. Running more than just your ERP system (like an online store, point of sale, etc…) Avalara also integrates with hundreds of popular e-commerce and POS systems to help make sales tax less taxing.

About the Author

Learn more about Avalara by visiting www.blytheco.com/avatax

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

21

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

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bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

23

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MODERN CFO MASTER COMMUNICATOR

VISIONARY

BEAN COUNTER WITH A HEART

T

alk to a group of today’s CFOs Controllers and Directors of Finance (and we did!) and a common theme starts to emerge…

MULTI-TASKER

FLEXIBLE TEAM PLAYER

WELL CONNECTED

Four different CFOs and finance heads spoke with us about their own experiences and what they have been observing among their peers in the last ten or so years.

Richard Ruffi has been the CFO of Kemco Systems since 2001. Based in Clearwater, FL, they manufacture industrial water heating and treating systems and serve a number of industries, including food processing, textile, hotel and government.

Tracy Kane is the Deputy Director, Finance and Administration/CFO for Mississippi Industries for the Blind, based in Jackson, MS. This cause-based, unfunded state agency’s sole mission is to help provide jobs for the blind.

Tracy has over 15 years of experience holding positions such as VP of Finance, Controller, Accounting Manger and CFO in the poultry and plastics industries.

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Bellwether Magazine | Third Quarter 2014

by Denise Renee Phinn

They’re not just your stereotypical “bean counter” any more.

Regardless of the type of company – be it public, private, governmental or cause-based organization – the modern financial leader is called upon in more ways than one to be a true contributor to the organic success of the organizations they are the fiscal guardians over. At the turn of the 21st century, the wheels were already in motion towards this trend but the economic downturn in 2008 seems to have cemented the new trajectory out of necessity.

Allied Materials’ CFO Ron Cole also spoke with us. His company, which was founded in the 1950s, manufactures custom frame products, puzzles, US Flags and handles government manufacturing contracts. Although he’s only been with Allied Materials since January of 2014, he has been in senior accounting roles for the last 8 years and spent 12 years in public accounting.

And last but certainly not least, Blytheco’s own Director of Finance, Anne Alario. Anne has been with Blytheco since 2007 and came directly from holding a CFO position in two other companies. She launched her career as a public accountant, then moved quickly into private industry and had a very unique career path ever since.

COVERSTORY Throughout each conversation, each contributor identified no less than seven characteristics in common which they feel defines the new CEO and shared why.

#1 - Today’s CFO is a Visionary The traditional CFO involves lots of reporting on the company’s financial situation. But by the time the numbers hit the spreadsheet and analysis takes place, the events which produced the resulting calculations have already occurred and there is nothing that can be done to change it. That is particularly frustrating when the numbers show declines in the business.

However, today’s CFO is being called upon to not just report on the happenings but to look ahead and actively participate in forecasting the future of the business. Anne Alario nicely sums it up this way: “In the last 10 years, the financial person has had a great seat into what’s happening in the business and trying to control expenses. But that person also needs to be able to have the vision to see what’s coming and what is possible and help the rest of the executives to navigate how to get there. The new financial head has to be part of the team that sees the vision and contribute the solution, not just be buried in business reports. They need to be participating in the conversation about what’s possible for the company’s future. It’s not just about reporting what happened; that’s past. But they should be participating in what’s happening now and help influence what could happen in the future.”

#2 - Todays CFO are Master Multi-Taskers No longer tucked away in the corner office, today’s CFO – or at least our four financial heads – are hustling and bustling in various parts of their businesses. Ron Cole shares: “Probably post 2003, when the economy really took a dive, I think CFOs became more involved on the operational side to ensure that from a financial stability side of the company that the company could sustain another downturn. I think CFOs getting more involved actually helped some companies sustain the following economic downturn in 2009.”

“Today, we are much more involved in business operations and business decisions. From what I’ve been reading regarding my peers and from my own experience, CFOs are almost in a COO type role now, where they bring their business background into operational roles to help make better decisions.”

What that looks like can vary from company to company.

Ron says that about 20% of his day is spent on his financial duties but the rest of the time he’s working on operational issues and “putting out a lot of fires.”

Richard Ruffi’s experience is similar. His daily responsibilities include his regular finance and accounting duties plus oversight of 78 employees, human resources, safety and risk management. Over all, he believes that the role of the CFO today is much more demanding than say 15, 20 years ago. At the end of the day, he shares, “My days go by fast and I’m not board!”

#3 – Today’s CFO is a Flexible Partner and Team Player Within and Outside of the Business An inherent part of being a multi-tasker keeps today’s CFO interacting on a greater level with more team members at a variety of authority levels. Additionally, they are called upon to keep great relationships with outside entities and their representatives that can have an impact on the business.

Like Ron Cole, who spends a good majority of his day on operational issues, Richard Ruffi says: “I’m not just looking at numbers and spreadsheets all day; I do have a lot of interaction with my fellow employees and outside groups such as insurance reps and HR folks.”

Understanding the value of being surrounded by great people, he continues: “I have a good internal team. I’m a firm believer in who I partner with; I surround myself with good people that I can trust because no one person can know it all. And we’ll come to consensus and say this is the best ‘whatever’ for the company’s needs at this time.”

Probably the most flexible team player on our panel is Tracy Kane. She says that she is a lot more hands on than any other CFO she’s seen in the past.

“Because of the economy being so bad, we have less employees so we’ve have to streamline more. My responsibilities are all over the place. Of course I have my normal accounting functions but I also get involved in sales to make sure the sales decisions we make are smart and to ensure we are spending our money in a way that’s going to help sales. I am also the project manager over some contractors doing repairs on our building. I also oversee all the IT operations; the IT director reports to me. Having all these various roles is in part due to the economy but also because we’re so small and we do a lot of different things.”

#4 - Today’s CFO is a Master Communicator In order to effectively reach across departments plus interact with outside agencies that influence their company, the skill that today’s CFO must master is communication. It is imperative that CFOs intrinsically understand all aspects of their business, in addition to their own financial world.

Tracy Kane contributes: “It doesn’t do a lot of good to have all this financial knowledge and experience if you can’t For Anne Alario, her days are filled with the traditional tasks effectively translate it to the people that you’re working one would expect, such as financial reporting, oversight, with - who are making the daily decisions - in terminology financial operations & review. But also spends a good deal that they understand.” She continues: “You basically of time on strategic, visionary analysis of what’s happening have to get the ‘buy in” especially from folks who are not within Blytheco as well as in our industry and providing financial people. You have to say things in terms that makes foresight of what may be coming. sense to them and know how to talk their language.

Continued on page 26

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Continued on page2526

Continued from page 25

“Some CFOs and accountants see everything as black or white.

There’s no in between for them. No cost-benefit analysis in their decision making. But everything isn’t always cut and dry; you always have to look at the outlook for the company while maintaining the internal controls to protect the assets.”

Anne Alario agrees. “Having a robust ERP system that’s going to give me all the data that I need in the way I want it is integral to my role. With it, I can slice and dice the information and get all the analysis that I need so that I can begin imagining what can happen in our business.”

“No matter what type of business I have worked in, it has always been the case for me that if I don’t know how to effectively communicate, to speak the other person’s language to get their buy in, then the other guy is just looking at me saying, ‘You’re nothing but a bean counter, what do you know?

I’m not really listening to you if I don’t have to. Just sign my check and move on.’ But when I’ve been able to communicate in terms they can understand, that’s when I’ve been successful.

That is how the company gets better. This is how I’ve been able to save money, make my other team members look better and earn bonuses. You always have to show them “what’s in it for me.”

Most modern CFOs, like Richard Ruffi, will use their ERP system in tandem with Excel. Kemco completes its payroll in house through job costing in their Sage 100 ADV system. What he cannot do through the software, he does himself in Excel spreadsheets such as cost comparisons. Essentially, “I’ll take data from the ERP system into the spreadsheet and manipulate it into a format that somebody wants or needs.”

#5 - Todays CFO is Still a “Bean Counter” at the Core, but Also Has a Heart Don’t toss out the old stereotypes just yet! Even though the modern CFO has their hands in multiple segments of their businesses, their most important role as financial steward remains essential.

“To sit in this chair, you have to have that traditional “bean counter” discipline of recognizing the fiduciary responsibly of the organization that falls on your lap,” says Anne Alario.

“CFOs today need to appreciate financial responsibility, discipline and holding people accountable.”

Richard Ruffi agrees. “Foremost in the CFOs mind is still cost control. But in my case, I still have to think about the human capital. I have to come up with a happy medium that works for our company.”

Tracy Kane picks up the refrain. “Anything that touches money is part of the CFO’s role and everything touches money; either making it or spending it. Ultimately, the CFO’s job is to protect the assets of the company. And I believe that the employees are the greatest assets a company has, so you have to look out for them. Especially in my environment here at Mississippi Institute for the Blind, I am very passionate about that.” #6 - Software Technology is Critical To Today’s CFO CFOs are known for their legendary spreadsheets. And while Microsoft’s Excel is the gold standard tool, you will be hard pressed to find a CFO today who doesn’t also rely heavily on their ERP system. Each of our Finance heads use Sage ERP 100 in their business.

Ron Cole leads the refrain by saying: “Our ERP system is critical. I need to have recent data in order to know the direction we’re going in. Without that data, I’m flying blind.

I rely heavily on our system to keep me up to speed on how we’re doing on a daily basis.”

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#7 - Today’s CFO Remains Well Connected to Solve Challenges Some of the challenges today’s CFO faces are nothing new: compliance issues with the SEC, FASB and other Government regulations – particularly for government funded agencies or contractors. Even though newer regulatory mandates have come into play – such as HIPPA or Sarbanes-Oxley and Obama Care – the fact is, there will always be challenges along this vein that CFOs will have to face.

Since no CFO is an island, they often have resources outside of their company to plug into which help them navigate murky waters. For instance, several of our CFOs and Finance Directors stay connected to their alumni associations, network within organizations dedicated to CPAs and also are plugged into organizations such as SHRM and the Institute of Management Accounting.

But not all challenges companies face are regulatory in nature.

“The challenges a company faces can be different for every organization, depending on if they are in a growth mode or survival mode,” shares Anne Alario. The skill set and resources a CFO needs to handle raising a round of funding to put into research and development will differ from the skills and resources needed to figure out how to make next month’s payroll. “You can be the CFO of a million dollar company or a $10 Billion dollar company and anything in between,” Anne continues. “So the role is going to be very different but we all carry the same title.”

The ultimate challenge the modern CFO faces today is, as Ron Cole contributes, “continuing to be profitable in this business climate. There are a lot of government regulations that are not ‘pro business.’ For instance, just the health care act costs us $100,000.00 a year,” he says. And no doubt there are similar stories across the board.

But regardless of the challenge, remaining connected to the right resources, being a visionary and masterful communicator, plus all the other attributes helps today’s CFO access the right information at the right time to make the best decisions for their company is headed next.

Making the Case for E-Procurement

by Scott Pape

As one of the main areas of corporate spending, procurement naturally is an area where increased oversight and planning can improve the bottom line. While existing manual processes may be well thought out, compliance with purchasing policies and redundancies often sabotage these efforts. E-procurement systems offer configurable purchasing tools to manage the process from requisition through vendor payment and beyond.

Building the case for an e-procurement solution can be challenging but with this summary of the proven advantages it will be easier to get internal buy-in.

Reduced Operating Costs It is estimated that by going paperless, an office can save about $80 per employee on just the paper. Additional significant cost savings can come from fewer printer supplies, postage, file storage, and document management. A system such as eRequester, with its web-based forms, has all the data needed to generate a purchase order, such as vendors, items, account numbers, quantities, cost, and taxes. Orders only need to be entered into the system once, and are routed all the way from purchasing through fulfillment, thereby eliminating the costly delays and double entry of traditional, paper-based requisition processes.

E-procurement systems can also leverage your existing IT infrastructure such as internet access and servers, as well as integrate with your ERP system for an even greater reduction in the total cost of ownership. This is an area where eRequester stood out in a recent Gartner e-procurement report. Adding in Vendor Punchout access further enhances the flexibility and control of e-procurement by offering permissions-based access to curated catalogs to help take advantage of pre-negotiated terms and standardized materials purchasing options.

Increased Access With the increase of the mobile office and flex time, having dynamic access to office systems and data has become a

Productivity Improvements An e-procurement system fills the gap between office productivity suites and the ERP or accounting system, creating a common database to track requests, approvals, transactions and associated documents. This common repository adds to the value of the system when factoring in how much employee productivity can improve when the staff is unburdened by duplicate data entry. necessity for many businesses. E-procurement solutions are especially able to enhance business processes when individual team members are in disparate locations. eRequester enables mobile access to your data through smart phones, tablets, and externally-enabled or hosted websites to ensure secure continuity of operations even while on the go.

Better Security One of the strongest reasons for adding an e-procurement system is the improved security and control over data and processes. A system such as eRequester can integrate with Windows profiles, Active Directory and/or single sign-on systems for streamlined account management. eRequester web purchasing and expense management software lets management establish, evaluate, maintain and report on internal purchasing controls, which can be critical for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements.

In today’s fast-paced, increasingly globalized world, there’s no time to stop and fill out a paper requisition form and send it around for approval. Businesses need instant access to files at all times of the day, not just from 9-5. Going paperless with eRequester allows your users to securely access data on their schedule to keep the business moving forward, while simultaneously controlling spending, and reducing your company’s carbon footprint.

About the Author Scott Pape is Vice President of Sales at Paperless Business Systems, a web software development and IT consulting firm specializing in business applications and ERP systems integration.

Learn more at http://www.blytheco.com/erequester/

bell•weth•er -noun: one who takes initiative or leadership

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Counting Dollars: The Role of the CFO in Supply Chain Management

by Devin Ambron

Despite the changes CFOs have had to make in recent years, one thing remains the same: the dollar still matters. A timeless piece to the CFO puzzle, the dollar is what guides the decisions, direction and heartbeat of each and every CFO around the world. It’s the brick by which the company is built and the mortar by which all else is sustained. Without it, the entire foundation would crumble, leaving behind pieces of a once promising business.

As the role of the CFO continues to change and financial leaders are shouldered with more responsibility, it’s more pertinent than ever for CFOs to take an active interest in all areas of the business. While each department influences the bottom line and contributes to the overall profit of the company, no area has greater influence than the supply chain. This is where, when done correctly, CFOs can cash in on opportunities and preserve every last penny earned.

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Bellwether Magazine | Third Quarter 2014

Driving Financial Results through the Supply Chain Traditionally, CFOs have played a limited role in supply chain management. However, as the global economic environment becomes more unstable and dynamic, CFOs are taking a more hands on approach in their financial management and venturing into new areas. In early 2003, CFO Research Services conducted a survey of around 250 CFOs and financial executives in the United States

INDUSTRYNEWS to gain an understanding of how the role of the CFO is changing in particular to the supply chain. When asked how involved they were in making supply chain decisions, 20 percent said they played an “important role” while 8 percent said they had no involvement at all. When asked how much involvement they expected to have in 2 years, however, 32 percent stated they planned on having an “important role” and only 3 percent planned on having no involvement at all.

Today, those numbers are dramatically higher.

According to a 2013 global survey of CFOs and supply chain leaders by professional services organization EY, 70 percent of CFOs and 63 percent of supply chain leaders say that their relationship has taken on a more collaborative nature over the past three years. Due to the economic instability that resulted from the last recession, cost reduction became the number one priority for businesses. Because the supply chain houses a fair share of a company’s costs, it was one of the first places many CFOs turned to for savings.

While your company’s financial performance will ultimately be determined by a number of factors, a strong partnership between the CFO and the supply chain will definitely make a difference. Through this unique partnership, CFOs can support supply chain leaders by ensuring greater alignment with the company’s strategy, better risk management, better investment decisions, and improved supply chain insights through the use of analytics. By looking past the dollar signs and seeing the supply chain as a strategic asset, CFOs can begin to drive the business forward at lightning speed.

Depositing into Your Technology Bank Knowing how to move your company forward while securing your bottom line is an important part of your company’s CFO. In order to help your company succeed in today’s highly competitive marketplace, you must be willing to try new things and stretch your imagination to include the new boundaries of technology.

Cloud solutions and mobile devices have provided many CFOs with the tools they need to make the necessary changes in the supply chain and realize cost savings. By trading in old warehouse management software for newer, more innovative solutions, you can

achieve both your operational and financial goals in one fell swoop.

If you don’t believe us, take a look at the cold, hard numbers: • Cloud warehouse management solutions can reduce management costs by 75 to 85 percent and maintenance costs by 50 percent.

• Cloud and mobile warehouse management applications (apps) can reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) for these apps by 23 percent.

• 24 percent of midmarket businesses with Cloud and mobile warehouse management solutions were able to significantly reduce cycle times within two years.

• Businesses who have invested in Cloud solutions have reported an average revenue increase of 22 percent.

• The average cost reduction is 23 percent due to savings on infrastructure and equipment.

• Manufacturers are saving $774,000 a year just by using Cloud solutions.

To put it simply, you cannot afford to not invest in new technology to improve your supply chain efforts. Not only will new technology allow you to capture cost savings of which you were unaware, but it will also help you keep track of the financial information you need to create crucial reports and make effective decisions.

Scanco’s Sage 100 mobile warehouse management applications are designed specifically to help businesses just like yours achieve true supply chain success. With an easy-to-use interface and numerous warehouse management and inventory control features, Scanco’s apps provide CFOs with everything they need in their supply chain partnership.

If you’d like more information on Scanco’s products and services, visit: www.blytheco.com/scanco/scanco-sage100.asp You will find a variety of technologies designed to help you milk every last dollar from your supply chain.

About the Author Devin Ambron is the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Scanco, which meets the needs of thousands of distribution and manufacturing operations with an extensive line of warehouse management solutions. Connect with Scanco on Twitter at @ScancoLLC

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35

HUMANRESOURCES

Leading Company Change How Employee Engagement Surveys Can and Do Make A Big Difference

by Greg Went

Like so many of the companies they serve, Blytheco has experienced the strain of growth, expansion and transformation.

When dynamic COO Lori Seal was brought on

by Stephen Blythe, CEO of Blytheco in 2012, it was the beginning of significant changes to come. Lori states, “We recognized that the industry was going through a major transformation and we committed to take our client experiences to new heights and to deliver new solutions. These drivers would involve changes to our products, our processes and, ultimately, to our culture.”

Lori first wanted to gain a measurement of the internal baseline and monitor results moving forward. She enlisted Donna Baeza, Blytheco’s Director of Human Resources & HRMS, to champion the launch of an employee survey tool into the organization. She wanted a survey tool that protected employee anonymity while summarizing results across demographic data, with a proven methodology, benchmarks to other company statistics, and assessment of leadership competencies. Donna added requirements of her own, such as, it needed to be “easy to launch,” and contain built-in robust reporting and analytics tools.

Painful Survey Attempts At first, Donna was skeptical that any survey tool could meet these requirements. She had worked with various surveys in the past for Blytheco and found them to be challenging to use. In fact, in 2010 she employed the use of a popular internet survey tool to measure employee satisfaction. “I remember being excited to be able to gain insight into how Blytheco employees were feeling about the company.” Donna stated. Once the survey was completed, however, Donna quickly realized that the information that she was getting from the survey

tool was just superficial data. “The results were extremely shallow without any means to carve deeper into what it represented,” stated Donna. “I had to specifically request more detailed results from the survey company” she added.

The raw data was sent to her in a labyrinth of 3 spreadsheets which consisted of ‘x’s in various rows and columns for each question asked to each employee.

Not fit to consume, the raw information needed to be painstakingly arranged and formatted in another spreadsheet by hand.

Employee anonymity was important to Donna and these files contained sensitive information from employees, including survey answers and comments which meant the use of a company administrative team member was out of the question. Donna would have to slice, dice and format the information by herself.

Reflecting back, Donna estimates that she spent no less than 30 full, uninterrupted days (literally hundreds of hours) cutting, pasting and formatting her way to a consumable report for the executives of the company with the intent to share with the employees.

According to Donna, “The initial baseline data I was able to extract just wasn’t enough.” She went on to say, “Understandably, the executives wanted even more granular information and the process of trying to gain deeper insight just kept going on and on.” Eight months into the project the plug was pulled. “With that kind of timeframe, providing the results would have been irrelevant and could have had a negative backlash.” While the report made it to the executive team, it never made it to the employees.

Focal EE offered Donna and Lori powerful tools right out-of-the-box that allowed them to be up and running quickly. It came as a complete package including prewritten employee email invitation templates which assisted in expediting the process. Packed with carefully selected questions developed by psychologists, the cloud-based solution was a breeze to setup and administer. The insightful questions were designed to measure engagement as well as alignment with company strategies such as values, goals, and strategic objectives. Donna mentioned, “Knowing that the questions were successfully used thousands of times before for over 20 years with other companies was a huge plus for us.” Lori was also delighted that they were able to measure their results with other companies that have used the questions in their surveys. “This was a huge bonus for us.” Lori stated. “Not only were we able to establish our own baseline for the first year in which we started the survey, but we were immediately equipped to compare our initial results with other organizations.”

Engaging the Disengaged

After employees completed the survey, Donna and Lori were given access to an easyto-use dashboard via their own secure CustomInsight website portal which gave them a top-line summary of the results. From there, they could quickly drill-down with hyperlinks as deeply into the data as they cared to go. While reviewing the extensive information, they could tag certain elements of the report as ‘followup’ items that would need further review and attention. Lori stated, “We could drill down to department level, position level, manager level and even by location while still keeping results confidential.”

She continued, “The possibilities to slice and dice the data were almost endless.”

With this prior experience in mind, the team landed on a survey management tool called Focal Employee Engagement (Focal EE) by CustomInsight that embodied everything that they were looking for. In fact, it offered a lot more. Donna says, “We were beginning to think that our only option would be to go with one of the standard survey tools again, like Survey Monkey and Zoomerang, or, to go deeper, we would need to hire a survey consulting firm at an exorbitant cost.” She went on to say, “Both of those options were really out of the question for us; there had to be a better way and we found it with CustomInsight’s Focal EE.”

This functionality literally cut the process time in half as they were able to get moving on action items that were created while poring through the information. Donna shared, “We never felt confused about the results we were viewing because Focal EE provides an overview section to explain what the information represents and how to interpret it.” She continued, “As soon as I began to view the reports, I realized that we were light-years ahead of where we were when compared to our 2010 survey.” Survey results allowed Blytheco’s Executive team to quickly identify challenge areas and work to formulate a strategy to impact those items in a timely manner.

Continued on Page 38

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(Leading Company Change | Continued from Page 37)

Driving Organizational Change During their second survey using Focal EE, they were able to determine whether or not the changes they had implemented made a difference in employee engagement. Lori shared, “Our second year results reflected positive improvements in the areas we had addressed from our first survey.” She continued, “We are seeing organizational silos coming down and we have better insight into what’s working. We understand our opportunities to improve organizational alignment and adherence to our vision and values.”

When asked if they would continue to use CustomInsight Focal EE, Lori shared, “We are committed to continuing this process. Our management team benefits from the insights and our employees appreciate being valued and heard.” Donna agrees, adding, “The ability to coach managers based on feedback from their teams is a huge benefit. It also assists us in identifying our blind spots and problem areas in our departments and locations. I feel like there is a better understanding of the organization by everyone.”

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

How Will Employee Feedback Change Your Organization?

Measuring engagement and strategic alignment can help your company focus on forward-moving strategy versus the status quo. In fact, former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch once said, “There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.”

To learn more about the benefits of employee engagement and strategic alignment, visit

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39

HUMANRESOURCES

by Alan Hart

I

recently ran across a blog entry on DergelCFO.com called “The Accidental CFO” authored by Samuel Dergel, Director – Executive Search at Stanton Chase International.

In this article, the author discusses the seldom but possible scenario when an accounting or finance executive is promoted to the CFO position “accidentally”, or unexpectedly for various reasons. The author then continues and gives several tips to the newly promoted CFO, as well as a little advice on how to grow into the role and develop relationships with senior executives and connections outside the business.

In my career in accounting and finance I was once “accidentally” promoted to the CFO role in a hi-tech company when the newly hired CFO decided after less than 6 months that the company was “too small” for him and that he missed being in a larger corporate environment.

I remember the quick transition period and having to come up with answers and solutions where there was no one to ask. I also remember that for the first time, I realized that I was in a perfect position to make good, positive changes in the company and get the executive team to work more closely together on common goals.

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

One area that presents a great opportunity for a new CFO, “accidental” or not, is the area of planning, budgeting, and business intelligence. In recent years, companies of all sizes have been able to make use of outstanding planning, forecasting, reporting and business performance management (BPM) / business intelligence (BI) tools. You no longer have to be the CFO of a Fortune 500 enterprise to be able to harness all the power that your corporate ERP system and all other peripheral information systems can provide.

A forward looking CFO will always look for ways to not only improve relationships with senior executives and key employees,

but also with key persons outside of the business (such as bankers, investors, key customers, key vendors, etc.). They are also in a great position to improve the way the company translates its’ goals and visions into actual performance and the ability to monitor this performance and make the necessary adjustments in order to better align the actual performance with the anticipated results.

Today’s CFO, more than ever before, can have the tools designed to do just that. Using a list of “must have” general features I recommend (see insert: “10 Must-Have Features of a Budgeting & Business Intelligence Solution”), they can implement a planning and BPM/BI solution that will become the best trusted and used financial tool the organization can rely on.

The CFO will work with the organization’s operational departments to have these tools implemented and put to use.

They will also closely work with finance to ensure that all data is correctly captured in the system and is routinely analyzed.

Whether you are a veteran CFO, a newly appointed one or “accidentally” promoted to this role, you have a tremendous opportunity to add value to your organization. Value that can be measured and that will be appreciated by everyone involved.

As an added bonus, and amidst the sometimes-elevated stress that is part of this job, you will find great satisfaction in realizing that harnessing the power of current information technology is a major contributor to your organization’s success.

10 Must-Have Features of a Budgeting & Business Intelligence Solution I work with companies of various sizes and in diverse industries who have all implemented computerized accounting or ERP software. One thing they all share in common is the need to maintain periodic budgeting and able to monitor their actual results from operations so they can compare it with the predefined budget, make adjustments to that budget (re-forecast) or make adjustments to operations based on the actual results and the intelligence gained from monitoring the budget process throughout the fiscal year.

There are many solutions available today including several in the small to medium size market (SMB). These systems fulfill some of the basic requirements but the majority of them fall short of providing their users with the most important tools and capabilities. Others require extensive user programming or relying on outside consultants to build and maintain these systems.

Through experience gained from implementing budgeting systems and from actually using and evaluating various software solutions I’ve compiled a list of high level features and benefits that a budgeting, forecasting and business intelligence application should have.

Any company looking to implement a complete solution should be concerned with these top 10 features: •

Must be delivered as a database application for better control and management.

•

Should have a system-generated integrated set of forecasted financial statements.

•

Must have a modular approach with a complete array of functions such as: revenue forecasting module with cost; operating expense module; personnel module; fixed assets module; loans and other debt module.

•

Must have driver-based forecasting, which is the ability to work with unlimited and varied types of drivers.

•

Must have the ability to allocate forecasted amounts to predefined accounts.

by Joni Girardi

•

Its’ business intelligence and rules must be built-in and available to users to choose from and with no user programming required (formulas, links, etc.).

•

The application chosen must allow users to set up a chart of accounts representing the actual accounting system’s chart of accounts (or mirroring it).

•

There should be either a direct link or simple interface to the accounting or ERP software’s general ledger, where actual data can easily be populated in the budgeting software and immediately used in the analysis process, following the accounting period close.

•

Reports—both visual and alpha numeric—must be readily available and with minimal effort. All budgeted financial statements (with a minimum of Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows) should mimic their actual financial statements produced by the actual accounting software.

•

The budgeting, forecasting and business intelligence software application needs to act as an extension of the accounting software or ERP system’s actual financial data.

These 10 “Must-Have” features are especially important in smaller or medium sized organizations where resources are limited, yet business intelligence is critical and the decision making process must rely on solid and reliable tools.

The benefits from having these features cannot be overemphasized. While some are fundamental and expected, others are less common and will make the difference between properly performing the budgeting and analysis process or just getting through the process without really using the system for its true intended purpose.

About the Author

Alan Hart, is a former CFO with nearly 30 years of experience in accounting, finance and management. He is currently a Principal Consultant at Pacific Shine Group in Portland, Oregon, with responsibility for client business development and hands-on client project implementations. Connect with him at his blog: BudgetingExpert.com.

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Case Studies:

How Savvy CFO’s are Solving Supply Chain Challenges with Automation

T

by Kelvin Takhar

oday’s savvy CFOs are solving Supply Chain challenges with Automation that generates greater gains in Staff Productivity and Reporting Visibility. As manufacturers and distributors around the globe face higher demands from the retailers they supply for lower costs and precise on-time delivery of goods, CFOs are leading the charge to increase the profitability of their businesses with Integrated Supply Chain Software Solutions.

These solutions serve to improve their overall margins by reducing time spent on manual order/shipment data entry, streamlining and automating the order fulfillment process in the warehouse to increase staff productivity, reducing rework and improving the timeliness of shipments. CFOs are also leveraging the order/shipment data collected to create the right reports to identify optimal growth strategies.

Here is how three CFOs in three different industries are driving the same dynamic results with Automation, Staff Productivity and Reporting Visibility with Key Solutions™ powered by the Edisoft Merchant™ Suite of Integrated EDI and Integrated Warehouse Solutions.

Company #1: J-B Weld Manufacturer and International Distributor of Adhesives for Metal, Wood and Plastics to consumers and professionals in both the automotive and hardware markets.

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

J-B Weld is the US based manufacturer of the legendary “cold weld” two-part epoxy known as J-B Weld. Since 1969, J-B Weld has broadened their product line to meet the changing needs of customers, including expanded adhesives for metal, wood, plastic, and general purpose use.

Supply Chain Challenge: Automation: For Compliance, Staff Productivity and Reporting Visibility Supply Chain Solutions: Edisoft Merchant™ Integrated EDI / Merchant QuikPAK™ Warehouse Automation J-B Weld produces all of its products in America and today reaches over 50 thousand retail outlets. The J-B Weld warehouse Order Fulfillment team has less than 24 hours from when they get an order to when they need to ship it. They don’t have a backlog; when an order is received in the morning it has to be shipped that day.

With Edisoft’s Merchant QuikPAK™ Warehouse Automation

TECHNOLOGY Solution, J-B Weld immediately enhanced their Supply Chain Performance in multiple ways. Originally, there were 75 steps from when the order came in to when it shipped. Now they are down to less than 30 steps for each order fulfilled.

Merchant QuikPAK™ is essential in streamlining their order fulfillment process in saving them 3-4 minutes on every order shipped. Edisoft’s Integrated Supply Chain Solutions, once implemented, also serves to reduce their compliance issues by 60%, which resulted in a substantial savings. Additionally, with the now seamless integration between their ERP and supply chain software, J-B Weld is able to report margins on an orderby-order basis.

Don Burke, J-B Weld Company’s CFO shares: “With Edisoft, ADSS Global, and the Sage Intelligence Products, we are able to report net margins on an order-byorder basis. Now that we have a consistent cost per order, we have enhanced our accountability and fulfillment quality to our large retailers such as Walmart, AutoZone, The Home Depot, Menards, O’Reilly’s, Lowes and Ace Hardware. In today’s competitive environment, customers and end-users are asking: ‘What are you doing to innovate from a product and IT perspective’ and I’ve got to say ‘This is how we’re improving our products and fulfillment through automation to enhance our end user experience.’ Another added benefit of automation is a more robust one-day close; we’ve replaced our exception reporting, with fact-based fulfilment reporting (Box Date & Time Stamping), along with a cost per order.” – Don Burke, CFO, J-B Weld Company

Company II: McCall Farms, Leading Supplier of Canned Food Being a leading supplier in the Food industry for canned foods, McCall Farms distributes and sells products under multiple name brands including Margaret Holmes.

Supply Chain Challenge: Staff Productivity Supply Chain Solution: Edisoft Merchant™ Integrated EDI Automation: For Staff Productivity With the volume of trading partners, suppliers and the quantity of POs sent and received by McCall farms, it was critical to employ Automation to eliminate the re-keying of order data.

McCall Farms did not need to hire more staff to process EDI orders by leveraging the Order Integration capabilities of the Edisoft Merchant™ Solution.

McCall Farm’s CFO’s perspective: “The Edisoft® Integrated EDI Solution automated our order process by eliminating the re-keying of both our retail and supply side purchase orders, invoices and ASN 856 documents resulting in significant savings in time and money,” said McCall Farms, CFO, Mark Fornari.

“We have two people managing orders for all our 40+ trading partners through one software solution. Edisoft’s Key Solutions for MAS 500 improved our staff productivity by enabling us to organize our order entry team more efficiently in managing the day to day volume of orders, as well as, invoicing and the creation of ASN 856s. Moreover, in streamlining the resources necessary for order management and fulfillment, we have been able to focus our efforts and resources on hiring people to drive more sales as opposed to just processing orders.

“Over the last year, McCall Farms has grown through acquisition.

As we add new companies to the McCall Farms family, we have been able to effectively remain competitive by continuing to leverage our cost savings, time savings and the intelligent data/ reports gained from our investment in the Edisoft Merchant™ Solution.” - Mark Fornari, CFO McCall, Farms

Company III: Protect-A-Bed®, Worldwide Distributor of Protective Bedding Products As a worldwide leader in mattress protection innovation with distribution in 45 countries, Protect-A-Bed® has been providing consumers with a complete line of protective bedding products for more than 33 years.

Supply Chain Challenge: Automation For ERP Integration and Compliance Supply Chain Solutions: Edisoft Merchant™ Integrated EDI / Edisoft® ERP ASN Integration Adapter for Accellos To keep pace with global demand, Protect-A-Bed® employed the Edisoft Merchant™ Integrated EDI Solution to achieve seamless order integration to their Sage 300 ERP. In addition to the immediate benefits of EDI compliancy and Order Accuracy, Protect-A-Bed, also applied Edisoft’s expertise in Order Integration by choosing to implement the Edisoft® adapter for Accellos to achieve full ERP integration with their Accellos Warehouse Solution.

Protect-A-Bed’s CFO, Anneke Chamy says: “Both the end to end Integrated EDI and Accellos adaptor have improved our warehouse fill rates and improved our on-time delivery of shipments to our retailers. Edisoft’s Key Solutions are beneficial in 3 specific ways for Protect-A-Bed: First, it provides EDI compliancy so we can avoid costly chargebacks which have been a big concern for me. Second, with automation we have seen great improvements in staff productivity. Third, it is essential to work with a partner that cares about our business and is committed to delivering a value proposition that helps me establish a competitive advantage and improve our Vendor Score Card.”

Learn more about Edisoft’s turnkey solutions at:

www.blytheco.com/edisoft

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Bellwether Magazine | Fourth Quarter 2014

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COVER2COVER

16

15

Issues!

Have You Read Them All?

CLICK ON A COVER TO READ AN ISSUE!

Why Should Your Company Do an Employee Engagement Survey?

1. Align Employees with Company Strategic Goals

Employees are more likely to focus their energies in the right direction when they understand and are aligned with strategic goals.

2. Increase Productivity

In A

3. To Reduce ‘’(wrong) employee turnover

In

When employees are engaged they are simply more productive.

They are more willing to give what it takes to get the job done accurately and efficiently.

Some turnover is healthy. Employees who are not a good fit leave, which makes way for fresh perspectives and energy. By contrast, unwanted turnover happens when a company loses talented employees they want to keep.

Focal Employee Engagement (Focal EE) is a cloud-based employee survey solution that is easy to setup and administer. Vastly different than a simple employee satisfaction survey, Focal EE goes deeper with time-tested survey questions written by psychologists. Focal EE gives you the tools to identify, understand, and fix employee engagement problems through actionable results.

Key features include: Over 53 pre-written questions, benchmarking data, tight confidentiality protocols, a dashboard housing deep probing analytical tools and step-by-step help.

Take a test drive at blytheco.com/engagement

800.425.9843 x2500 www.blytheco.com

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Use the buying power of a much larger company to get outstanding shipping rates.

Shop prices and select your LTL carrier right from within your Sage ERP system.

Stress Less

Sage Centric

Once scheduled, a team manages and monitors your shipments (and even audits your freight bills).

All logistics characteristics (Freight Class, NMFC Codes, etc.) are maintained in your Sage ERP.

For more information, visit xkzero.com/blytheco.aspx

info@xkzero.com | @ERP_apps | 847.416.2009