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Senior Executive

Senior ExecutiveTalking Shop
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.…
Justin Jones
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Senior ExecutiveThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
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…
Justin Jones
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D&ISenior ExecutiveThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
March 30, 2023

She Told the CFO She Wanted To Be Treasurer One Day. Now She Is.

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…
Justin Jones
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FP&ASenior ExecutiveThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
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,…
Justin Jones
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Risk ManagementSenior Executive
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…
Justin Jones
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FXSenior Executive
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…
Justin Jones
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FP&ASenior Executive
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…
Justin Jones
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Senior ExecutiveTreasury Management
June 30, 2022

How Treasury Steps into the Strategic Limelight

Rising rates and a looming recession provide treasury with an opportunity to elevate its profile and and become a leader in board-level conversations. Tough economic conditions have historically highlighted the critical role treasury plays as the champion of corporate liquidity. This happened during 2008-09 and will likely happen again if credit and cash flows begin to contract. This is not new territory for treasurers, many of whom have already evolved to serve new and broader constituents, becoming more strategic, consultative…
Justin Jones
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Senior ExecutiveTechnology
May 19, 2022

Stories and Foresight Built on Data: What a CFO Wants From Treasury

A seasoned CFO shares thoughts on automation and how treasury can elevate itself to become a strategic partner.The path of treasurers who are determined to walk the walk of becoming strategic business partners by devoting more time to value-adding activities and less to tactical tasks runs through automation that frees up bandwidth for intense data analysis. In making that point at a recent meeting of NeuGroup for Mid-Cap Treasurers sponsored by HighRadius, Jeff Martini, interim CFO of Bishop Lifting Products,…
Justin Jones
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FXSenior Executive
May 5, 2022

Sharpen the Focus: Fostering More Productive FX Meetings

Approaches to more productive meetings include highlighting world events, more detailed program updates and updating dashboards. After a recent quarterly risk meeting, a senior leader gave this advice to one FX risk manager to improve the productivity of future meetings: Highlight only new developments and events, come with any specific asks and leave anything else to pre-meeting reading materials. Up to this point, much of the two-hour meetings consisted of a comprehensive update on everything the FX team had done…
Justin Jones
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