Expert strategies for CFOs to thrive in the hyper-everything business era

What kind of support do you need from your CFO? Today’s hyper-everything business environment puts more pressure on CFOs than ever before.

Two of the primary pressures that organizations face are processes that are too long and resource intensive and market volatility.¹ When you’re managing a company that’s growing or changing rapidly, also known as hyper-growth or hyper-change, it’s important to stay in control despite these unpredictable pressures.

That’s why best-in-class companies create environments where data is always integrated to ensure forecasts are based on reality. Understanding the factors that impact business performance is a must for creating forecast accuracy.² Companies experiencing a period of intense evolution will rely heavily on CFOs to help them move at the speed they need.

According to Marc Stoll, Anaplan’s CFO, managing a hyper-growth or hyper-change company is like driving at high speed on a winding road. How do you ensure that you stay in control? You must give your people the right tools and empower them to focus on strategy and not number crunching.

As a finance executive, Marc believes there are two essential elements that help CFOs thrive in the face of hyper-growth and hyper-change: speed and knowledge transfer. In the past, you could solve a problem using manpower and spreadsheets. You’d eventually get to the answer, but never in real time or at the speed required to be successful.

Secondly, CFOs deal with “key man risk.” Relying on spreadsheet jockeys to build financial models can be risky—what happens when they depart for greener pastures but no one can pick up where they left off? Knowledge transfer with financial models is incredibly difficult and leaves you starting over, every time.

These are just two elements that CFOs must prioritize in order to successfully guide companies to hit their strategic objectives. Join Marc in an upcoming webinar on December 15, where he will share his lessons learned at companies like Apple and CA Technologies and explain how you can:

• Set up an integrated and flexible process to anticipate the twists and turns and make adjustments to the business in real time
• Chart your company’s road map to hyper-growth and hyper-change
• Avoid common pitfalls that will throw you off track
• Create better plans, deliver more accurate forecasts, and make faster adjustments

Register now and gain finance strategies to help you navigate hyper-growth and hyper-change.

1. Aberdeen Group. “Become a Forecast Marksman with Best-in-Class Ammunition for Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting.” by Nick Castellina, published March 2014. Accessed July 25, 2014.
2. Aberdeen Group. “Become a Forecast Marksman with Best-in-Class Ammunition for Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting.” by Nick Castellina, published March 2014. Accessed July 25, 2014.