James Solomons

Rationalising Suppliers Delivers Many Benefits – CFO Series

Alexandra Cain wrote this piece summarising all the takeaways from my chat with leading CFOs on how reviewing your supplier agreements and possibly outsourcing this process could reap your business significant benefits !

Rationalising Suppliers Delivers Many Benefits

This article was first published on the CFO Magazine website here

By Alexandra Cain

Systematically reviewing procurement processes delivers many benefits aside from reducing costs. But all too often, lack of expertise, time and resources means businesses simply roll over supplier contracts without really taking the time to explore all their options. Which is why outsourcing this process can deliver so much value.

Guest speakers at CFO Magazine’s most recent CFO Lunchtime Live event explored this topic, drawing on their experience rationalising the cost base in their organisation with Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA).

Leveraging the hidden benefits of IFRS 16: – CFO Series

A topic that does not get enough attention is IFRS 16. Aside from the requirements for financial accounts, understanding IFRS 16 can empower businesses to make better decisions on the use of their capital. Alexandra Cain with another great write up, summarises the benefits from focusing more attention on this area

Leveraging the hidden benefits of IFRS 16:

This article was first published on the CFO Magazine website here

The real questions CFOs should be asking their finance team.

The transition to the AASB 16 / NZ IFRS 16 accounting standard, which was published in 2016 and came into force in January 2019, has been one of the most widely-anticipated shifts in accounting and finance. Now that most reporting entities have been through one full compliance cycle, it’s an opportune time to assess how all stakeholders are responding to the new standard.

How Technology is Changing the Role of the CFO – CFO Series

Nina Hendy wrote a fantastic wrap of my chat with BioPak CFO Kim Jeanneret

How Technology is Changing the Role of the CFO

This article was first published on the CFO Magazine website here

Technology is changing the way forward thinking CFOs work, particularly in the last year during the Covid-19 health crisis.

Technology has revolutionised the CFO role over the years, streamlining processes and bolstering company insights in new ways.

That’s according to the CFO of environmentally friendly food packaging company BioPak, Kim Jeanneret, who is an avid believer that the wonders of technology can drive better business outcomes.

Driving Digital Transformation Post Pandemic – CFO Series

Great write up by Alexandra Cain to close out the calendar year on how CFOs can drive digital transformation !

Driving Digital Transformation Post Pandemic

This article was first published on the CFO Magazine website here

New Zealand is known for both its early adoption of digital technologies and it’s mastery over the COVID-19 pandemic. This puts its finance heads in a leadership role to explore the future of digital transformation.

How CFOs can help drive transformation was the topic for the most recent trans-Tasman CFO Series Lunchtime Live, sponsored by Microsoft New Zealand. Moderator James Solomons, CFO of online talent sourcing solution Xref, situated the discussion in light of the events of 2020.

Making Money as a Stay-at-Home Parent (Guest Post)

Guest Contributor: Gwen Payne, Invisible Moms

Once upon a time, being a stay-at-home parent meant putting your career on hold, if not giving it up entirely. In the digital age, however, working while parenting from home is far from impossible. In fact, there are opportunities out there to fit every availability level and intensity. You can pick up a few extra bucks here and there, or launch a full-time career right at home.

Here’s a look at a few of the options available, how to figure out what’s right for you, and how to get started.

A refreshed website to close out the year

It has been a while since I penned a thought, but don’t get too excited as this is not a long one. Rather it is a short one to introduce my refreshed website. I like to refresh my site every few years to keep it looking fresh but also to ensure it is still relevant !

This year though, I had help! It is school holidays and I saw my 10 year old daughter playing around in Canva during the week so I asked her to design a new hero image for me. I gave her the design brief (I need an imagine that helps describe what I do, it needs to be mainly blue, show global & connected; plus describe the areas dad works in – Accounting, Business, Technology, Teaching, Startups) and this is what she presented to me, which included a ‘slogan’ and even with her own little ‘sign off’ ! I was very impressed.

As well as that I introduced her to WordPress and she helped me pick a new theme and played around with the drag and drop.

Pretty cool I think ! Agree or Disagree !

New Approaches to Working Capital Supporting CFOs Through COVID-19 – CFO Series

Last week I had the opportunity to host a panel discussion covering the all important area of Working Capital as part of the CFO Series Lunchtime Live webcasts. Following the session Alexandra Cain wrote this great article which captured the key themes and discussion points we mulled over for the 60 minutes !

New Approaches to Working Capital Supporting CFOs Through COVID-19

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