The End of the Beginning - An assessment of the current state of the US economy.

This panel will give participants the opportunity to hear the perspectives of CFOs and Controllers from diverse companies and how they are tackling and addressing some of the changes from COVID-19 that will define the “new normal” for business. Join this interactive discussion where leaders will share personal experiences and how they are helping frame business decisions.

As new cybersecurity threats continue to emerge, the ongoing challenges around proper risk mitigation remain a dynamic obstacle for both organizational leadership and individual users. Understanding and anticipating both technical and non-technical threats are key to managing the risks associated with a breach of confidential data. This session will cover the latest cybersecurity threat landscape and the risks and challenges that professionals faces in collecting, storing, processing and safeguarding sensitive information. Topics will include InfoSec governance, current cybersecurity threats/risks/mitigation, third-party and supply-chain risk, incident response and cyber liability insurance. The session will also include strategies for personally protecting your digital information.

Confidence is high in the employment market, especially for CPAs, controllers, FP&A and corporate finance leaders. The outlook is also upbeat as the economy recovers and businesses are hiring again. But with the return to a candidate-driven market, is your company prepared to face fierce competition for skilled financial talent?

How did you and your business handle projections during the coronavirus pandemic? Were you re-forecasting on a near-daily basis to reflect the rapidly changing scenarios? Was Excel your primary tool? What are your plans for the post-pandemic environment? Is your business planning to increasingly digitize? CFOs were definitely on the front-line during the pandemic, and will continue to be so, as businesses rely on them for rapid analysis and insight that inform critical business decisions.

Recent advances in data science and analytics have created tremendous opportunities for finance professionals to move beyond the limitations of Excel for planning and forecasting. This session will address why data science & analytics solutions are increasingly gaining popularity to solve business problems and create value.

Dashboards. A term so common in the enterprise software space - everyone seems to want them, and everyone seems to be selling them. But, what matters to you? Each business is unique, and although standard metrics and KPI's can be of some value when delivered out of the "box" with ERP and other tools, they may not hit the mark for your organization's needs -if you think deeply about what is most meaningful. In this session Bob Green and Michael Daoud, experienced Digital Transformation advisors to mid-market businesses, introduce the concept of "Minimum Viable Analytics" - and take the attendees on a journey from the determination of what the MVA can be for a business into the execution phase of getting the MVA delivered to the right people, with confidence and accuracy.  Let's go beyond whatever dashboard your vendors are pushing on you, and work on the hard part first: defining your Minimum Viable Analytics and the strategy for getting the MVA delivered to your business?

In this session we will look at the shifting trends around people, process and platform that is affecting accounting, finance and FP&A teams for the future.  Additionally, you will gain tactical and strategic knowledge to help your team and organization to change, adversity and opportunities.

Today’s Office of Finance leaders are once again becoming a resurgent force. They stepped up during the pandemic and met the challenges of forecasting unknown demand, often with limited technology and team resources. Just as impressive, many answered the call in the midst of a digital transformation that had to be paused. And now, these transformations need to be accelerated. It’s not enough to reduce waste to free up capacity; these leaders know they need to invest more in value-driving financial technology that deploys data and analytics securely at scale. That, while adopting cloud-based solutions, and keeping a focus on hiring, retaining, and developing the best digital skills in finance to take advantage of post-pandemic growth.

The resurging finance leader realizes that the current environment is the opportunity of a lifetime to lead the finance function of the future, but that this finance function needs radical transformation to seize market growth opportunities.

This is a defining moment for the Profession. CPAs and CGMAs have been thrust into the center of attention as they are called on to help businesses 'survive and thrive’ in these extraordinary times.

We are entering uncharted territory. A new world is upon us. Those who conquer it will be those who reimagine, redefine, and reinvent not only themselves and their businesses, but what it means to live and work in a post-pandemic world. This session will explore the mindset, skillset, and toolsets needed to lead in a post-pandemic world.

In this session we will dive into the area of emotional intelligence and how mastering a few EI skills can enhance your overall leadership skills. Leaders will walk away from this session with an emotional intelligence tool kit that can be immediately applied.