The Better Finance Podcast

In this episode of the Better Finance podcast, Myles Corson welcomes Joel Bernstein, CFO, Customer Success & Head of Global Finance at SAP. They discuss SAP's business model transformation, how finance functions adapted during the pandemic to accelerate investments in digital finance, and SAP's efforts to make environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting more transparent.

This special episode of the Better Finance Podcast features a conversation between Marc Siegel, EY ESG Reporting Thought Leader, and Janine Guillot, the Chief Executive Officer of the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF). Their discussion covers how the VRF is helping to streamline the evolving ESG reporting and disclosure landscape and how corporations should approach ESG strategy and capture, measure and report ESG data, engaging cross-functional teams.

In this special episode of the Better Finance podcast, Pat Grismer, Former CFO Starbucks, Hyatt Hotels and Yum Brands, and Cory Hrncirik, Microsoft Modern Finance Lead, join Myles Corson for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of finance. Their discussion covers the role of the CFO, the importance of a strong culture and why CFOs need to spend more time on talent, how the finance function can have an even greater impact in strategy and resource allocation, and the need for more data. © 2022 Ernst & Young LLP

Podcast host Myles Corson is joined by Sally Jones, EY UK Trade Strategy and Brexit Leader, and Nicolas Veron, Senior Fellow at Bruegel in Brussels, and Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington D.C. Together, they exchange insights on how two major incidents, Brexit and Covid-19, are reshaping trade policies and the CFO's role in the global environment.

The EY DNA of the CFO survey revealed an increased growth in data volumes, with 35 percent of the finance leaders significantly involved in providing data and analytics to reduce cost and improve effectiveness of their organizations. In this episode, podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Jennifer Crowe, CFO of CognitiveScale, and Anthony Sgammato, EY America's Private Assurance Leader to discuss how private company CFOs can identify and effectively use this rising amount of data to make a difference.  They explore how private company CFOs use data analytics to maintain a competitive edge. Tools such as business intelligence systems, artificial intelligence and cloud storage can offer insights from data, in real time. However, these tools may bring new challenges of cyber-attacks and staff and cultural issues.  © 2021 Ernst & Young LLP    

Myles Corson is joined by Fulya Kocak, senior vice president of ESG issues for National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit) and Serena Wolfe, chief financial officer of Annaly Capital Management. Together, they discuss the increasing stakeholder focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues within the real estate investment trusts (REITs) and the broader real estate sector. The conversation starts with a look at how the pandemic has influenced agility within REITs to become ESG change agents for other sectors. The impact of the global pandemic has pushed businesses to adapt and embrace innovative ideas for decision-making processes along with acting as agents for change. While it proved to be an adaptability test for almost all sectors, it was also an opportunity to identify gaps and issues that could be solved with great solutions. For real estate companies, the pandemic led to changes in how they operate including updates to cleaning protocols in anticipation of reopening of workspaces. Additionally, property owners and landlords invested in new technologies for indoor air quality, studied energy consumptions versus occupancy and witnessed an increase in health and wellness rating applications. Annaly Capital Management brought together its infrastructure, IT infrastructure and human capital in ways never considered before, in response to the magnified importance of emergency planning and system resiliency. Given the challenges faced through the pandemic, investors are not only focused on how businesses are responding to COVID, but also the business continuity plan. This shift in focus was also influenced by the acceleration in momentum to implement improved ESG practices and meet the changing expectations of stakeholders. From a CFO standpoint, it's about being proactive and instrumental in helping the company and the executive team define what ESG means for the company and industry. The CFO is now critical in managing change, assessing where their company is today and how to benefit from situations in the future. It's an opportunity to make a long-lasting, meaningful impact in the face of continued uncertainty and disruption.  Episode links: Leading with Purpose: Annaly 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report (July2021) Nareit's 2021 REIT ESG Dashboard The Sustainability Leader in You by Fulya Kocak 2021 Outlook for REITs and Commercial Real Estate: Risk and Resilience http://www.REIT.com/ESG How can the CFO evolve today to reframe finance for tomorrow? | EY - Global  © 2021 Ernst & Young LLP

In this episode of the Better Finance podcast, Myles Corson is joined by Dave O'Hara, corporate vice president and chief financial officer for Commercial Finance at Microsoft. Dave shares how his unconventional career path, going from public policy and economic development to a friend's software company, eventually led to being CFO of a major division in Microsoft. He attributes his career success to never staying too comfortable and embracing change, never backing down from a challenge, and finding the right mentor who will help you think differently and grow your career.

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Ryan Grimsland, Senior Vice President Corporate Finance and Treasurer at Lowe's Companies, and Loren Garruto, EY Partner and Global and Americas Corporate Finance Leader. Together, they discuss how finance can enable business to better manage unpredictable market behavior as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. They take a closer look at the challenges caused by the pandemic and how becoming more agile in forecasting and planning can help the business prepare for future disruptions.

Find out more about the role of tomorrow's CFO and the future skills of finance. Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Simon Bittlestone, CEO of Metapraxis, a financial analytics company, and Andrew Harding, chief executive of Management Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, which was created in 2017 when they brought together the American Institute of CPAs and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Brian Tomlinson, Director of Research, CEO Investor Forum, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), and Marc Siegel, a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and EY partner. Together they discuss the acceleration of ESG, or environmental, social and governance, issues in corporate reporting. Their conversation also considers the increasingly vital role ESG plays in investor communications and what investors are looking for companies to disclose. © 2021 Ernst & Young LLP

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Michael Keeler, Chief Executive Officer of LeaseAccelerator, to discuss how technology and managed services are transforming lease accounting. Together, they take a closer look at the challenges, administrative burdens and missed cost saving opportunities of large lease portfolios. The conversation continues with managed services and how technology is helping to automate, harmonize and simplify the leasing process and lease accounting compliance. © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Dr. Matthew Bell, EY's Asia Pacific Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) Leader, to discuss his varied career path and key findings from the 2020 EY CCaSS Institutional Investor survey, How will ESG performance shape your future? © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Marna Ricker, EY Americas Vice Chair – Tax. They discuss the depth of the US government response to COVID-19 and the impact the 2020 US presidential election will have on the tax landscape and overall economy. Their discussion also analyzes the role that technology has played in tax during COVID-19, and the types of technology and software CFOs and tax executives are seeking out to help them access more data at a faster pace. © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP

Trust is the foundation on which organizations can build stakeholder confidence and active participation with their AI systems. However, in the finance world, one mistake, or the perception of a mistake, can harm an organization's trust in the technology. How do finance functions build trust into their AI?  Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes Cathy Cobey, EY's Global Trusted AI Advisory Leader, to discuss how she helps organizations understand some of the new risks that AI brings and how, most importantly, they can start to create the right governance and control mechanisms. They explore the broad definition of AI, and its growing use in the COVID-19 landscape. With AI introducing new risks and impacts that have historically been the purview of human decision-making, organizations need a new framework for identifying, measuring and responding to the risks of AI to make it operational. © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP.

Podcast host Myles Corson welcomes back Paul Brody, EY Global Blockchain Leader, to discuss the evolution of blockchain and how it is enabling seamless transactions and near real-time exchange of information, to evolve into an open, scalable, compliant and secure public transaction system. #betterfinance © 2020 Ernst & Young LLP.

Winna Brown, Private Equity (PE) Leader in the EY Americas Financial Accounting Advisory Services practice, joins podcast host Myles Corson to discuss PE's ability to create operational value and its long-term outlook. Though traditionally seen as a tool for financial engineering and cost reduction, their conversation explores how companies can think about private equity at any point in its growth life cycle and why talent is at the top of the list in terms of private equity focus. #betterfinance © 2019 Ernst & Young LLP.

Andrew Hay, Head of Proposition, Statutory Reporting and Shared Service Centers at Thomson Reuters, joins podcast host Myles Corson to discuss how companies can standardize and centralize global finance operations by leveraging technology. Their conversation examines how the area of statutory reporting and tax compliance is evolving, the opportunities and challenges organizations have with standardization as they transform their organizations and address the risks of protecting financial data in the cloud. © 2019 Ernst & Young LLP.  All rights reserved.

This special podcast episode features an abridged recording of “When Great Technology Meets Great Finance Professionals” a panel discussion from the 2018 Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference hosted by Financial Executives International. The panel, moderated by Myles Corson, included David Fabricant, SVP, Global Record to Report Controller at American Express and Dan Werries, formerly Global Director for Finance Systems, Purchasing Systems and Analytics at the Dow Chemical Company and now VP Information Technology, Corporate Enablement at Intel Corporation. They discuss how integrating technology into the finance function can create more than just immediate efficiencies and cost savings.

Marc Siegel, a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and EY partner, joins podcast host Myles Corson to discuss key trends in corporate reporting. Their conversation takes a closer look at the influence of short-termism on an organization's long-term value story, the power of shareholder activism, the insatiable consumption of data by investors and other reporting challenges finance executives face today. © 2019 Ernst & Young LLP.  All rights reserved.

Kris Pederson, EY Americas Governance Leader, joins podcast host Myles Corson to discuss strategic and purpose-led transformation and the importance it has in communicating long-term value. ©2019 Ernst & Young, LLP. All Rights Reserved.

Tom Shea, Chief Executive Officer at OneStream Software, joins podcast host Myles Corson to discuss the role of corporate performance management (CPM) solutions in helping CFOs rationalize data and enabling managers across the enterprise make better business decisions. ©2019 Ernst & Young, LLP Limited. All Rights Reserved.

John Murphy, Executive Vice President and CFO at Adobe Inc. joins podcast host Myles Corson to discuss the role of the CFO in enabling digital transformation and its impact on the finance function. Ernst and Young, LLP © 2019.

Host Myles Corson and Chief Data Analytics Officer and Emerging Technologies Leader, Chris Mazzei, discuss the ways in which emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are impacting businesses and how finance executives are adapting to these changes. ©2018 Ernst & Young, LLP Limited. All Rights Reserved.

EY's Myles Corson and Global Vice Chair of Assurance, Felice Persico, discuss how finance is being redefined, in areas from reporting to auditing, and how finance leaders need to view technology as a tool for creating the finance function of the future.

EY's Myles Corson sits down with Microsoft Americas CFO Jack Ryder to talk about the evolving role of finance. Together, they discuss integrating real-time data with human analysis as well as Microsoft's four pillars for finance: People, Prioritization, Partnership and Protection.

With automation and integrated technology on the cusp of redefining today's accounting, function leaders need to be smart about how to efficiently and effectively implement new offerings. EY's Myles Corson sits down with BlackLine founder and CEO Therese Tucker to discuss a strategic shift in the way the function operates and redefining accounting as a critical partner in driving forward new business objectives.

The complexities of corporate reporting are increasing, driving the necessity to utilize technology to bring innovation to reporting and the finance function overall. EY's Myles Corson, Peter Wollmert and Dana Bober discuss this disruption and how to prepare finance professionals for the shift.

Artificial intelligence is on the rise, and applications like machine learning and speech recognition are positioned to transform the business landscape. EY's Myles Corson and Nigel Duffy, Global Innovation Artificial Intelligence Leader at EY, discuss how AI can enhance human insight.

Adapting and incorporating new technologies is leading the way for exponential change in companies. EY's Myles Corson and Deepak Krishnamurthy, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President at SAP, discuss emerging technologies and the role the startup community plays in innovation today.

EY's Myles Corson is joined by Leslie Seidman, chair of the recent Pacesetters in Financial Reporting Conference and Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Financial Reporting at the Lubin School of Business, for a discussion exploring enhancing financial reporting practices in a time of exceptional change.

Financial Executive International's 2017 Current Financial Reporting Issues Conference co-chairs, Sharon Virag and Heather Dixon, speak with EY's Myles Corson on how the financial reporting function can help their organizations evolve and change in the era of disruption.

Emerging technologies and innovation are changing the way tax functions operate. EY's Myles Corson and Jeff Saviano share insights on the transformation in tax, how the tax function is evolving to be more digital and the future skill set of the tax professional of the future.

How do technology and talent work best together? EY's Myles Corson and Tony Klimas discuss digital disruption's impact on the finance talent pool and how skill sets are changing in order to help finance deliver strategic insights for an organization.

Finance professionals are facing both demands to deliver information more quickly and requirements surrounding long-term value and measurement. EY's Myles Corson and Neri Bukspan talk about how finance professionals can navigate the diverging trends in financial reporting and deliver the most value to stakeholders.

Blockchain technology is poised to transform the finance function and has the potential to solve real business issues facing many companies today, tightly redefining the relationship between business operations and finance in ways that have never been possible before. EY's Myles Corson and Paul Brody discuss blockchain's revolutionary impact.

EY's Myles Corson and Mike Cowan discuss how the role of the finance function is changing and what that means for CFOs of the future.