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On June 23, 2020, Controllers Council hosted a webcast with our esteemed Board of Advisors to share insight into how each has managed during this pandemic, how roles and responsibilities have changed, and what are new priorities for Controllers now and in the near future.<br><br>Moderated by Lindy Antonelli, Board Chair and Partner, Armanino. Panelists include Controllers Council Board of Advisors Jhemma Winkworth, Controller at Relativity; Raykhan Bekimbetova , Controller of (ISC)u00b2; Roman Matatov, Corporate Controller, Verana Health; and Ted Weitzel, SVP, Finance & Operations at G2.
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Controller’s Roundtable Changing Roles & Priorities - Webcast June 23, 2020
Welcome Moderator: Lindy Antonelli, CITP Board Chair Partner, Armanino lindy@amllp.com
Controller’s Roundtable Roman Matatov Jhemma Winkworth Raykhan Bekimbetova Ted Weitzel
Agenda – Controller’s Roundtable • Welcome (Lindy Antonelli - Moderator) • Controllers Council Sponsors • Roundtable Panelists • JhemmaWinkworth, Controller, Relativity • Ted Weitzel, SVP Finance & Operations, G2 • RaykhanBekimbetova, Controller, (ISC)2 • Roman Matatov, Corporate Controller, Verana Health • Q & A • About Controllers Council / Resources
Panelist JhemmaWinkworth Controller, Relativity jhemma.winkworth@relativity.com
Manage the transition to work from home • Set team up for success • Ensure no major disruption to ongoing Finance processes • Maintain internal control environment • Perform risk analysis – Understand high level organization risks to identify areas where Finance can support • Customer ability to pay • Ability to meet essential cost obligations Immediate Action: Pivoting Quickly
Liquidity Needs • Create a more detailed cash forecast • Refresh collections process • Cut non-essential spend; negotiate vendor payment terms • Revisit investment strategy • Identify other avenues for liquidity • Government assistance programs (CARES Act) • Credit facility • Technical Accounting • More diligent on reviewing non-standard transactions • Team • Identify ongoing needs of team to better support • Adapt to flexible working arrangements Ongoing: Reprioritize and Evolve Finance Function
Panelist Ted Weitzel SVP Finance & Operations, G2 Ted@G2.com
Planning for Growth Planning for Survival PPP Defer Payroll Withholdings Economic Disaster Loans Unemployment Benefits Talk to your Bank Deliver a few 24mo Scenarios Renegotiate Lines of Credit Relationships Quick Wins for New Customers Flexibility on Contract Terms Offer Deals Transition underperformers Travel / Office Marketing Software RIF Focus on Customers 1 Cost Savings 2 GOV Programs 3 Credit 4 Controller Roundtable
RemoteWork Productivity Communication Coming Back Maintain or Increase - Right Tools - Equipment - Mental Health - Ownership Do a lot of it - COVID Updates - Allhands Meetings - Team Updates - Social Donut - Digital Brain - Video On When allowed, what to think about - Mandatory? - Regulations? - Liability? - Office Team? Controller Roundtable
Best Practices in SaaS Management Gain Visibility Info All Contract Details Review Utilization Routinely Understand Sentiment of Users Centralize your location for contracts,including: - start & end dates - renewal terms - auto renewal - internal owner - finance owner Check utilization to understand who and how many employees are using the software — before renewal negotiations Are your users happy with the software? Understand satisfaction for all tools before beginning renewal negotiations Controller Roundtable
Panelist RaykhanBekimbetova Controller, (ISC)2 rbekimbetova@isc2.org
RaykhanBekimbetova • COVID-19 acted as an accelerator in gradual changes happening to the Controller’s role • Controller’s role has been evolving in the past several years, mainly due to technology advancements that pulled out the Controller out of the labor-intensive number crunching and close process • Recent GAAP pronouncements had also an impact since some of them nudged companies to upgrade their antiquated systems to be able to comply with those new rules
RaykhanBekimbetova • These are 3 ways in which my day to day work life changed during pandemic: • Closer collaboration with various departments, from sales to marketing to IT to help them navigate their budgets and forecasts in the face of uncertainty. • Continuously monitoring and adjusting the Cash projections in addition to weeding through countless of contracts to find cost savings • And most importantly regularly checking with my team on their well-being.
RaykhanBekimbetova • None of the above-mentioned responsibilities and tasks are new or different to my role, they have been gradually becoming part of my role for the past couple of years; COVID-19 made it obvious that these tasks are important part of my job and bring value to the company.
Panelist Roman Matatov Corporate Controller, Verana Health roman.matatov@outlook.com
Roman Z. Matatov • Managing during pandemic • Work, family, volunteering – balance it all under one roof • Slack/MS Teams and Zoom – take care not to not overdo it • Technical developments – calibrate LinkedIn and news feeds • Responsibility changes • Most responsibilities remain the same • Some are amplified – controls, facilities, insurance • Near-term priorities • Cash, culture, and communication
Thank You Controllers Council is a national community of Accounting and Finance professionals focused on resources and information, recognition, networking, and career services. Key Links: https://controllerscouncil.org https://controllerscouncil.org/about/board-of-advisors/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/controllers-council/ Upcoming Webcasts: July 16-Startup Scaled to IPO; August 6-Saved by the Controller
Resources Career Center: https://careers.controllerscouncil.org Resource Directory: https://controllerscouncil.org/resource-directory/ Events: https://controllerscouncil.org/events/ Articles: https://controllerscouncil.org/blog/