ACM Chemistries, Inc.

ACM Chemistries is a chemical manufacturer of color and performance enhancing admixture products for machine-made concrete products.

Reporting to the President/Chief Executive Officer, I am a member of the Senior Leadership Team, providing leadership and financial expertise for company-wide strategic planning and execution.

I oversee all financial and fiscal responsibilities of the company, leading the budgeting process.

This includes all aspects of accounting and finance activities, including outside Finance & HR relationships with banks, insurance partners, 401k administrators and auditors.

It also involves managing financial and cash flow planning to ensure availability of funds as needed, while monitoring compliance with debt covenants and financial control processes.

I’m currently implementing various process improvements and systems enhancements within my department to improve productivity and customer service to internal and external customers.

Vice President of Finance & Accounting

Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim is family-owned pharmaceutical manufacturing company headquartered in Germany revenue of $22B+in total sales – $8B+ in US – and over 52K employees worldwide.

In this role, I led  FP&A for four business units’ gross-to-net results, with $120M worth of marketing programs.

Key Accomplishments:
•	Reduced variance between actuals and accruals from 5% to less than 1% by implementing a cross-functional forecast process within the first year in the role.
•	Led several cross-functional team collaborations to develop a proactive process to reduce variances in the future.

Associate Director of Finance, Gross-to-Net Livestock & Equine

I led FP&A and had full P&L responsibility for two business units, including monthly forecasts, annual budgets and long term forecasts submissions to GBS. 

Key Accomplishments:
• Streamlined input of budgeted sales data by designing a TM1 template that enabled $1.8B of sales to be uploaded across five business divisions in a seamless, standardized way within the first 6 months in the role.
• Enhanced reporting packages sent to business units by adding new KPIs to monitor and  improve strategic initiatives.

Senior Finance Manager, Swine & Poultry Controlling

Intralot

Intralot, Inc. is a software technology company that also manufactures lottery vending machines.

As Controller, I was responsible for accounting and finance functions, pertaining to financial reporting, FP&A, internal and external audits.

Key Accomplishments:
• Successfully led a team of five direct and 10 indirect reports and supervised all accounting and finance functions including Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Tax, and Treasury.
• Built the FP&A function from the ground up and made the team scalable to support growth.

Corporate Controller

I was the liaison between the US accounting department and our parent company’s accounting team. I also coordinated month-end close and financial consolidations of the US entity and its subsidiaries.

Key Accomplishments:
• Reduced month-end close time nearly 50% – from 11 to 6 business days.
• Spearheaded the Cognos TM1 system implementation, as well as other system upgrades.

Accounting Manager

Staff Accountant/Senior Accountant

I am a strategic finance business partner with experience in companies of all sizes, with strong knowledge of US GAAP and IFRS. I am known for exceeding expectations and leading successful system implementations. I lead with a collaborative management style, advocating for employees and ensuring that teams are equipped with the tools and resources they need to excel.

I am grateful for every step on the way that brought me to this point. And, I look forward to helping other professionals advance in their careers and reach their full potential.

My current mood 👇🏾

I'm that cat right now!

And I am not alone.

"Busy season" is one of the reasons enrollment for accounting majors keeps decreasing, while 75% of CPAs are near retirement.

What should we do about it as a profession?


------------------------------
Photo: theexplorecats

Wassia Kamon, CPA, CMA, MBA

This was me in Summer 2021:

- Associate Director of Finance, yet feeling stuck in my career path (which no one around me could understand)

- 500 LinkedIn Connections/Followers by default

- No online content

18 months later, here I am: 

=> Vice President of Finance and Accounting, enjoying every day of my career journey

=> 10,000+ LinkedIn Followers

=> Great engagement on my online content

Plus:

✨️ 40 under 40 Accounting Professionals 2022 by CPA Practice Advisor

✨️ Board Member and Treasurer of a thriving non-profit organization
 
✨️ Board Member at the Atlanta Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and other committees

✨️ Tons of great new friends, connections, mentors, and mentees

✨️ Interviews/Podcasts/Coaching Requests flying in

And more...

What was the turning point?

***Personal Branding***

I was feeling stuck in my career despite all my accreditations and experience.

I didn't feel that one more degree or certificate was going to help.

So, after doing some research, I realized that I simply needed to work more on my personal brand and network more to go to the next level. 

In the process, I learned these 5 lessons that I know will keep me away from ever feeling "stuck" again:

1️⃣ Sometimes, you don't need another certification or degree.  You just need to better understand and articulate your value.

2️⃣ Don't be afraid to pay for a course or coaching to get unstuck and accelerate your learning in any area.

3️⃣ Stay open to new opportunities - Your road to success may be completely different from what you envisioned.

4️⃣ By networking and putting yourself out there, you will discover a lot of opportunities and best practices you wouldn't have found on your own.

5️⃣ Analysis paralysis is real. If you keep overthinking, trying to have the perfect plan before doing something, it won’t happen. Just do it!

Can you relate?



--------------------------------
Image : Roberto Ferraro

A manager is not necessarily a leader.

He/She was  probably a strong individual contributor who got promoted.

If you understand this, then you will know that:

1️⃣ As an employee, you can not solely rely on your manager for your career growth.

[Because managers are primarily focused on getting you to do your job]
 
2️⃣ As a manager, the best way for you to move up is to develop your leadership skills instead of simply meeting deadlines.

3️⃣ As a leader, you should invest in leadership training for your middle managers because they are an extension of you.

Agree?

---------------------------
#leadership #personaldevelopment #leadershipdevelopment 

Image credit : Paychex

Save this post because you will need it later!

If you are planning to take your business career to new heights, here are 15 Lifelong Learning Platforms you should definitely check out:

> General Learning Platforms

1-  edX 

- Free to learn/Premium fee to get official completion certificates

- Great courses, certificates and MicroMasters programs from top universities around the world such as Harvard, MIT, and HEC Paris

2 -  Coursera 

- Free to learn/Premium fee to get official completion certificates

- Great courses and certificates from top universities & companies around the world such as Columbia University, & Emory

- Completion certificates come with a URL to display on LinkedIn Profile.

3 -  LinkedIn Learning

- Monthly fee for unlimited access

- Great for refreshers and overviews on a wide range of topics

- Best for careers related advice (i.e. resume, interview tips, and leadership)

- Completion certificates readily available for display on LinkedIn Profile.

> Continuing Education Platforms for Finance and Accounting

4 - Corporate Finance Institute® (CFI)

- Extensive library of Excel tips, Hands-on Finance Courses, and Career Resources

- Free downloadable resources, reports and templates

5 -  CPAacademy.org  (99% Free)

- Great for latest trends and updates in Accounting & Tax

- Very convenient for CPE (Continuing Professional Education) credits

6 -  AICPA 

- Extensive library of Accounting, Finance, Valuation, & Tax courses, conferences, etc…

- Very convenient for CPE credits

7 - AFP Online

- Extensive library of Finance publications, webinars, and courses.

- Issuing body of CTP (Certified Treasury Professional) and FPAC (Certified Corporate FP&A Professional) certifications.

> Excel Learning Platforms

8 - Excel University, Inc.

- Brought to you by Jeff Lennings, who also has courses on UDEMY and the AICPA webcasts.

- Very easy to follow instructions with great hands-on accounting examples.

9 -  Excel Easy

- Free Excel tips with Screenshots

- Covers the major Excel functions

10 -  Excel Jet

- Free Excel tips with short videos and downloadable exercises to follow along.

- Great for visual learners, if you don’t mind seeing a few ads.

11 - IMA | Institute of Management Accountants 

- ~75% of free resources for members

- Issuing body of CMA (Certified Management Accountant)  and CSCA (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis) certifications

12 - ClassCentral

- Curated list of online education courses with a broader range of topics.

13 - Harvard Business Review 

- Read 3 Free per month or pay $12/month for unlimited access

- Excellent for aspiring strategic leaders, who are trying to improve their business acumen.

14  - CFO.com

- Free Business Articles

15 - GrowCFO 

- Great CFO & Future CFO readiness Programs available

As John Maxwell said:

“The more seriously you take your growth, the more seriously your people will take you.”

Agree?

#finance #accounting #accountingandaccountants


Think big, yet start small, so you can finish strong!

That's my main wish for you in 2023.

Let's make this new year our best one yet!



---------------------------------
Image: Visuals by Taylor

3 Reasons many companies are still hesitant about leveraging data analytics to improve their business operations:

Reason # 1 - The fear of removing the human “touch” from the decision-making process and solely relying on data.

The reality: 

> Without business acumen, gathering a bunch of data is meaningless.

> Even if decisions are made based on intuition and past experience, data analytics can still be useful to track and measure success.

> Data-backed business suggestions are generally better accepted.  

Reason # 2 - Data Quality (i.e. Garbage in/Garbage out)

The way out:

> Business operations cannot be effective in the long run with poor data. 

> This could be a great opportunity to investigate the roadblocks and bottlenecks in existing processes to implement much needed changes in systems.

Reason # 3 - Company size: small and medium companies do not have dedicated analytics staff.

The reality: 

> There is no need to hire many data experts to get started. 

Companies can start their data transformation journey with their existing systems. 

For example, different teams can brainstorm ways to start tracking  different aspects of the organization (i.e. employee retention, cash flow projections).

> SMEs can start small with out-of-the box FP&A and Data Analytics software/tools. 

My main takeaway is : 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬.

I believe that data analytics can be a strategic business advantage, but only if implemented and used properly.

What do you think?


#data  #finance  #accounting

If your employer is not proactive about this, you should. 

Otherwise, you will be very frustrated in your career.

*** New Leader Training ***

Whether you are transitioning from an individual contributor role to a manager role, or from managing employees to managing directors, you should pay close attention to this.

And here is why:

What made you successful in your prior role, may not make you successful in your new role. 

Some things you will have to unlearn, some you will have to improve, and some you will have to learn.

I know this because I got burned when I was first promoted to an Accounting Manager role. 

In my mind, since I deserved the promotion, things were going to fall into place because I was good at what I did.

So, I made these 3 mistakes common to new leaders:

🛑 Mistake # 1: Assuming you know exactly what’s going on and how to fix it

🛑 Mistake # 2: Not having a plan for how you will connect and engage with your new employees/peers/bosses

🛑 Mistake # 3: Not having a strategy for how you will accelerate your learning for your new role

How can you best avoid it?

Let me share with you a snippet of what I advise my mentees to do:

1️⃣ Read The First 90 Days book by Michael Watkins before and after you start your new role

2️⃣ Create a roadmap for how you will get up to speed and exceed expectations during your first year.

3️⃣ Schedule regular check-ins with your boss and/or coach to help you stay on track.

If you are in Finance and Accounting, your first 90 days’ plan should also include:

> How you will get familiar with the chart of accounts, financial systems used, etc...

> What’s the regular cadence of the month-end and reporting process, and how to best play your part

> How you will get in touch with your business partners and what their urgent needs are

Success as a new leader never happens by chance. Plan for it accordingly.
 
Agree?

------------------------------------------------------------------
Illustration: Marloes Huijsmans 


#finance #accounting #LeadershipDevelopment


This is a great reminder for the week 👇🏾

In a recent Korn Ferry survey of 222 CFOs, 80% said there is no ready-made internal successor for their role.

What's causing that in your opinion?




#cfo 
#successionplanning 
#leadership 



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