Strength In The Numbers Show

Even though the term connected society was coined back in 1991, have we recently stopped to think what does it really mean for our careers and accounting & finance profession. We’re seeing ever faster rates of change in global politics, economics and cultures caused by the spread of networked, digital information and communications technologies and these are just some of topics our guest mentor Noel Tagoe and I cover together in today’s episode as well as: • Why connectivity is key, why we need to connect more and the importance of dynamic ecosystems in doing so • Advice on the 6 As of success for accountants and finance professionals • On giving to get and the fundamental rule of NPV and accounting • The surprising resources and way to get the right resources Noel recommends our listeners check out If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/088. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #F

As accountants and finance professionals we’re expected to have great attention to detail and the numbers, in fact it’s a large part our training, but what if we’re paying attention to the wrong things and so limiting our ability to make a meaningful impact at work and so holding us back from having a more rewarding and successful career in finance. In this bite-sized episode I share some thoughts on some research and how to ensure we're focusing on the right things in practice. www.sitnshow.com/podcast/087 #FinanceMentor #SITN #ValueCreation #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

The phrases ‘making a difference’ and 'finance transformation' are often used but what do they really look like for accountants and finance professionals, not in theory but in practice? This is one of the many questions Dr Noel Tagoe Executive Vice President, Academics at AICPA and I tackle on today’s episode along with some other key areas such as: • Noel’s 3 steps to become more valuable and relevant to your organisation • What to do if we encounter failure and why it’s the best risk management tool we have. • The importance of learning in communities, the 3 communities Noel belongs to (moaners, , & why learning can never be private. • 3 ways to think about approaching choosing a profession like finance & accounting to find it rewarding plus Noel shares a personal story about the transformative power of finance. If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/086. #FinanceMentor #SITN #fut

One of the main truths we know in Finance is that income follows on from assets so long as an organisation is managing them well. I believe the same can be said for all the teams within organisations and in particular Finance, but as finance professionals in order to manage our assets so that they generate the most value we need to know what they are as well as be able to assess where we need to improve them. And how many of us actually can say that we know how to do both those things? In this bite-sized episode I share some thoughts on how to start putting these into practice. www.sitnshow.com/podcast/085 #FinanceMentor #SITN #ValueCreation #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

There’s a saying doing the rounds at the moment that data is the new oil and analytics the new engine, so you’d think that if this is where the opportunity is at, and given how much we are involved in generating and reporting the data & insights, then why are some of our skills as finance professionals only just touching the surface of what’s possible and so threatening our ability to remain relevant and continue to be involved in solving meaningful problems for our organisations. These are just some of topics our guest mentor Simon Harrison and I cover together in today’s episode as well as: • The surprising skillset Finance professionals don’t quite yet have and the simple practical things we can do to improve this. • The issue with educational silos impacting our ability to pick up the necessary skills to get hired and create value in our organisations. • The main areas to be open minded on what IT can teach us on. • We discuss why when it comes to data Finance needs to be more an art than a science. • Wh

One of my favourite parables is that of the broken window fallacy which was first expressed by the French economist, Frederic Bastiat and it constantly reminds me in Finance whilst although we generally think about preventing things getting broken we sometimes have to step back and consider to multiple perspectives since breaking things might actually add more value for our organisations in the longer run. In this bite-sized episode I share some thoughts on how to start putting this into practice. www.sitnshow.com/podcast/083 #FinanceMentor #SITN #ValueCreation #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

Do you know what’s the right mindset to have towards your finance career? I mean not in theory but in practice, to not merely become more influential as a finance professional and solve meaningful problems for your organisation but to also have a fun, rewarding career in accounting & finance. To help gain a sense of what this right mindset might look like we’ve prepared a special episode where we share with you how 4 of our guest mentors have found mindsets that have worked in their finance careers, the results they learned in doing so, why they did what they did, the impacts it had on them, their careers, their colleagues and organisation, and they share with you some ideas on how you can also do the same or similar. The guest mentors and the episodes are: • Angelo Ho • Nigel Franklyn • Glin Bayley • Andy Burrows If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/082. #FinanceMentor #SITN #Va

In the previous episode I suggested that an effective vision as much for finance professionals as the organisations we support starts and ends with value creation for the relevant stakeholders, which is the only reason for any business to exist. This is the Who and the Why, but it's not very practical without the How? In this bite-sized episode I share some thoughts on how to start putting this into practice with the most often requested tool from my book. www.sitnshow.com/podcast/081 #FinanceMentor #SITN #ValueCreation #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

How much of your organisation’s or client’s finance activities are either outsourced or offshored? With the barriers to knowledge transfer diminishing outsourcing is moving more upmarket from lower level transaction processing/back office tasks and into Treasury, Mergers & Acquisitions, and FP&A to name but a few however far from being a threat it is also a great opportunity to add more bottom line value to businesses. These are just some of topics our guest mentor Jamie McBrien and I cover together in today’s episode as well as: • A practical tip to improve our success in finance transformation implementations. • The importance of taking the time to engage and patience. • The drivers behind Finance offshoring and outsourcing moving upmarket. • Advice on how finance professionals can remain relevant in the face of offshoring. If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/080. #FinanceMentor

There’s an old saying: “Where there is no vision the people perish.” PROVERBS 29 VERSE 18 Which means that there’s two types of vision for finance professionals, there are those who have no vision and so are held back in their careers and struggling to make a meaningful impact within their organisations; and then there are those who do have effective vision and are seen as influential and relevant in solving meaningful problems for their organisations. So which type are you? In this bite-sized episode I share some thoughts on what an effective vision links back to and how we can begin thinking about it to practically drive our actions as finance professionals. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

Have you ever thought about what your extra is in Finance or do you even know what it is? With the continuing advances in the robotization of our traditional workloads if we wish to have a solid future in finance we need to be continuously doing more around creating value. And this is just one of the many topics our guest mentor Paul Sweeney & I cover in today’s episode as well as: • Why your knowing your extra matters and how we can practically make it count in Finance. • We deconstruct the Finance professional’s approach to technology and attitude to development around technology. • Paul shares some great advice around Excel, Salesmanship and a great question he got from his father. If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/078. Also available as on iTunes, Stitcher & YouTube #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

Currently it’s summer in the Northern hemisphere, and the sunnier conditions along with the odd rain shower means that for those of us with lawns we find ourselves more regularly mowing them but why do we mow them in the first place and what can that teach us in Finance about better influencing others? In this bite-sized episode I share some thoughts on what this teaches us about influencing humans into action and how to do this practically in finance. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

In this digital age there are two types of Finance professional, there are those who take themselves very seriously and then there are those who are becoming, not only Finance and organisational linchpins, but they're doing so in fun and playful ways that accelerate their career successes. These are just some of topics our guest mentor Glin Bayley covers in today’s episode as well as: • A practical way on how to be a linchpin in Finance on a daily basis. • Deconstruct what really matters with your next career move. • Glin shares a story from when she was younger where she incorrectly thought she had to do to certain things be taken seriously. If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/076. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

There's an old Irish song that warns of the prison ships lying empty in the bay and this serves as a precursor the importance of incentives and how Finance professionals can use them to our advantage to change organisational behaviour of even unscrupulous people. In this episode I share some ideas how to do this practically. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

Have you ever been or known any finance colleague stuck in their comfort zone trying to break out, but perhaps they don’t know how? Well in recognition of our upcoming 75th episode and being listened to in over 120 countries we’ve prepared a special episode where we share with you how 5 of our guest mentors have broken out of their comfort zones, the results they learned in doing so, why they did what they did, the impacts it had on them, their careers, their colleagues and organisation, and they share with you some ideas on how you can also do the same or similar. The guest mentors and the episodes are: • Sabine Prenslev Christensen • Robin Kiziak • Lance Rubin • Brad Eisenhuth • Paul Murphy If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/074. Also available as on iTunes, Stitcher & Soundcloud. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

We are always told we need to be continuously improving to remain relevant or we say similar to our organisations to stay in the game, so what would be one change you would recommend to the finance profession to continue to have a seat at the table? Fundamentally the Finance profession grew out of the need to preserve business value by recording transactions and safeguarding the value of company assets, nowadays the business is looking to us to not just preserve value, that’s a given, we’re now being asked to create value just to remain relevant and keep our seat at the table. I share my thoughts on today's bitesized episode on modifying one thing we already know to create even more value for our organisations. If you enjoyed this episode subscribe to our longer guest mentor interviews on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube and Soundcloud. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

Imagine having 1,000 years’ worth of career advice, how would you use that to advise others or even improve your own career outcomes? Well, our guest mentor and finance professional Paul Murphy has answered these questions by writing an Amazon #1 bestselling book that interviewed 100 graduates 10 years out of university about their career paths, their hard won lessons, how they overcame obstacles and what advice they would give others in hindsight. And even better a lot of the insights are relevant for finance professionals as 33% of those interviewed have worked in finance and Paul shares some of their stories in this episode. Some other areas we cover together are: • One piece of critical advice that will allow you to get into the more fun finance roles and how to go about it. • Practical advice on how to select a mentor for the biggest impact on your career. • Real advice on how approach senior managers and what really happens when you step outside your comfort zone. If you enjoyed this episode, check out

Does the Finance department have the most Integrity in organisations? Finance professionals have always known the value of the word integrity, in fact it is one of our strengths, but nowadays it is probably one of the most abused words in the English language. It has become the new word for corporate values, it has become the word to express the fact how good a corporation, or even a department is with its good people. So Does the Finance department have the most Integrity of any team in organisations? #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

Why, according to 70% of UK CFOs, is FP&A the hardest Finance & Accounting role for them to fill? This is just one of the many questions our guest mentor and well-known FP&A thought leader Larysa Melnychuk answers as well as covering a number of relevant other areas on our podcast together: • Why she challenges those who think the accounting profession is not creative. • The 3 areas where FP&A can become less traditional and more valuable to support a quicker more flexible decision making process. • Why it’s hard to find good FP&A professionals with up to 70% of UK CFOs saying it’s the hardest position to fill as well as the solution. • What the next 3-5 years will look like for FP&A. If you enjoyed this episode, check out our time-stamped show notes, key quotes, resources and ways to connect with our guest mentor and more at sitnshow.com/podcast/070. Also available as on iTunes, Stitcher & Soundcloud. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants

How many ways do Finance Professionals build trust? There are many of them but there are two main ingredients to do so effectively, to benefit from a High-Trust Dividend. There are also 13 high-trust behaviours that can accelerate the finance professional's success in building trust and I also mention these too on today's bitesized episode and how you can put them into practice. #FinanceMentor #SITN #futureoffinance #Finance #AccountingAndAccountants