Next-Gen Finance Leaders: Insights for Success

Evolving Roles of Next-Gen Finance Leaders:

The role of finance leadership is constantly evolving. Finance leaders today need more than just traditional financial reporting skills; they must drive business value with predictive and prescriptive roles. This insightful webinar features Josh Rappoport, VP of Finance at Acumatica, and Apurv Bansal, Cofounder at Zenskar, discussing the future of finance leadership and how to thrive in it.

Key Takeaways:

1. Evolving Finance Role: Finance has transformed from merely reporting past performance to driving business value with predictive and prescriptive insights, shaping future outcomes.
2. Essential Skills: Beyond financial analysis, finance leaders must excel in business partnering, storytelling, and understanding various business functions to collaborate and add value effectively.
3. Building Trust: Strong, trust-based relationships are built by showing genuine curiosity, understanding business challenges, and consistently providing valuable solutions.
4. Leadership Principles: Effective leaders align on guiding principles rather than specific outcomes, ensuring consistent, fair, and objective decision-making, especially in challenging times.
5. Continuous Learning: Successful finance professionals continuously learn, embrace different perspectives, and simplify complex issues, enabling them to adapt and lead in a dynamic business environment.

‍Speaker:

Josh Rappoport, VP of Finance at Acumatica

• Founder, Liondove Finance
• Ex-CFO, Airtm
• Over 30 years of experience in finance, including roles at Yahoo and Microsoft

Hosted By:

Apurv Bansal, Cofounder at Zenskar‍

Webinar Summary

1. What is the traditional role of the finance function, and how is it evolving?

Historically, the finance function was inward-looking, primarily focused on reporting what happened and why. Today, it has evolved to play a more outward-facing role, driving business value. Modern finance is not just descriptive or diagnostic, but predictive and prescriptive. The focus is on defining desired business outcomes and determining how to achieve them, rather than merely analyzing past performance.

2. What key skills are needed for modern finance leadership?

In addition to core financial skills, such as accurate financial analysis and attention to detail, modern finance leaders need strong business acumen. The ability to collaborate and partner with other departments is crucial. Finance leaders must also be able to tell stories using data, as this helps guide strategic decision-making and facilitates alignment across functions.

3. How can finance leaders work effectively with other business teams?

Finance leaders must proactively solve problems and add value. For example, at Acumatica, when the Chief Information Officer needed to evaluate infrastructure options, finance helped frame the challenge as an opportunity. By clarifying cash flow vs. profit and loss impacts and creating a business case for senior leadership, finance became a trusted partner in decision-making.

4. What differentiates a great finance leader from others?

A great finance leader is not just a number-cruncher. For example, in a tough decision around headcount reduction, I focused on principles rather than the outcomes. We prioritized roles critical for growth, which helped make difficult decisions easier and ensured they were aligned with clear strategic goals, maintaining trust and clarity throughout the process.

5. How do you cultivate strong business relationships as a finance leader?

Building relationships requires curiosity and genuine interest in others' challenges. Asking thoughtful questions—not to interrogate, but to understand—helps build trust. Finance can serve as the foundation of an organization, translating between departments like marketing, sales, and engineering, facilitating smooth communication across teams.

6. How do you approach decision-making during challenging times?

When faced with difficult decisions, I prioritize aligning on principles first. For instance, during a significant capital expenditure evaluation, my team focused on the business impact across the organization, reframing the challenge as a growth opportunity. This approach, grounded in mutual trust and understanding, helped us make informed, balanced decisions.

7. What advice would you give to aspiring finance professionals aiming for senior roles?

To advance in finance, focus on gaining a diverse set of experiences—such as advanced revenue recognition, operational expenses, and business strategy. But beyond technical skills, develop the ability to synthesize information from various areas of the business. As you progress, understanding the interconnections between these functions becomes crucial to making informed strategic decisions.

8. How can finance leaders foster a culture of learning and growth?

Encouraging a culture of continuous learning is essential. As I tell my team, "Be curious, ask questions, and embrace the unknown." Whether it’s learning the language of marketing or understanding the challenges faced by engineering, fostering curiosity helps finance leaders add value beyond the numbers and build trust within the organization.

9. What role does technology play in modern finance leadership?

Technology accelerates decision-making by providing real-time data, forecasting, and automation tools. At Acumatica, the use of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has enabled rapid scaling and timely financial insights, allowing finance to play a more proactive, strategic role in business decisions.

10. How do you balance depth vs. breadth in a finance career?

In the early stages, focus on developing deep expertise in key technical areas. However, as you progress, you must learn how to connect the dots between various business functions. The ability to synthesize insights and see the bigger picture is what differentiates senior finance leaders from others in the field.

11. Can you provide an example of leadership through difficult decision-making?

One of the toughest decisions I made involved a headcount reduction. By focusing on principles like role criticality, rather than individual performance, we made tough cuts while maintaining fairness and transparency. Aligning the team on clear principles helped us navigate the emotional aspects of the decision.

12. What is the future of finance leadership?

Finance leaders must evolve to become more integrated with business strategy, ensuring financial decisions align with broader organizational goals. As companies grow, the finance function will continue to move from a reactive entity to a more proactive partner in shaping business outcomes, especially through data-driven insights and cross-functional collaboration.