Mr. Nesper’s total trust in Andrea Noseda’s abilities provided the confidence to leave a job and company he loved.After years of thinking about leaving a company and a job he loved to spend more time with his family, former HP Inc. treasurer Zac Nesper found the right internal person to succeed him: Andrea Noseda, a treasury novice back when he hired her for a capital markets role four years earlier (today she’s an expert). In a new NeuGroup video you can watch by hitting…
January 31, 2024
Treasury Leadership Is Alive and Well in Texas
Insights from member meetups in Austin and Houston, distilled by NeuGroup’s founder and CEO.By Joseph Neu Treasury leadership is alive and well in Texas. That’s one big-picture takeaway from my trip to the state last week. I was there to talk with treasurers—and leadership was on my mind. Here are some themes that surfaced, divided into three sections:Why are you a treasurer? I asked that question at a salon dinner for members hosted by NeuGroup in Austin. In addition to “why,” the answers…
January 10, 2024
Unlocking Success: The Impact of Treasury Leadership
Citi global head of treasury advisory Ron Chakravarti on what separates the highest-performing corporate treasuries.A recent Citi GPS study, Treasury Leadership: Does It Matter?, reveals that corporations scoring high on measures of treasury sophistication and automation showed the highest earnings-to-revenue ratios. In other words, the answer to the question posed in the study’s title is resoundingly “yes” when financial performance is what matters most. In a NeuGroup video you can watch by hitting the play button below, Citi managing director Ron Chakravarti,…
November 29, 2023
Talking Shop: Spend Authorization Limits for CFOs and CEOs
Editor’s note: NeuGroup’s online communities provide members a forum to pose questions and give answers. Talking Shop shares valuable insights from these exchanges, anonymously. Send us your responses: [email protected]. Context: Delegation of authority policies are an important part of good corporate governance and critical for companies structuring and implementing financial controls and setting limits for spend authorization as well as payment approvals. Financial authority policies cover employees inside and outside of treasury and other finance teams, and at some companies they are wide-ranging.…
November 16, 2023
Dealing with ‘Derailers’ in Board Presentations: Tips from a Pro
A former CFO of Merck offers tips for treasurers to stay on track if board directors lob off-topic questions. When Peter Kellogg was CFO of Merck during the 2008 financial crisis, the greatest challenge he faced during board presentations came when directors peppered him with questions based on what they had read, seen or heard in the media or elsewhere. This is one example of what he calls “derailers”—questions about subjects that don’t affect the company directly, are not relevant to the…
Advice on advocating for yourself from Sandra Ramos-Alves, treasurer of Bristol Myers Squibb.Sandra Ramos-Alves was an assistant treasurer at Celgene when Bristol Myers Squibb bought it in 2019. By June of 2021, she was acting treasurer of BMS. And in October of that year she was named senior vice president and treasurer of the pharmaceutical giant that had acquired the company where she had worked for more than 14 years. In a Strategic Finance Lab podcast episode you can hear by…
October 6, 2022
FP&A’s Role in Making Finance an Indispensable Business Partner
General Mills CFO Kofi Bruce’s vision of FP&A and finance: NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab podcast, episode 8. In a world with growing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, also known as VUCA, so grows the importance of finance organizations that can accurately see what’s coming down the pipeline, understand how that will impact the company and how to adjust. And the skills FP&A brings to the table are critical to succeeding in that mission. In the latest Strategic Finance Lab podcast episode,…
October 6, 2022
Internal Audit Debate: Keep Reporting to CFO or Switch to CEO?
An IA expert says reporting to the CFO may divert IA resources disproportionally to finance vs other areas. More than three-quarters of US publicly traded companies’ internal audit (IA) functions report administratively to the CFO, although a similar percentage of IA professionals see reporting to the CEO as ideal. Presenting to a meeting of NeuGroup for Internal Audit Executives, Richard Chambers, a former head of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and a longtime IA practitioner, noted that seeming disconnect as one of several…
September 20, 2022
Answering the CFO’s Call
A soaring dollar is threatening earnings; get ready for more CFO questions. The dollar’s ascent is causing a lot of heartburn for CFOs and boards. A stronger greenback reduces the value of FX-denominated income. For many US companies, foreign income comprises a large chunk of total revenue; thus, the hit to earnings can be substantial. In recent NeuGroup peer group sessions, the topic of containing the impact of a stronger dollar on financial results has been prevalent and reached far…
August 11, 2022
Business Partnering Must Be a Full-Time Job
To prepare for increasing demand for business decision-making support, FP&A needs to review its business partnering model. When the business landscape is foggy, FP&A shines. Facing a period of economic and market volatility, FP&A leaders are preparing to provide more hands-on support to the business: A recent survey of NeuGroup’s Mega-Cap and Large-Cap FP&A peer groups showed that 100% of members anticipate (or are already sensing) a rise in demand for help from business leaders. Operational leaders are going to ask a lot more…