Podcasts about Workiva

In our final episode, Matt Kelly of Radical Compliance helps us make sense of the recent executive order that paused enforcement of the  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Funny enough, it does not in fact mean you can bribe anyone, Matt warns. While you couldn't bribe us to make more episodes of Off the Books, you can definitely check out seven seasons' worth of past episodes at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast. Follow the Workiva channel to catch the next podcast that Off the Books producer Mike Gravagno is cooking up next.

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/bdht76ck ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we explore how marketing, UX, and customer experience teams can collaborate to craft impactful, data-driven strategies. Our guests—Emily Carrion, CMO at Entrepreneurs'​ Organization; Katie Karr, a Senior User Experience Designer at Workiva; and Kristy Morrison, Director of Digital Marketing at F5,—share insights on cutting through digital noise, optimizing messaging, and leveraging user testing to create seamless experiences that drive business success. What you'll learn in this episode: The marketing challenge – Why understanding customer needs remains the foundation of great marketing, even as digital channels become increasingly noisy​. UX as a marketing advantage – How UX research and design play a critical role in communicating value to potential customers, especially since 80% of SaaS buyers research before speaking with sales​. The role of testing – How teams can use customer insights, A/B testing, and analytics (quant + qual) to optimize messaging, improve conversions, and enhance brand clarity​. Cross-team collaboration – Why breaking down silos between marketing, UX, product, and content teams leads to better customer experiences and stronger business impact​. Key Quotes from Our Guests:

Executive orders are starting to show up in 10-K filings, says Nick Mazing of AlphaSense. Hear how, as Steve and Catherine also ask Nick about what companies are saying on generative artificial intelligence, tariffs, inflation, and more: Find past episodes at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast. We want to hear from you! Email us at offthebooks@workiva.com with your thoughts and feedback. For more from our sponsor, Workiva, visit workiva.com.

Find past conversations at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast

This week, Mandi McReynolds, along with co-hosts Steve, Andie, and Alyssa, discuss the latest findings from Workiva's Executive Benchmark survey that explores the intersection of finance and sustainability amidst global political complexities. Highlighting the importance of integrated reporting, they address the impact of European legislation, ISSB standards, and U.S. state-level regulations. The conversation delves into the strategic value creation of sustainability reporting and offers practical advice for engaging with the C-suite.
 Read the 2025 Executive Benchmark on Integrated Reporting.  00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:35 Executive Benchmark Survey Insights 01:51 Impact of European Legislation on Companies 05:04 Global Implementation of ISSB Standards 07:48 State-Level Climate Regulations in the US 13:40 Value Creation Through Sustainability Reporting 18:52 Practical Tips and Humorous Insights 28:58 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

This episode of ESG Talk is a special crossover with the accounting and finance podcast, Off The Books! The momentum behind sustainability is changing around the world. How are companies adjusting their environmental, social, and governance programs as the political landscape shifts? Steve and Catherine ask Brandon Buhler, Chief Accounting Officer for Playa Hotels and Resorts, and Esther Toth, Senior Industry Principal at Workiva, about the future of sustainability. Read some original research on this topic here.

How is the shifting political landscape affecting environmental, social, and governance issues? Is ESG dead? Steve and Catherine ask Brandon Buhler, Chief Accounting Officer for Playa Hotels and Resorts, and Esther Toth, Senior Industry Principal at Workiva, about the future of sustainability. Read some original research on this topic at workiva.com/benchmark-2025

In this special bonus episode of ESG Talk recorded live at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mandi McReynolds sits down with Jill Klindt, CFO of Workiva, to discuss the interplay between sustainability and financial performance. They explore how emerging tech like generative AI is revolutionizing regulatory compliance and business processes, the evolving roles of chief sustainability officers, and the importance of integrating non-financial data in achieving company goals. Tune in for insights on sustainable innovation, growth strategies, and the future of ESG reporting.

In this replay episode of ESG Talk, we bring together our two-part series featuring Amalgamated Bank's CEO, Priscilla Sims Brown, CFO Jason Darby, and special guest host Kim Huffman, CIO of Workiva. Learn how Amalgamated Bank leverages technology to advance its mission-driven business model and actionable strategies for organizations looking to make an impact.

During Climate Week NYC, Workiva released a report with research on how companies are getting ready for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and how practitioners feel about it. Dig into the findings in this crossover episode with ESG Talk host Mandi McReynolds, Off the Books host Steve Soter, and Workiva Industry Principals Alyssa Zucker and Esther Toth. Check out the full report.

This week: Covers the potential impacts of the 2024 U.S. presidential election on climate policy, with anticipated rollbacks under a second Trump administration, including possible withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and increased fossil fuel production. However, strong state-level policies, investor demands, and market dynamics are likely to sustain sustainability progress. In addition, we recap Workiva's recent Amplify Conference in EMEA, where industry leaders discussed the complexity of financial and ESG reporting under regulations like the EU's CSRD. Keynotes emphasized the importance of cross-functional collaboration, digital transformation, and assured integrated reporting to meet stakeholder expectations in an evolving regulatory landscape.

Learn more about NetSuite Planning and Budgeting: https://tinyurl.com/bdhm7phf   In this special episode of the NetSuite Podcast focusing on the CFO's agenda for 2025, cohost Megan O'Brien sits down with Jess Wijesekera, SVP of Global Accounting at Vytalize Health, a leading value-based care platform. They start the episode by discussing Jess' background and what brought her to her current role [1:55]. Jess then delves into Vytalize Health and its exponential growth over the last several years [6:26]. Megan and Jess discuss technology and talent issues [15:49]. They end the podcast episode by covering Vytalize Health's priorities for 2025 [31:52].   Follow Us Here:   Vytalize Health: https://www.vytalizehealth.com/   Jess Wijesekera LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-wijesekera-7290196/   Oracle NetSuite LinkedIn: https://social.ora.cl/6000wKFhC X (Twitter): https://social.ora.cl/6007wK2zD Instagram: https://social.ora.cl/6003wK2Hv Facebook: https://social.ora.cl/6005wK2Dv   #NetSuite #CFOAgenda, #Accounting   --------------------------------------------------------   Episode Transcript:   00;00;04;21 - 00;00;28;20 Hello, all you Suite listeners. Thank you so much for tuning in to the NetSuite podcast. I'm Megan O'Brien, a co-host of the podcast. Now you all are in luck because today's episode marks the start of a mini series we are doing called The CFO Agenda. As we approach the end of 2024, we wanted to gauge what's on the docket for finance and accounting leaders.   00;00;28;23 - 00;00;50;23 In the first installment of the series, we have Jess Wijesekera, SVP of Global Accounting for Vytalize Health, a leading value based care platform. If you attended SuiteWorld or if you tuned into NetSuite OnAir to watch the main keynote, you would have seen her make an appearance with NetSuite Founder and EVP Evan Goldberg.   00;00;50;25 - 00;01;19;08 Vytalize Health has grown by a casual 90,778% over the last three years, so this episode is a great pulse check on what high-growth companies are prioritizing this coming year. We talk all about Jess' background and her current role of Vytalize Health, the company's exponential growth, and her plans for 2025. With that, let's go ahead and dive in.   00;01;19;11 - 00;01;45;23 You're listening to the NetSuite Podcast, where we discuss what's happening within NetSuite, why we're doing it, and where we're heading in the future. We'll dive into the details about the software and the people at NetSuite who are behind all the moving parts. We'll also feature customer growth stories discussing the ups and downs of running a company and how one integrated system can help your business continue to scale.   00;01;45;25 - 00;02;03;26 Hi, Jess. How are you today? Hey, Megan. Good. Really great to be here. Good. We're so happy to have you. Yeah. Thank you. All right, well, we're going to dive right in because we have so much to cover. We want to hear, first of all, about your background. Did you always know that you wanted to get into accounting?   00;02;03;29 - 00;02;26;29 I did not. But I was always very good at organizing people and organizing projects. And I think that organization has always really been a part of who I am. It's going to sound silly, but in kindergarten I used to and tell them where and how to jump rope, and they always just happily listened to what I had to say.   00;02;26;29 - 00;02;57;23 And I felt really like a natural leader and I knew I wanted to do something that captured my personality. So, for me, accounting is just a really nice because it's taking project management and organization and unpacking a puzzle takes a lot of patience, which I'm learning to have a lot of patience, but it takes a lot of kindness for interacting with other departments and some tenacity with dealing with service providers.   00;02;57;23 - 00;03;31;23 So, I didn't know I always wanted to do it, but it is feeling like a really good fit. I couldn't help but stalk you a little bit on LinkedIn. You majored in accounting at Villanova, which is where I went. Yeah, Wildcats, you know, so I know I just had a great experience there and I chose it really because they had a very solid business school and I had this accounting professor who taught financial accounting, and he told me that accounting was the hardest major in the business school.   00;03;31;26 - 00;03;58;08 And if I could do accounting, that I could do anything, I could do finance, I could do management, I could do marketing. And he was really right. And I followed my accounting degree up with a master's in finance at Boston College. And it's really worked well, I think, to have this understanding of everything that's accounting is past and everything that's finance is future and we meet in the present.   00;03;58;12 - 00;04;28;26 So it's kind of helped shape my career and where it's gone. That is such a cool perspective on it. And, and speaking of your career, could you talk a little bit about your past roles and your path to where you are now? Yeah, so like many accounting majors, I started at the Big Four, so I was at EY and I stayed longer than most. I was there about 15 years and I did a grand tour of about four offices.   00;04;28;29 - 00;04;55;29 So, I started in Palo Alto, and then did Boston, San Francisco, and I also did a three year secondment in the London office. And every time I felt I was going to leave public accounting, I stayed because I got a new opportunity or worked on a new client or with a new team. And it was this feeling that I could really add value, but also learn something completely new, which added to my skill set.   00;04;56;02 - 00;05;20;15 And I can't even tell you the number of times that I've cried in an audit room. I do think about those experiences and really how it shaped me. I got to work on Warner Brothers and Hawaiian Airlines, and towards the end of my career there, I was a national instructor for 606 when that Rev Rec standard was completely new and nobody knew what to do.   00;05;20;15 - 00;05;48;11 So that helped me with my foundation for where I am now. But after 15 years I decided to go into industry, so I started as an assistant controller. I was at a bottling company and my very first day on the job I realized I've never booked a journal entry in my whole life and a few roles since I have taken on kind of new areas of responsibility and kept growing my own skillset.   00;05;48;13 - 00;06;14;09 And I'm actually really lucky now to have brought on a couple of people I've worked with in the past, you know, kind of through EY and other companies because we just really enjoy working together. So that all of that brought me to my life. Well, I mean, I don't think you've really worked for a Big Four unless you've cried somewhere in an office, so you, you sent that experience home. Probably an office without windows.   00;06;14;11 - 00;06;40;07 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did my crying in a phone booth, so. Yeah, yeah, No windows. We're all here now. We're all here. And better for it. So speaking of Vytalize, you ended up joining Vytalize Health about two years ago? Can you tell our listeners a little bit about what Vytalize Health does? Yeah, so Vytalize is a value-based care company.   00;06;40;09 - 00;07;10;11 Value-based care is a collection of doctors and service providers and payers that work collectively to have better outcomes for patients. And coincidentally, that's usually at a reduced cost. So, what we do is sit between the primary care physician and CMS, which is the Center for Medicare Services. So we help our physicians strengthen the relationship that they have with their patients.   00;07;10;13 - 00;07;41;13 And if we succeed in that and meet certain quality metrics and achieve these better health outcomes, then CMS as the payer, they give us a share of that. So, I'll use a fancy terminology, but it's really aligning incentives, right? So, we're all incentivized for providing better, higher quality care, not necessarily more care. And it's really working because we're giving these doctors more time to spend with their patients.   00;07;41;13 - 00;08;18;00 So, we provide services like care coordination and virtual home care, in-home care. And it's particularly important for the Medicare population. You know, if you think about 65 plus and then people that are, you know, often not able to get to the doctor, in-home care is so critical. And really, we see ourselves as an extension of the physician so that we operate as part of their practice and really preventing hospitalizations and improving the quality of life and, you know, for an accounting major, that's certainly something I can get behind.   00;08;18;00 - 00;08;42;02 And, you know, the mission and kind of what we're doing, it feels really good. What does a typical day in your shoes look like? So like many companies in the pandemic, we went remote. So I have a little office that I use in a coworking space and I bring my puppy with me and we have a lot of meetings.   00;08;42;02 - 00;09;07;10 So back-to back-video meetings, I do a lot of meetings direct with one on ones, with my direct reports. We are constantly meeting with our EY tax team, Connor Group accounting specialists, so treasury and tax report through me. And then I just took on the FP&A function as well. So, this week was a lot of meeting with department heads to try and craft our budget.   00;09;07;12 - 00;09;34;04 But I find my typical day is really helping my team make good decisions and collaborative points of view and just making sure that we're prioritizing the right thing at the right time. Because like so many companies growing as quickly as we are, you know, you're this can be really long and kind of helping decide what comes first and what can come when, as you know, is a really big part of my job when I also have the puppy.   00;09;34;04 - 00;09;57;04 So she's as cute as can be. And we try and get out of some walks in between all of the meetings. Yeah. So for our frequent listeners, the puppies she's referring to is actually the guide dog puppy that attended SuiteWorld that we talked about in our SuiteWorld. recap. We are obsessed with Mayberry. I think she might be the new NetSuite mascot she's so sweet.   00;09;57;04 - 00;10;19;10 So she's training to become a guide dog for the blind. And I'll have her through next June. And she's part of the Walnut Creek Club here in the San Francisco Bay Area. And she's just a little delight. So her having her experience SuiteWorld in Vegas, I think opened her eyes. I mean, she's doing really great.   00;10;19;12 - 00;10;53;13 She did so good. She was all scared of the casino. Yeah, we all are. So Vytalize Health has this crazy growth trajectory. So the company ranked number one on the Inc. 5000 across all industries after achieving $1.5 billion in revenue for 2023 and a three-year revenue growth rate of 90,778%. Can you delve into the Vytalize Health's growth story and how that all came about?   00;10;53;15 - 00;11;22;19 Yeah. So Megan, work with me here on some math backwards. So to get to 1.5 billion, that means we started as a single health care practice. So we had one practice. It was in Rockland, Maryland, and it still exists, but we've grown from about one medical practice to over 200, I'm sorry, 2600 primary care physicians. We found that we were very good at these additional services.   00;11;22;19 - 00;11;49;15 Right. The care coordination and helping the physicians make better decisions. And instead of growing our own practices, the business went through kind of the modeling approach that we would instead partner with physicians and they would join our value based care program, which is it's called Accountable Care Organizations. So those practices joined our ACO and we taught them value-based care.   00;11;49;18 - 00;12;18;21 And through that we shared a part of our savings with them. And in that model, we were really able to grow quickly. So we went from, you know, just a few thousand Medicare beneficiaries to now over 260,000 patients. And that's a staggering number because we're probably taking care of someone that, you know, and it's part of Medicare's goal to have every Medicare patient in an ACO by 2030.   00;12;18;24 - 00;12;41;04 So for people who don't know what value-based care is, all of the sudden they must participate in value-based care by 2030, in six years we'll be there. And Vytalize is really helping with that transition. And it's working. It's working really well. We're seeing a lot improved outcomes for patients and decreased hospital hospitalizations. And yeah, it's going really well.   00;12;41;10 - 00;13;06;23 Yeah, clearly, clearly clear. So were there any challenges that came with this rapid growth? And if so, how did Vytalize help tackle them? Do you remember Facebook? They used to have this tagline and slogan and it said, ‘Move fast and break things,' right? And I was googling it recently and I was like, I think they have abandoned that tagline.   00;13;06;25 - 00;13;35;10 Yeah, maybe with the move to Meta, they're like, Yeah, maybe not and break things. Yes. So that's the hardest part, right? Is because you can move too quickly and break things and sometimes that's an okay thing. But a lot of the times we should really be adding a lot more thought, a lot more time and a lot more considerations to some of the larger decisions that are going on.   00;13;35;10 - 00;14;02;29 So really, to me, the biggest challenge with this rapid growth is taking the time and the thought process to really think through decisions and not move as quickly as you can. So one of the other things that we've done to kind of circumvent that is adding a policy and procedures committee and a policy and procedures role in our organization.   00;14;02;29 - 00;14;37;20 And I'm not going to take any credit for that because it was already in existence and it was already working really well. But we were able to then write some policies pretty early on that helped our controls and helped our vendor contracts who could engage if vendor who could approve a payment. And a lot of those early policies and we're still writing them, but a lot of those early policies helped us, you know, be able to go to the rest of the business and say, ‘Hey, you know, you can't X, Y, Z because of this policy' or ‘You can, but you must do it in this way.'   00;14;37;24 - 00;15;07;28 And kind of making that consistent across the organization was really helpful for me. Well, that kind of leads into a good question for our listeners here. Any best practices for companies that might be looking to grow or any pitfalls to avoid? I think growth in general is having good technology to scale, right? So how do we make something a repeatable process and how do we put it in a system to be able to make it repeatable?   00;15;08;01 - 00;15;39;14 My app director, Lisa Kemper, and I joke all the time that life is full of one-offs, right? Like this is all a one off and if you're tackling something over here and over there, you would need 300 people in your accounting department to be able to support all of the one-offs. So, we very much we do use this Policy and Procedures Committee, but we're also standing up a lot of our tech products and using NetSuite to be able to get, you know, some standardization.   00;15;39;14 - 00;16;07;11 But also I'll call it kill the one offs, right? We can't be doing an exception. Everything has to fit into a process and become part of the rule. And how has Vytalize Health been using NetSuite? Oh my gosh. We're big, you know, signing some new statements of work all the time. So, yes, I love it. I know the one we just signed was the budgeting and planning tool right now.   00;16;07;11 - 00;16;33;05 So we started with the financials and budgeting and planning. But I would say we're really starting to use a lot of the subledgers in the way that they were intended to be used, and that has been really helpful for us. So, our biggest NetSuite, and I spoke about this at SuiteWorld, is our bank reconciliations. We have, you know, 47 bank accounts and transactions galore.   00;16;33;11 - 00;16;58;00 Right? And sort of as we talk about standardization and automation and killing, the one offs, what we're doing is making sure that we can put something in a process and make it repeatable. And the bank reconciliation module has started to learn the way that we're matching off our bank recs and the way that we're matching off transactions. And it will start to do that for us.   00;16;58;00 - 00;17;21;05 So every time we make a bill payment debit this account credit that account it learns it and then it'll just do it in the background and then we approve it. So this used to take three people their whole full-time job. Not to mention there are a lot of errors in this process. And now that we actually turned on the bank rec module, it's kind of all working for us in the background.   00;17;21;05 - 00;17;47;26 And I was even talking with my accounting manager, Kelly Allen, and I said yesterday I was like, Kelly, how's the bank matching going? And she's like, ‘You know, I don't even hear about it.' It's really working for us. And, and it's been helpful to start to automate these things so we don't have to think about it. And it previously it just felt like we were playing catch up, you know, 45 days.   00;17;47;29 - 00;18;06;14 It would take us to close the books. And, you know, 45 days ago was the end of August or August is long gone by now. Right? We're making business decisions all the time. Do we need more? You know, funding from investors? We want to take a loan, whereas, you know, where are these larger payments coming from? We're going to we can't wait 45 days for anything.   00;18;06;14 - 00;18;32;25 So it's helped us, you know, make some real-time decisions. Well, why is having a strong tech stack so important for Vytalize Health specifically and how did it perhaps help facilitate some of the massive growth that you mentioned previously? We had a previous controller at Vytalize and every time we needed financials, he would say, okay, like I need three days.   00;18;32;27 - 00;19;02;08 He would take, you know, we had QuickBooks and, you know, it was the right size and shape for us when we started. So, we're using QuickBooks and he would take three days to prepare a consolidation and then to do the elimination journal entries. And that was a very manual effort. And three days of those financials and, you know, the manual errors that could exist.   00;19;02;08 - 00;19;23;13 And, you know, it was almost like, well, I don't need it anymore that I asked for that three days ago. We've moved on. That wasn't at least, you know, last week. So finally I looked at him and I was like, we have to get this in NetSuite and we have to do like journal entries and post them on the system.   00;19;23;13 - 00;19;43;21 And, you know, we're going to need elimination entries and we're going to need to have this reporting in a moment's notice. And, you know, when we ask for the report, I need it in 20 minutes, not three days. So we moved it all into NetSuite We've also gotten a tool called Workiva and Workiva connects to NetSuite.   00;19;43;21 - 00;20;09;08 And I'll give a shout out to Ryan Mueller, who's our senior manager of tech accounting and NetSuite syncs with Workiva so we can produce financial statements and reports at a moment's notice. And I can say, you know, I want the Q2 report to investors and I want that Q2 report to include these entities and Workiva pulls the information from NetSuite.   00;20;09;08 - 00;20;32;08 And then we can have it ready for an investor immediately. And that has really been a game changer for us. We do a lot of reporting. We have board members and boards of each of our ACOs, so there's about six of those. We need frequent reporting for about six different entities. And then on top of that, we're supporting an audit from Deloitte right now.   00;20;32;08 - 00;20;58;13 For us to pull all of this reporting very quickly and only, you know, I have a team of five here in the US doing accounting, and that is really essential for us to have these tools so that we can, you know, keep our headcount costs low, keep the work interesting for the people that are here, and be also, you know, be providing that to investors.   00;20;58;15 - 00;21;24;18 NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud financial system is everything you need to grow all in one place. Financials, inventory, HR, and more. Make better decisions faster so you can do more and spend less. See how at netsuite.com/pod. Well, can you imagine the poor controller just getting an email saying, ‘Hey, we want the numbers' and thinking, ‘Well, there goes three of my days.'   00;21;24;21 - 00;21;47;29 My god, I'd be dreading emails. Yeah. And, you know, sad story about QuickBooks. You have to have separate legal entities. So, we had 16 legal entities that he had. Like, you can't run a report. So we got a bolt on tool. So it's fun. But you know, just to sort of highlight like if you think you can do it, it could probably be done.   00;21;47;29 - 00;22;13;10 So moving to the new technology helped us immensely. Yeah, thank god. Thank god for saving the controller on a click of a button. We've kind of alluded to this, but you participated in a keynote with NetSuite Founder and EVP Evan Goldberg at SuiteWorld this year. What was that experience like? It was so cool. That was really just kind of a highlight for me.   00;22;13;15 - 00;22;35;08 I think the best part was people coming up to me afterwards and saying, you know, they resonate with my message or, you know, they really liked whatever point I had to make. And, you know, yeah, it's cool to be on stage and meet Evan. But really, for me, it kind of came full circle when people, you know, could kind of even tell me back what I said, did I say that?   00;22;35;10 - 00;22;57;26 But yeah, that was that was a really great experience and, you know, fun to kind of share how Vytalize is doing. And, you know, this big award has, has really opened a lot of doors for the company as well. One of the anecdotes really stuck out to me personally in your keynote with Evan was how someone on your team essentially automated himself out of his job doing bank reconcilations.   00;22;57;28 - 00;23;21;26 But he ended up moving to FP&A, which arguably more of a value add for the company. So as more manual task and accounting and finance are automated, what do you think the future of those functions will look like? Yeah, and I have this funny title. My title is global, which you know, often means it's a global company.   00;23;21;28 - 00;23;48;29 But for me, this global title is actually represents to the people on my accounting team and we are all over the world. So the individual who automated himself out of his job, Dether, sits in the Philippines. So it's kind of this added layer, Meggan, that, my goodness, an outsourced role in the Philippines, just automated himself out of a job.   00;23;49;01 - 00;24;21;13 But the people are working to offshore stuff, but like my offshore person is working to automate. And just a quick update on Dether: he has been so helpful with the budgets for us. We are going through our budgeting process right now, as so many companies are, and that budgeting process is really leading to a lot of great conversations with our department heads about what costs we're needing, what vendors we're going to be needing for next year, what strategic initiatives do we have to plan more costs for, where is more revenue to compensate for that?   00;24;21;15 - 00;24;45;29 And he has been so incredibly helpful in that role and I think it's very fulfilling for him so often times, you know, what is the future of the function looks like? It just looks like it's at a higher level and we are starting at the baseline is just moving up, right? So your entry-level position is just doing higher quality work.   00;24;46;01 - 00;25;10;07 Hopefully fewer tears in the audit room now. I think the tears will exist, but I do think people will have a more fulfilling job, start for themselves right out of college or right into the workforce. What skills do you think will become must haves and kind of this new normal? Yeah, I think the go-to skill for me is just a willingness to learn.   00;25;10;10 - 00;25;44;25 You know, I think I even told Evan on stage I don't know everything and I really don't, but at least I know where I can look it up. Or I might know who to ask or, you know, in me and in my team is this willingness to learn and the willingness to change. And I think kind of that positive outlook and that positive environment is something that will forever be a must have, especially as we have all these new these new automation ideas and everything that's new and exciting.   00;25;44;27 - 00;26;09;28 We really just have to embrace it. And getting a little more granular here. What are you looking for when hiring talent? Are there any kind of talent gaps that you are trying to fill? Yeah, and I think especially as a scaling company, I think in any organization you often wear many hats, but as I'm scaling, I'll just use my senior manager of accounting projects as my go to example.   00;26;09;28 - 00;26;36;25 But I'd worked with him before and when I hired him I was like, ‘I just I need help.' And the first thing he says, all the time, Rob Dulgarian, is how can I help? And it's this willingness to learn new skills and the willingness to you know, get in and get your hands dirty, figure something out and, you know, kind of right size, whatever it is that you're working on that.   00;26;36;28 - 00;27;08;13 And that's a skill that the skill that I'm looking for when I hire people, you know, people we have people in Jordan, we have people in the Philippines, and we have people in the US, and kind of across the board. Anytime we're hiring, that's really what we're looking for is, you know, I've never done that before and I don't know how I'm looking for people that say, you know, I've never done that before, but let me explore, you know, how it's just this really positive outlook and where we are.   00;27;08;13 - 00;27;39;27 We especially get that from our global team members. They're just ever so, ever helpful. How do you assuage some of the fears in your team and your leadership, whatever it might be, about being automated out of a job? How do we get people to kind of embrace automation and AI and not really fear it? So I admittedly was unsuccessful at this at my last position, and I have been unsuccessful at this before.   00;27;39;29 - 00;28;24;18 I think it takes the tone from the top and really having, you know, the board, the C-suite, your investors, having those individuals excited and ready to embrace change is where it starts from because not to throw a cliche out there, but it really will all trickle down and having them excited and on board. At my last job, I think the only one that was excited and on board and it was really hard to get change, to get people excited about doing something else because, you know, they often have fear of losing their position and that that fear is very normal and very understandable.   00;28;24;18 - 00;28;51;05 But I think that as long as the, you know, the top of the company is willing to be flexible and encourage that change, I think it'll be a lot more effective. The accounting profession, it's been the news recently due to a shortage of professionals entering the role. So as a leader in accounting, how do you think companies can combat that shortage and attract accounting talent to their teams?   00;28;51;10 - 00;29;17;13 I feel like I'm going to bring this answer back to your previous questions, right? So it feels like automating and, you know, kind of holistically globally, looking at the talent workforce that's there. I mean, I think that's how companies are going to be able to continue to succeed. I kind of saw at the tail end of my career at EY how it was harder to get new accountants in.   00;29;17;13 - 00;29;57;15 And then also combined with COVID, was very difficult to start training people without being without being on site and in the same place together to be able to train. So, you know, from my perspective, I think it'll flex and change over time. Maybe I should teach some more accounting classes and get people excited about being accounting majors. But, you know, I, I do very much think it'll be a combination of roles like global accounting roles throughout the world, combined with this idea of people really embracing and getting change and automation and up and running and tech stack too.   00;29;57;15 - 00;30;31;17 I think one of the other things I wanted to mention is that we've been using Numero and Numero is a tool that we've used through Connor Group. And what Numero does is extract key terms out of documents and summarize technical accounting. So we're using AI to write our technical accounting memos, future state, and we're using a lot of this AI to kind of take and develop things that we would have done manually.   00;30;31;17 - 00;30;56;04 And you don't even think about how manual it is to create a technical accounting memo. But, you know, if I can give this bot a topic and my three lease agreements that can write an ASC 42 memo for me and you know, how cool is that? Because basically what we're doing then is taking the people who used to prepare the work and making them reviewers instead.   00;30;56;06 - 00;31;16;22 And I do think there are some additional challenges of like, how do you review something you've never prepared? But, you know, I think it'll create higher value work earlier in the process for people when they're launching their accounting careers. Yeah, I think taking some of the tedium out of it is going to be huge. So much tedious.   00;31;16;24 - 00;31;38;29 So much teedious staff work. Yeah. And now we have technology. Yeah. I wish I were starting my career now. I think I might consider an accounting career. If we had the. No, I would be terrible at accounting. I'm not organized enough. But then again, I could talk you into it. But maybe someday. But not today. I do come from a family of accountants.   00;31;38;29 - 00;32;06;02 Unknown My family is in medicine. So some helpful lessons for me. Yeah. For a health care company. Yeah. You blended it. Yes. So it was both. Well, we're kind of like coming up on the end of the year, so I wanted to pick your brain kind of around your 2025 agenda. So as SVP of accounting, what are your top priorities going into 2025?   00;32;06;05 - 00;32;32;07 So we are building out all kinds of really great reporting. So we're using the NetSuite Budgeting and Planning tool to also do our financial reporting for us. So what we're doing this year is building our budgets and we're building them at the vendor level. So it'll be able or it'll give us the opportunity to really analyze our budget versus actual at a new level that we've never done before.   00;32;32;07 - 00;32;57;25 So we're pretty excited about that. And then also meeting more regularly with our department heads to be able to have them reflect on how the month went, but then also make any changes in the future, planning for their new hires and any vendor expenses they have. And really, you know, having a well thought out budget and meeting that budget in 2025 is really our biggest priority.   00;32;57;28 - 00;33;22;22 Well, that's huge because, I mean, we keep writing about it, but the role of finance and accounting is becoming so strategy driven, so much about partnering across the rest of the business instead of kind of, you know, reporting after the fact to everyone. It's like working with them and collaborating during the process. Yeah, yeah. And seeing what new contracts are in the pipeline.   00;33;22;22 - 00;34;00;09 How are we going to take those contracts and pull certain levers to be able to maximize them? Yeah, there's a lot to kind of account marrying together, accounting and finance. Are there any challenges that you are worried about or anticipating? Yeah, I think the making sure that as an accounting department we remain inserted into each of the other operating units of the business and that we're working closely with the finance team and kind of ears to the ground with what's going on and when and being able to influence and do that at a much earlier time period.   00;34;00;09 - 00;34;36;21 So I am I am anticipating that to be a new challenge for us. But yeah, we're excited to work on that. And actually, my same bank reconciliation manager who used to do that, this is his new job instead. So we'll hopefully report back on how it goes with his new role. I love it. As advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning, RPA, all that proliferate, do you have any plans to upskill or reskill your existing workforce in the next year and how are you anticipating going about it?   00;34;36;28 - 00;35;07;20 Yeah, so Megan, this answer just makes my heart sing. So we are using our offshore Philippines team to use AI. So our offshore team is going through all of the contracts for us and they're using an AI tool, actually the same AI tool Numero. They're using that tool to go through all of the key contracts that we have and extract the key terms of the contracts.   00;35;07;23 - 00;35;44;07 That is a very typical, you know, staff one accountant role, right? That's what I did as a staff one accountant, and that was my whole job. So now it's been done by a computer. So cool. And it's being reviewed by, by somebody who's offshore and that I mean, it just really makes my heart sing because we're taking this lower-level work and giving more interesting work to the people who are onshore because now they're looking at these contracts and doing things in a way that that they wouldn't have the opportunity to do.   00;35;44;07 - 00;36;05;06 It's often hard to review your own work, right? So now we're getting new skill. We're just going to upskill the people that we have. I think our business right now, we're mainly focused on the current contracts that we have and then expanding our patient population within those contracts. So we're not necessarily taking on new physician practices.   00;36;05;06 - 00;36;28;06 So I think our accounting department will stay steady, but that is the thing we always like to keep on top of our finance folks to see how are we growing the business and how should we grow our accounting department as well. From a broader technology perspective, do you have any goals going into the next year? Yeah, I think just the great financial reporting.   00;36;28;06 - 00;37;01;16 And then we also have Salesforce as a system, and I was super excited to see Evan announce that Salesforce integrations are going to be made a lot easier. So from a tech stack perspective, we are going to start getting the information from Salesforce into NetSuite. And we're yeah, we're pretty excited about that because there's a lot of work that we do with onboarding our customers and that customer onboarding happens in Salesforce, but then it should become part of the customer record that's in NetSuite.   00;37;01;16 - 00;37;30;16 And right now, that's a manual process for us. So having Salesforce integrated would be, would be a really nice to have. Does Vytalize House as a whole company have any overarching objectives going into 2025? Yeah, so very much pure and stable growth. We are really focused on keeping the current physicians that we have and, and as I mentioned, the patients that we're serving or the Medicare patients.   00;37;30;16 - 00;37;56;01 Right. So if you imagine the doctor physician that you go to is your primary, maybe that primary care physician has 2000 patients and 500 of them are Medicare patients. Right. So those 500 lives, that's what's included in our count, right? That 260,000 that I mentioned before. So what we're trying to do next is get access to the other patients.   00;37;56;01 - 00;38;19;19 Right. That would look like contracts with Blue Shield or contracts with Aetna and other payers to be able to influence care over those lives as well. So I'll call that organic growth because we already have those relationships with the PCPs in place. But what we're wanting are contracts and relationships with the other payers, so that that's 2025 for us.   00;38;19;19 - 00;38;39;13 It sounds so exciting. I know. I feel like this business was so hard for me to understand and like the 10th time someone explained it to me, I got it. So I'm sure you guys are getting it in more than more than ten Innovation items. But yeah, it is a really exciting business here. We're thrilled to be a part of it.   00;38;39;17 - 00;39;12;14 Wrapping up here, just you have such a fascinating story coming in, like coming in and working for this high growth company. Is there any final thoughts or takeaways to leave our listeners with? Yeah, and one thing I do on my personal life is that I keep a gratitude journal and it helps me have a really positive mindset and having a positive mindset leaves me open for learning and growth of my personal development.   00;39;12;16 - 00;39;39;26 So I think that's one thing that's just really helped me to stay on top of my game of staying positive and kind of a can-do attitude. You know, I'm certainly not that way all the time. And sometimes my team shakes and says, Just pull back together. But I do really think that, you know, kind of being grateful for where we're at, how well we've done shapes us to have some positivity going into our next chapter for finals.   00;39;40;00 - 00;39;59;02 I love it. What a good note to end on. So being grateful really keeps you open for learning more. Jess, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me. And again, I really am grateful for the opportunity. All right. Back to my journal today. Thank you so much, Megan.   00;39;59;06 - 00;40;26;21 Yeah, thank you. That brings us to the end of another great episode. It's such a great opportunity to get the perspective directly from a high-growth company and from someone like Jess, who has been there and facilitated so much of it. I think it was especially rewarding to hear how she personally was starting to implement AI in the accounting department to increase efficiency as the company expands.   00;40;26;23 - 00;40;47;10 Huge thanks to Jess for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat with us. And as always, a big thanks to our wonderful editing team over at Oracle and to all of you for tuning in. If you want more episodes just like this one, make sure you subscribe to our channel and give us a rating and review until next time.   00;40;47;13 - 00;40;59;08 You just listen to the NetSuite Podcast. Be sure to tune in every week with more NetSuite developments, stories, and insights into the benefits of one integrated system to help you run your business.

Switching companies is one thing. Switching roles is another. Chelsea Hall was a corporate controller and Alyssa Zucker was a chief sustainability officer before they joined Workiva as industry principals. Today their backgrounds help Workiva develop solutions specifically tailored to serve people in Chelsea's and Alyssa's former roles.While they're still new to Workiva, we asked their advice for stepping into a new job and a role that not everyone knows exists.

We caught up with Matt Kelly of Radical Compliance at the annual Workiva Amplify conference for his thoughts on that and a look at what the Securities and Exchange Commission said about SolarWinds. Matt's opinions in the podcast are his own, and do not represent Workiva.Find more episodes at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast. 

In this week's episode of ESG Talk, Anke Ehlers, managing director of international sustainability at the ALDI SOUTH Group, joins Workiva's Andie Wood to discuss the complexities of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Tune in as they discuss what this new regulation means for European companies and the steps the ALDI SOUTH Group, one of the world's largest supermarket chains, is taking to prepare for its implementation.

Coming to you live from Workiva Amplify! Join your hosts Adam and Allison as they dive into the recent EFRAG study unpacking key findings from companies navigating their early implementation of the EU's CSRD.EFRAG Study on Early Implementation of ESRS

Recorded live at Amplify Americas, this special episode of ESG Talk features Ron Insana, award-winning journalist from CNBC, moderating an insightful discussion with industry leaders: Katherine Neebe, Chief Sustainability Officer at Duke Energy; Alexander Davis, Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Pie Insurance; Maura Hodge, KPMG's U.S. sustainability leader; and Kim Huffman, Chief Information Officer at Workiva. Together, they explore how reporting professionals can leverage data and foster cross-functional collaboration to effectively navigate the rapid changes shaping the ESG landscape.

Want to know the secrets to climbing the corporate ladder without ever leaving your company? In this episode, we're talking about the essential skills and strategies you need to master to move up the ladder and secure leadership positions - all while staying with the same company. My guest, Rebecca Wallace, is the Senior Director of Customer Success & Support at Workiva. She shares her incredible career journey, providing valuable advice on how to grow and succeed within the same organisation. We explore what it takes to build a strong career path and how to smoothly transition into leadership roles. But that's not all, you'll also learn about:Building relationships with managersCrucial considerations for moving up in your careerRebecca's secrets for moving up in your careerPeople leadership skillsWhether you're aiming for a management position or eyeing a top leadership role, this episode will enable you to start working on it with confidence. Learn how to handle your career transition, build lasting relationships that support your growth, and make every move count. If this sounds like a good plan, then play this episode to be able to reach the peaks of that career path curve.Follow Rebecca!This episode was brought to you by Deployflow.Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to the Women in Customer Success podcast for more inspiring stories and tips to help you advance your career in customer success.__________________________________________________About Women in Customer Success Podcast: Women in Customer Success Podcast is the first women-only podcast for Customer Success professionals, where remarkable ladies of Customer Success connect, inspire and champion each other. Follow:Women in Customer Success - Website - womenincs.co - LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/womenincs - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenincs.co/ - Podcast page - womenincs.co/podcast - Sign Up for PowerUp Tribe - womenincs.co/powerup Host Marija Skobe-Pilley - Website - https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/ - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mspilley/ - Coaching with Marija: http://marijaskobepilley.com/programs - Get a FREE '9 Habits of Successful CSMs' guide https://www.marijaskobepilley.com/9-habits-freebie

How can product leaders leverage mentorship and adaptability? In this episode of the CPO Rising Series hosted by Products That Count Resident CPO Renee Niemi, Workiva CPO Nitin Bhat shares insights on his career journey, the influential mentors who shaped his leadership style, and the importance of adaptability and a growth mindset in product management. He discusses his approach to hiring and developing product talent, as well as his perspectives on how AI will impact the future of the product management role.

In this special 100th episode of ESG Talk, we kick off a two-part series with Priscilla Sims Brown, CEO of Amalgamated Bank, Jason Darby, CFO, and special guest host Kim Huffman, CIO of Workiva. Discover how the bank has aligned its entire organization around a century-old mission, while driving a modern, socially responsible business.

Michael Schor, partner in Deloitte & Touche LLP's Risk & Financial Advisory practice, and Grant Ostler, GRC industry principal at Workiva, join co-host Steve Soter for the latest episode of ESG Talk. The group explores the risks of unintentional greenwashing, external pressure on sustainability reporting, and how good governance builds truth and transparency. 

This week, Brit and Harper talk with designer Jon Delman about creative leadership. Jon Delman has had a diverse and influential career in design over the past 27 years. He is currently leading the Design Systems team at Workiva, focusing on helping product and engineering teams build world-class enterprise software. Jon has a wealth of experience working with major brands such as Google, Apple, Splunk, and Samsung. His prior roles include Executive Creative Director at Ueno, Group Creative Director at Beyond, and Creative Director at Huge. In addition to his professional endeavors, Jon has also been involved in educational initiatives, contributing as a guest speaker on topics like building a learning organization and leading change management in digital environments. Jon's deep commitment to fostering a nurturing environment for design teams is reflected in his public discourse about leadership in design. He emphasizes the importance of kindness, curiosity, and authenticity in leadership, advocating for a more inclusive and supportive approach within creative teams. This philosophy aims to challenge the often rigid norms of leadership within the design industry and promotes a more flexible and humane approach to managing and inspiring teams. His blend of hands-on design work and educational outreach highlights his dedication to both practicing and teaching design, aiming to inspire and develop the next generation of designers. TIMESTAMPS 7:24 - How to cultivate curiosity within oneself 11:28 - Embracing “not getting it” 16:57 - Staying in your craft 23:33 - How creatives take in work from a team 28:40 - Strong opinions, loosely held 29:28 - Redefining creative contributions 38:12 - Created while managing 45:16 - People you want to be around 51:50 - Design systems 57:29 - Giving feedback the right way 58:16 - The role of the creator in taking in feedback 01:09 - Addressing Imposter Syndrome 1:12 - Advice for young creators MUSIC: “Am I Dreaming [Instrumental]” (Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, Roisee) ©2024 The Furious Curious

In this episode of ESG Talk, Brett Weaver, tax leader for the ESG Practice at KPMG US, joins Workiva's Andie Wood to discuss everyone's favorite topic. Together they explore how tax acts as both a driver and measure of sustainability, taking advantage of green tax incentives, and the different approaches to tax policy in the United States and Europe.  

–We're thrilled to announce that Sustain.Life has been acquired by Workiva, the leading cloud platform for assured integrated reporting! –The acquisition paves the way for the launch of Workiva Carbon, a groundbreaking platform designed to streamline the measurement, management, and reporting of carbon emissions. Sustain.Life, which is now part of Workiva Carbon, is poised to revolutionize how companies approach sustainability reporting and carbon management. https://www.workiva.com/solutions/carbon-management

Your AM Now host Adam Olsen is back at it again, delivering critical accounting and finance stories to your eyes and ears, including:The 6/12 FASB meeting discussing its project on accounting for environmental credit programs (ECPs) as well as the Board's agenda prioritization.FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) recent deliberations on the existing accounting guidance for the determination of an accounting acquirer.The European Council's announcement on its agreement with proposals to cut down on greenwashing and false environmental claims,The new and impressive Workiva Carbon solution, designed to help companies enhance their existing ESG & Sustainability platform to support global climate regulations.For more on this week's topics:FASB: Tentative Board Decisions, 6/12/24EITF 6/14 Meeting SummaryEU Council Agrees on New Rules to Tackle Greenwashing in Product Green ClaimsWorkiva Launches New Carbon Data Management and Reporting SolutionConnect with Embark on: LinkedInInstagramTwitterFacebookYouTubeListen to AM Now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Laura Lane, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer at UPS, joins Workiva's Andie Wood to explore how one of the world's largest package delivery companies is tackling emissions reduction. Listen in as they discuss the importance of leveraging data to drive down emissions, optimize investments, and achieve sustainability goals.

Jim Andrew, PepsiCo's chief sustainability officer, joins Workiva's Mandi McReynolds to discuss sustainable agriculture. Listen in as they explore forging trust and accountability in the supply chain, the concept of shared value, and the role of partnership in achieving ESG goals.

All Things Internal Audit: Generative AI Uses for Internal Audit In this episode, Grant Ostler, Industry Principal at Workiva, and Sue King, Partner and SOX Solutions Lead at KPMG, delve into the practical applications of generative AI in the workplace and its impact on internal auditors. This conversation covers: -AI compliance challenges -Preparing for AI integration -Emerging trends and technologies -Governance in AI implementation -Maximizing AI technology -Future directions of AI in audit Listen to full episodes at The IIA website and our YouTube channel.

Episode web page The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register.  Episode summary: Increasingly, brands are recognizing that customer feedback, traditionally important in UX design, is also crucial to shaping their marketing strategies. “We generally think about UX as a product role, but it's really such a critical function for marketing now, too.” said Katie Karr, Senior User Experience Designer at Workiva. “It doesn't matter how great our product offering is, if we aren't communicating the right message to get users to see the value upfront.” In this week's Insights Unlocked episode, Katie talks with UserTesting's Nathan Isaacs about the global brand's experiences using customer feedback to fine tune their marketing messaging. Featured: Guest: Katie Karr, Senior User Experience Designer at Workiva. Katie works on Workiva's digital marketing team. Host: Nathan Isaacs, Senior Manager for Content Production at UserTesting and producer of Insights Unlocked.

Workiva's VP of Global ESG and CSO, Mandi McReynolds, discusses the evolving regulatory landscape for sustainability. With an emphasis on the necessity for collaboration among various teams within companies, including finance, risk, and ESG, to effectively navigate these new regulations. This conversation covers:   -Compliance challenges -Preparing for new sustainability regulations -Governance -Leveraging technology, including artificial intelligence - The future direction and impact of sustainability reporting requirements and regulations -Internal audit's role Get the full episode wherever you get your podcasts or YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IIAGlobalHQ/podcasts IIA members gain exclusive access to an extended versions with bonus content at: www.theiia.org/en/resources/Podcasts-and-Video-from-The-IIA/.  

John Turner, CEO of XBRL International, and Wes Bricker, vice chair and trust solutions co-leader at PwC US, join Workiva's Andie Wood to explore the impact of digitization on ESG reporting. Discover how XBRL taxonomies make it easier to share and analyze data and their role in corporate sustainability. 

This Day in Legal History: Organization of American States EstablishedOn this day, April 30, in 1948, a significant event in the realm of international law and diplomacy occurred with the establishment of the Organization of American States (OAS). This was formalized through the signing of the Charter of the Organization of American States during the Ninth International Conference of American States held in Bogotá, Colombia. The creation of the OAS marked a pivotal moment in regional cooperation, emphasizing the importance of legal and political solidarity among its member states.The Charter, serving as the foundational legal document of the OAS, laid down the principles of peace and justice, promoting the solidarity and collaboration among the member countries. The OAS was established primarily to foster mutual assistance and defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of the states within the Americas.The organization's core objectives included strengthening peace and security, promoting the effective exercise of representative democracy, ensuring the peaceful settlement of disputes among members, and facilitating economic, social, and cultural development. Over the years, the OAS has played a crucial role in various diplomatic and political crises in the Western Hemisphere, acting as a forum for multilateral negotiations and conflict resolution.The establishment of the OAS also symbolized a collective effort to prevent foreign interference in the Americas, which was a growing concern during the post-World War II era, particularly with the onset of the Cold War. The OAS's commitment to democracy and human rights has been tested through various crises, but it continues to serve as a prominent regional entity in promoting democratic values and facilitating cooperation among its member states.Today, the OAS includes all 35 independent states of the Americas and continues to influence the legal and political landscape of the region. Its ongoing initiatives and missions focus on critical areas such as the promotion of human rights, fostering educational and cultural exchange, and addressing contemporary challenges like drug trafficking, political instability, and the protection of the environment. The establishment of the OAS remains a landmark in the history of international relations in the Western Hemisphere, reflecting a lasting commitment to regional solidarity and cooperative governance.Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump administration official and US assistant attorney general, is facing the possibility of disbarment as the only sanction deemed appropriate by DC Bar officials. In late 2020, Clark attempted to influence Justice Department superiors to send a letter to Georgia officials, improperly questioning the election results. This act was characterized by DC Bar lawyers as a dishonest attempt to create national chaos just before January 6. The situation escalated after a three-person panel preliminarily found that Clark violated at least one ethics rule, which could potentially affect his future career prospects, particularly in a potential second Trump administration.Clark's legal representatives, Harry MacDougald and Charles Burnham, have not yet responded to requests for comments on the matter. Meanwhile, Clark has claimed in court filings that the disciplinary proceedings are being used politically against Trump's allies, arguing through his lawyer that the case is politically charged.The three-person panel involved in the case sought advice from DC Disciplinary Counsel Phil Fox on possible lesser sanctions if disbarment were not pursued. However, Fox, alongside two other attorneys, argued that suggesting a sanction other than disbarment would be inconsistent with their professional duty. They emphasized that lawyers who betray their country by violating professional conduct rules should face disbarment. The final stages of the disciplinary process will involve a recommendation by the panel, followed by reviews by the Board on Professional Responsibility and the DC Court of Appeals.The ethical violation considered here is Clark's attempt to misuse his position to influence electoral outcomes, a severe breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which mandates adherence to lawful and ethical standards by practicing lawyers. This emphasizes the critical nature of legal integrity and the repercussions of its breach.Jeffrey Clark Disbarment Is Only Possible Sanction, DC Bar SaysA new study by global consulting firm Workiva reveals that a significant majority of companies, nearly 90%, plan to voluntarily disclose extensive data on their carbon footprint, surpassing the mandated requirements. In the U.S., 86% of surveyed companies expressed intentions to adhere, wholly or partially, to Europe's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, despite not being obligated to do so. This directive requires companies with subsidiaries in the EU to report on their impact on local communities and fair labor practices, with enforcement potentially starting by 2026.Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's efforts to mandate climate impact disclosures have been delayed due to ongoing litigation, even as their proposed rules on greenhouse gas emissions reporting are perceived as less stringent.The motivation for these voluntary disclosures, as explained by Andie Wood, vice president for regulatory strategy at Workiva, stems from substantial investor demand and competitive pressures. Companies are committed to providing robust and comparable data, recognizing the strategic value in transparency.The survey involved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practitioners from 2,204 companies globally, including 660 U.S.-based firms, all having at least 250 employees and a minimum of $250 million in annual revenue. Although these companies are confident in the accuracy of the data they volunteer, they anticipate challenges in meeting the more stringent EU reporting requirements. About 83% of respondents see accurately collecting data to comply with EU standards as a challenge, highlighting the complexity involved in fulfilling these regulatory expectations. This reflects a broader understanding among businesses that while they are confident in their current disclosures, there is room for improvement in efficiency and compliance with international standards.Most Companies Plan to Voluntarily Disclose Climate Rules DataOn Tuesday, the Biden administration announced the implementation of its second set of changes to the U.S. environmental permitting rules, aiming to accelerate the development of renewable energy infrastructure and other projects. These modifications are designed to balance the rapid construction of clean energy projects with the preservation of established environmental safeguards.The new rule introduces the concept of "categorical exclusions," which allows federal agencies to use previous decisions by other agencies for projects that are not expected to significantly impact the environment, thus bypassing more exhaustive reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It also promotes programmatic environmental reviews for broad actions, aiming to reduce the level of scrutiny for projects that either mitigate their environmental impact or provide clear environmental benefits.Additionally, the rule mandates that agencies must consider climate change impacts during environmental reviews and explore reasonable alternatives to minimize these effects. It also states that projects with long-term positive environmental outcomes may not require environmental impact statements (EIS).This rule covers a broad spectrum of construction activities, including renewable energy projects and infrastructure like roads and bridges, which are supported by recent infrastructure and climate legislation. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has worked to expedite the permitting process, with the White House reporting a 14% increase in the federal permitting workforce and faster completion of EIS processes under this administration.The rule is expected to attract more private investment in sectors such as advanced manufacturing and clean energy. Natalie Quillian, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and Lael Brainard, the national economic adviser, highlighted the importance of providing businesses with the certainty needed to invest confidently and navigate the federal permitting process efficiently.However, the rule has faced criticism from business groups who argue that it could favor certain projects, complicate agency analyses, increase litigation risks, and expand the scope of projects requiring NEPA review, potentially conflicting with the debt ceiling law. Despite these concerns, CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory expressed confidence in the new system's durability and effectiveness.Biden Issues Permitting Changes to Speed Clean Energy Build OutDonald Trump's criminal trial in New York, concerning charges of falsifying business records, is set to continue with testimony from a banker knowledgeable about the accounts involved in the alleged hush money scheme. This scheme was purportedly designed to influence the 2016 election by concealing a sex scandal. The trial, which marks the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president, began on April 22. Trump, who is also the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election, faces accusations related to a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, to prevent her from discussing a claimed sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied the encounter and pleaded not guilty.The trial has heard from various figures, including former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who testified about using his publication to suppress negative stories about Trump during the 2016 campaign. Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claims to have been paid for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump, are expected to testify.Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, is set to testify that he arranged and disguised the payments to Daniels and McDougal under Trump's direction, claims that Trump has denied. This case is one of several legal battles Trump is facing, with others concerning his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his handling of classified documents. Trump has labeled all these cases as politically motivated witch hunts.Trump NYC hush money trial to resume with banker's testimony | ReutersChangpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, pleaded guilty to violating U.S. money laundering laws and is awaiting sentencing. The U.S. prosecutors have recommended a sentence that is twice the 18-month maximum suggested by federal guidelines, emphasizing the need for a stern penalty to serve as a deterrent in the cryptocurrency industry. Zhao has accepted responsibility and paid a $50 million criminal fine. His defense argues for probation, noting his cooperation and lack of prior criminal history.Zhao's sentencing is part of broader legal actions against cryptocurrency executives following the industry's downturn in 2022, which revealed widespread fraud and misconduct. Binance, under Zhao's leadership, admitted to evading anti-money laundering measures and agreed to a substantial $4.32 billion criminal penalty. The exchange has been criticized for a lax approach that allegedly facilitated transactions involving criminal and terrorist groups, as well as other illegal activities. Zhao, who has stepped down from his role and is on a $175 million bond, has agreed not to appeal any sentence within the recommended guidelines.Binance's CEO Zhao faces sentencing over money laundering violations | ReutersIn my column today, I discuss the increasing reliance of states on vice industries—like marijuana and online sports betting—for tax revenue. This approach seems attractive, especially as it promises substantial inflows that help offset persistent revenue shortfalls, a situation exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For instance, California alone generated over $160 million from cannabis taxes in just one quarter of 2023.However, it's crucial to understand that these funds aren't "free money." They come with societal debts due to the decades of criminalization of these now-legal activities. Moreover, they bring potential future costs, such as increased health-related expenditures from addiction and mental health issues stemming from these industries.While the immediate fiscal benefits are undeniable, allowing states to bolster their budgets without divisive tax hikes, the long-term sustainability and ethical implications need careful consideration. Market saturation and the ineffectiveness of regional exclusivity are real risks as more states legalize these activities. It's no longer necessary to cross state lines for gambling, reducing the unique economic benefits previously offered by state-specific legalization.The revenue generated should not merely fill gaps caused by other tax policy failures but should specifically address the harms inflicted by these industries. Funds should be allocated to education, job training, and community development in areas most affected by past criminalization. Additionally, a portion should be earmarked for public health initiatives focusing on addiction treatment and mental health services.It is imperative that the utilization of vice tax revenues is approached not just as an economic opportunity but as a means to rectify historical injustices and promote social equity. This requires a strategic shift in policy, prioritizing long-term social benefits over short-term fiscal gains. Effective redistribution of these funds is essential to ensure that the communities historically disadvantaged by these policies see real improvements.Vice Taxation Isn't ‘Free Money' and Should Focus on Public Good Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

In this episode of ESG Talk, Steve Manocchio, head of global financial compliance and risk management at Cisco, meets with Workiva's Steve Soter to discuss incorporating climate data into financial disclosures and how assurance, technology, and community advance ESG initiatives.

In light of the SEC's new climate-related disclosure rule, the ESG Talk and Off the Books podcast crews huddled to make sense of it all.In this episode, Steve Soter asks Mandi McReynolds, head of ESG at Workiva, and Andie Wood, Vice President of Regulatory Strategy at Workiva, for their thoughts.Then Jonathan Gregory, North America Controller at The Hershey Co., and Alan Wilson, Partner at WilmerHale, share their initial reactions, what surprised them in the rule, and some of their questions about the rule in the weeks and months to come.Subscribe to ESG Talk and Off the Books as we continue the conversation in the year ahead.

Cognizant's head of ESG, Aya Kiy-Morrocco, and Amelia Pan, managing director in the strategic advisory group of PJT Partners, join co-host Mandi McReynolds to discuss how sustainability leaders can partner with their C-suite and boards to advance ESG strategy and meet stakeholder demands for transparency, accountability, and action. Read the 2023 Workiva's Global Practitioner Survey: https://www.workiva.com/resources/2023-global-esg-practitioner-survey

Jingdong Hua, vice-chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and Paul Druckman, chairman of the World Benchmarking Alliance, sit down with Workiva's Mandi McReynolds to share how standards and benchmarks bring credibility to ESG reporting as well as their insights heading into COP28. 

Mike Gravagno joins us in this episode to share four rules you shouldn't break if you're a beginner. Hosting and producing three shows simultaneously, he also has tons of tips for creating an excellent podcast your listener can enjoy, so stay tuned.    WHAT TO LISTEN FOR A great tactic to avoid dry conversations in your show 3 effective ways to market and promote your podcast How to improve your podcast SEO ranking 4 golden rules of podcasting you should follow The ultimate formula for powerful storytelling   RESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONED Patreon CW HBO Max Prime Video Netflix Marvel Movie Minute   ABOUT MIKE GRAVAGNO Mike Gravagno is a copywriter, pop-culture critic, poet, nonfiction writer, and podcaster. He is also a Senior Content Specialist and Producer of Off the Books at Workiva. Mike's eclectic background ranges from serving as an Arabic translator in the California National Guard to producing and hosting stand-up comedy shows nationwide. His copywriting experience includes boutique agencies, freelance, and in-house roles.    Mike received a BA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, graduating magna cum laude, and an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. His poetry, nonfiction, and reviews are in Calliope, TAB, the Gordian Review, Sky Island Journal, and the Moon Tide Press poetry anthologies Lullaby of Teeth, Dark Ink, and more.   CONNECT WITH MIKE Website: PopFilter | Workiva Podcast: Movie of the Year | The Superhero Show Show | Off the Books Instagram: @microphoneyo LinkedIn: Mike Gravagno   CONNECT WITH US If you are interested in getting on our show, email us at team@growyourshow.com. Thinking about creating and growing your own podcast but not sure where to start? Click here and Schedule a call with Adam A. Adams! Upgrading your podcast equipment or maybe getting your first microphone? Get Your Free Equipment Guide! We also have free courses for you on everything you need to know about starting a great podcast! Check out our first six episodes through the links below! Identify Your Avatar - Free Course 1/6 What To Do BEFORE You Launch Your Podcast - Free Course 2/6 How To Launch A TOP Show - Free Course 3/6 Best Marketing And Growth Strategies - Free Course 4/6 How To Monetize Your Podcast - Free Course 5/6  Top 22 Pitfalls On Starting Your Own Podcast - Free Course 6/6 If you want to make money from your podcasts, check out this FREE resource we made. Our clients use a sponsor sheet, and now they are making between $2,000 to $5,000 from sponsorship!  Subscribe so you don't miss out on great content and if you love the show, leave an honest rating and review here! 

Workiva Inc., Q3 2023 Earnings Call, Oct 30, 2023

In this week's episode, witness the dynamic duo, Jon Sontag and brand new co-host, Adrian Crabtree, as they delve into the mysterious realm of Artificial Intelligence. Accompanied by their special guest, Jon Delman – Senior Design Manager at Workiva, they unravel the secrets of AI's impact on our careers. With his hard-earned wisdom, Delman guides us through a hopeful path for the future, emphasizing the importance of taming this technological beast. Brace yourself for a rollercoaster ride through the uncharted territories of Artificial Intelligence, where the real monsters aren't the ones hiding under your bed but the ones we create ourselves. The episode concludes with the MOD tradition of discussing favorite monsters, including the disturbing Krampus—a monster most likely created by parents determined to instill good behavior in their kids during the holidays. We hope you enjoy the show!

The chief financial officer of Cemex, Maher Al-Haffar, joins Workiva's Mandi McReynolds to examine how ESG is influencing the office of the CFO. Mandi and Maher discuss the pivotal role of CFOs at the intersection of sustainable finance and its potential impact on business and society.  

With the recent proliferation of sometimes conflicting standards around sustainability and impact reporting, companies across the globe are seeking trusted partners to help them determine and measure sustainability metrics that are truly material to the business and its stakeholders and also generate real value. To this end, Workiva – a global software-as-a-service company – has developed a suite of products to help companies make real progress on their sustainability journeys.  In this episode, Chad Reed sits down with Mandi McReynolds, VP of Global Environment, Social and Governance at Workiva and the host of the ESG Talk podcast. Chad and Mandi discuss the at times differing perceptions of company executives and sustainability practitioners, the emerging role of AI in sustainability reporting and the evolving nomenclature surrounding efforts to generate and report sustainable impact.Links:Workiva ESGWorkiva 2023 Global ESG Practitioner SurveyRegister's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI)Episode recorded October 4, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Financial, regulatory, and ESG reporting are no longer siloed compartments within corporations, thanks to platforms like Workiva. With a vast clientele that includes leading names like Slack, Delta Airlines, and USAA, Workiva is redefining how businesses approach data and reporting in an era demanding unprecedented corporate transparency.  In this enlightening episode, I am joined by Paul Volpe to discuss the technological solutions empowering businesses to meet ever-changing reporting requirements. The episode kicks off with Paul highlighting how Workiva's software has evolved to adapt to the dynamic landscape of ESG and financial reporting.  The conversation delves into real-world examples of how various companies have leveraged Workiva's technology to enhance data collection, drive smarter business decisions, and integrate non-financial metrics with traditional financial data for strategic advantage. The discussion also uncovers Workiva's collaborative efforts with industry giants like Slack, PWC, Deloitte, and KPMG, aimed at transforming the way organizations manage their multifaceted data needs. From tackling challenges of data integrity to delivering actionable insights, Workiva is at the forefront of enabling informed business decisions.  Further into the conversation, we explore the quantifiable business value of adopting Workiva's platform. From the imperatives of data integrity to the advantages of cost savings, the talk elucidates the myriad benefits that extend beyond the balance sheet, such as instilling a higher degree of trust in data and even aiding in talent acquisition. As Workiva positions itself at the intersection of technology and robust data reporting, this episode provides invaluable insights for businesses grappling with modern reporting complexities. Listen in to understand how Workiva is shaping the future of data reporting through technological innovation, focusing on content data management, and fostering global collaboration.  

ESG Talk and Off The Books join forces at Amplify! Workiva's Catherine Tsai interviews Mandi McReynolds, Steve Soter, and conference attendees to explore trends like generative AI and how finance and accounting, ESG, and audit and risk are evolving — together.  Access virtual Amplify sessions here: sm.workiva.com/amplify-podcast

View select sessions from Workiva Amplify 2023 on demand. Sign up for the virtual conference to gain access.Learn more about Amplify Asia Pacific and Amplify EMEA.If you're in the Americas, watch this space for more information about how to join us at Workiva Amplify 2024 in Denver.

This week, I'm joined by the product KING himself: Nitin Bhat.Having built and led products for AWS, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and Smartsheet (not to mention he's the current CPO of Workiva,) we delve into the secrets of:Integrating your product into your customer's lifestyle.Leading with real empathy.Having to unlearn fundamentals as your business grows.What problems AI *actually* solves.What huge companies look for when hiring (spoilers: it's not just your skills.)This isn't one to miss.Connect with our host, Oz Rashid, on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozrashid.Learn more about MSH: https://www.talentmsh.com.Don't forget to rate, download and subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss out on creative, innovative strategies for hiring the best talent.#Talent #Hiring #Learning #Teams #Jobs

In this quick episode of ESG Talk, Mandi McReynolds highlights key findings from Workiva's second ESG practitioner survey, which polled more than 900 professionals involved in ESG reporting across North America, Europe, and Asia. The data underscores the complexity in ESG reporting and reveals a surprising disconnect between managers and executives. Read the report: workiva.com/2023-ESG-Survey Register for our LinkedIn Live: sm.workiva.com/linkedin-live

Can ESG reporting transform operations and propel businesses forward? Nadja Picard, partner and global reporting leader at PwC Germany, and Workiva's Andie Wood discuss reporting-led transformation and its impact on sustainability, uncovering the benefits of interoperability in reporting standards and the roles of CEOs and CFOs in driving ESG initiatives.

Noel Kinder, chief sustainability officer at Nike, and Brian Matt, head of ESG advisory at the New York Stock Exchange, join Workiva's Mandi McReynolds on the latest episode of ESG Talk. The trio talk about ESG as a catalyst for product innovation and finding value in collaboration and learning from others.

Show Resources Here were the resources we covered in the episode: Pixel Helper for LinkedIn AI for writing ad copy Thomas Veraar on LinkedIn Free LinkedIn Ads Startup Guide Join the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics community and get access to our 4 courses to take you from beginner to expert Follow AJ on LinkedIn B2Linked's Youtube Channel LinkedIn Learning Course Contact us at Podcast@B2Linked.com with ideas for what you'd like AJ to cover or with any questions, suggestions, corrections! A great no-cost way to support us: Rate/Review!   Show Transcript Everything you need to set up and begin optimization of a LinkedIn Ads account in one podcast episode. That's right, you best buckle up, because it's gonna be a wild ride. We're covering the complete startup checklist for LinkedIn Ads on this week's episode of the LinkedIn Ads Show. Welcome to the LinkedIn Ads Show. Here's your host, AJ Wilcox. Hey there LinkedIn Ads fanatics! Years ago, we launched the LinkedIn Ads startup checklist. At the time, it was a one pager with nine checklist items that we created for the community and we gated it. It was helpful for those that were just getting started advertising on LinkedIn, and just needed a simple resource to get moving. We've kept improving it over time and it's now become an 11 page guide with not just checklist items, but detailed instructions on how to do the things that we recommend. Plus, we went beyond the nine necessary items and scaled it up to 14 that included the non-essentials, but highly recommended steps to getting success on the LinkedIn Ads platform. This guide is currently free and totally ungated. If you go to B2Linked.com/checklist. I think there's a ton of value there and I highly recommend it. So this episode kind of acts like an audio companion to that free guide. But I'll also get to expound quite a bit here and audio in ways that it wouldn't have made sense in the guide, it would have made it too verbose. First in the news, I have a whole bunch of things that have built up over time, so we're gonna cover all of them very quickly. The first is that Thomas Veraar, who's a LinkedIn rep out of Bulgaria, you've heard me mention him on the show before. He reached out after the recruiting episode, and gave our listeners a little bit of a tip. I mentioned that job title plus geography is one of the ways that we like to target for recruiting. And he chimed in and said, especially for recruiters, he loves the fields of study targeting facet. He said that fields of study are far more aligned worldwide than job titles are. And they are pretty general. He said, job titles for the same position can differ by region, which is especially important where he's from in Europe, because regions aren't very large. He said, another reason why I like the field of study for recruiting is because fields of study are added more to LinkedIn profiles than job titles. So even if someone didn't ever update their job, they're usually going to update their field of study. Sometimes he suggests using this as an option, because sometimes people end up working in areas that they didn't study in. But lots of times it lines up and make sense. Of course, it depends on the ICP, but for example, architects, lawyers, engineers, etc, are much easier to target with fields of study. Now, I really like this idea of using fields of study. But I do think we can layer on job function on top as a way of getting the best of both worlds. So we get field of study to make sure we're getting someone who studied what it is we're looking for, but then a job function on top that tells us whether they're doing it right now. So Thomas, thank you again, for taking me up on what I always suggest, which is, let us know give us feedback on the podcast episode. And I'd love to shout you out and share your advice as well. Thomas also mentioned something that I've actually been wondering about for a long time, the concept is when we install the LinkedIn pixel, sometimes it's really complex to know whether or not it was installed properly. And we pretty much have to just wait for retargeting audiences to build or some conversion starting to come through for us to tell whether or not it was set up properly. Sometimes it's pasted right into the code of a website and you can miss some pages. Sometimes it's dropped into a Tag Manager like Google Tag Manager, which is very convenient, but then it's hard to check, because then all of that JavaScript is running at the event layer. And because I'm not a JavaScript programmer, I don't understand where it is. So I found a really cool resource. It's actually a Chrome plugin, and it's called Pixel Helper for LinkedIn. You can see the link in the show notes that will take you right there. But it's basically a Chrome plugin, but it is really basic. It's a Chrome plugin that just tells you whether or not you have the pixel installed properly on any page that you visit. It works only for LinkedIn Ads. And then if you click on it, it will tell you your partner ID that you can very easily match up with the partner ID that's in your insight tag. So it makes it super, super simple. So Thomas Veraar actually reached out and said that he has a manual way that he does this, and I followed along and tried it out and it is really cool. The pixel helper Chrome plugin is a very simple way of doing this, but I thought this was fascinating to see exactly how to do this manually without a plugin. So what he suggested is, when you get to a page that you want to check this on on your website or a client website, you press F 12, and that gets you into the developer options. Then with developer options open, you want to refresh the page on PC that's Ctrl, R or F5. I like f5. But then you go into the network tab that you see there in your developer options, then you'll see a search bar and you want to search for ads.linkedin.com. And sure enough, it's going to show you this PID, it's the same as the partner ID in your LinkedIn insight tag. And what you want to do is you want to look for a status code that starts with a number two, because in webpages, a status code that starts with two means okay, and it loaded. If it starts with anything other than that, generally, there's an error, and it's not working properly. So Thomas, thank you for both resources that you've shared today. This was fantastic. I would highly recommend that everyone out there go follow Thomas Veraar, because he is absolutely one of the great ones. Next, someone at LinkedIn in Europe released a five slide deck, all about LinkedIn Ads, summer seasonality. And what was so interesting for me to see on this was that over the summer, LinkedIn Ads costs tend to drop, which is not what I would expect to happen. I would actually expect that fewer people are at their computers, which then drives costs higher for advertisers. And I would share this deck with you except whoever it was who posted it, didn't make the deck downloadable. I also knew that this was based off of European data. And so it probably wouldn't be valid for everyone who's listening. But certainly those of you who are in Europe, you'll probably appreciate higher click through rates and lower costs throughout all of the summer. Within the last month, I also saw a pop up within campaign manager that let me know that the LinkedIn Audience Network now publishes reports showing you the pages that you appeared on, which is super cool. I think this is a huge stride for the LinkedIn Audience Network to show transparency about where our ads are being shown. And if you follow the LinkedIn Ads page on LinkedIn, on June 7, they released a pulse article. It's just a LinkedIn article that used to be called pulse. And they announced that they're rolling out right now an AI helper for writing ad copy. So many of you may already have this by the time you're hearing it. And so when you go to actually write ad copy, you can have ChatGPT 4 probably because Microsoft is a huge investor in OpenAI that runs ChatGPT. And of course, Microsoft owns LinkedIn. So we're going to benefit from some of these AI plugins. I wanted to quickly highlight a review here on the podcast, this was left by Gareth Evans. He's the Director of Demand Generation at Workiva, based out of the UK. And he said, "Great practical tips, great content with a lot of really useful practical tips that are both explained, well, and actionable." Gareth, I really appreciate you going to leave that review, it helps so much. And please you if you have not left a review yet, but you're a regular listener, please do go and leave us a review. It is by far the best way that you can say thank you for this content. And you get to join the likes the amazing Gareth Evans, who left a killer review already. Alright, with that being said, let's hit it, we're gonna get down to the comprehensive LinkedIn ads startup checklist and guide. Company Page Very first off, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you get access to your company page, because the majority of your LinkedIn Ads actually live on the company page. If you're an in house marketer, you probably want to have super admin access to your company page. But if you're an agency, most likely, you're going to ask for a lower role called sponsored content poster. It's underneath paid media admins. All of your sponsored content, which are your newsfeed ads, and your follower ads that are a dynamic ad. These are all based off of your company page. And then now these new thought leader ads that have come out, they're based off of employees who have claimed your company. So again, it's based off the company page. So someone can give you access to a LinkedIn Ads account and not give you company page access. But all that means is you can boost existing content that the company page has posted. But you can't create new ads, which is obviously lame if you want to create ads. You can actually also give company page access through LinkedIn business manager, but you don't need to, which takes us to our next step which is access to the ads account. Ads Account Now this one can be a little bit different, because if you've ever set up business manager for your ad account, you are stuck with it, you can't divorce your account from business manager. So you'll have to do everything through business manager. But if you haven't already attached your ads account to business manager, great, keep it there because I don't think business manager brings a lot of value. Whoever has admin access to the LinkedIn ads account, what they do is they go to manage access, they go to account settings in the navigation, and then click on manage access. And there they get to add you. Account manager means that you can make any changes in an account. A campaign manager means you can't add or remove people, but you can do everything else. And of course, if you don't already have an ads account or a company page, you can go set those up for free. Set Up Billing The next step, and you will not be able to forget this because there is a red nag banner on every page, as you're setting up the ad account, they will want you to set up your billing. So you have to go in and register a credit card. It's really easy, you just click on the nag banner, it will take you right to a place to enter your credit card. If you're already spending pretty healthily and you have a track record of several months at least of advertising, you can contact LinkedIn and get set up on invoicing rather than an accrual credit card spend. Now the only person who can set up billing is the billing admin on the ads account. So if you're not the billing admin, you'll see the nag banner, but you've just got to go and tell whoever is the billing admin to go and click those links. Install the Insight Tag Alright, like we talked about in the news section about the LinkedIn insight tag, this is step number four in setting up your ad account. You do want to make sure you've installed the Insight tag that does three different things for you and all three are important. Number one, it acts as your conversion tracking so anytime you want to track conversions, this insight tag or pixel is the thing that's doing it. Next, it also creates your website retargeting audiences, which is super valuable. And finally, just the presence of this tag on your website enables LinkedIn to give you what I call LinkedIn analytics. But it's a free website demographics report that shows the business makeup of anyone who comes to visit your website, even if you didn't drive them from LinkedIn Ads. It's a very cool report. And it's totally free. You don't have to spend a dime on LinkedIn Ads. To get to your LinkedIn insight tag, you click on analyze, and then insight tag, and it will let you either generate one there, or it will even send one to a web developer that you want to email it to. LinkedIn suggests pasting this in your website's global footer. And that's all fine and good, but I actually like to load it in the header because that gives me a higher chance of the tag actually firing before someone leaves the page if the page is taking too long to load. Set up conversions Alright, with the LinkedIn insight tag setup, that enables you to start setting up your conversion tracking. Now occasionally, an advertiser will come to me and say, well, we're not tracking conversions, or we won't need to for a while. But I would still set this up ahead of time, even if you're not driving people towards a conversion event yet. And this is for the simple reason of being able to track view through conversions. So set up conversion tracking for any event across your website that you might eventually want to target with a conversion, or just any conversion event that's happening on your website. And then when your other channels, let's say you're running Google search, or Facebook Ads, or SEO, if anyone there ends up converting on your website, but they've also seen your ads, you'll start to see view through conversions tally up inside your ads account. We know that a buyers journey is not linear, they touch so many different channels at so many different times and so when I see view through conversions start to increment up, I know that my cohesive multi channel strategy is working. To create your conversions, it's also under analyze, and you click conversion tracking and set up your conversion events there. I can't overstate this enough. I highly recommend when you set up conversion tracking to ensure that you have a thank you page that you get redirected to whenever anyone fills out a form. Some web developers will push back on this and they'll say it's a bad experience. It's not modern, but I will tell you it is infinitely easier to troubleshoot and set up if you have a separate page that's your thank you page. Otherwise, the web developer is going to have to troubleshoot it when an if when someone clicks on a button, it doesn't fire as a conversion. Simplify your life and make sure that you have a thank you page rather than just firing a conversion based off of someone clicking a button. Consider target audience Alright next here is consider your target audience. Because after all, the reason that we come to LinkedIn and we pay a premium for this traffic is access to this premium audience. But you don't want to waste money. So put some thought into who actually is your ideal buyer? What sorts of companies do they represent? I really like to have a combined targeting where one element is targeting who the person is professionally. And then the other element is what type of company do they represent. So for instance, if I'm going to use job title targeting, maybe I target something like Salesforce administrator, and maybe that gets me the right person. But then it's still important to understand what type of company I'm going after. So for this, I might also layer on what industry the company is in, or what size it is, or maybe even company names, if you're going to do an account based marketing approach. By putting serious thought and research into who your ideal buyer is, your targeting is going to be a lot more effective. Set up campaigns the right way Next is when you actually go to set up your campaigns, setting them up the right way. We talked about this a little bit in Episode 100. But here are the basic procedures for creating a new campaign that you absolutely need to pay attention to. First off, as you create your first campaign, it will ask you to select an objective, you can really start here with whatever makes sense, but I highly recommend website visits if you're trying to send traffic to your landing page. And lead generation if you have a gated type of asset, or you're just trying to get someone to fill out a form that isn't on the landing page. The others you can kind of test into after that. After you do the targeting portion, you'll see a little checkbox that's usually checked for you, and it's called nnable audience expansion. I highly recommend always uncheck that box. We have not yet found a case where audience expansion was actually good for an account. It's usually very, very bad. I tell people, it's the COVID-19 Delta variant of LinkedIn Ads. Next, if you choose one of the ad formats, that is in the newsfeed, LinkedIn will automatically have you in a placement called LinkedIn Audience Network. There could be some use here later on as you test into it, but I would highly recommend avoid using this when you're very first starting, it tends to generate traffic that is much lower in quality than if you were getting them right from LinkedIn. So probably stay away from that one to begin with. Next, as you keep scrolling down the page, you'll get to the bidding and budgeting section. And this one is really important. The default bidding method that LinkedIn sticks you on is called maximum delivery. And it is the most expensive way to pay for LinkedIn traffic 90% of the time, the option that you want to start out with is manual bidding, and it's hidden, you have to click on show additional options, then click on manual CPC bidding. And this is going to allow you to set a bid and say LinkedIn, I'm not going to pay more than this amount anytime someone clicks on my ad. And LinkedIn is going to give you a crazy range that it recommends, it might say something like your competitors are bidding between $20 and $70. For this traffic. If you're just getting started and you have a low budget, don't listen to those at all, you can bid significantly lower than what LinkedIn is recommending, because the worst thing that can happen to you, if you bid too low, is you just won't get traffic and impressions. And you have to come in the next day and maybe incrementally increase your bid a little bit until it does start spending. If you do leave it on maximum delivery, you'll likely end up paying, depending on how well your ads perform, somewhere between about $20 to $50 per click, which is insane. You really shouldn't have to pay more than like 10 bucks a click, and that speaking specifically for targeting the US. Other areas of the world are significantly cheaper. And then finally, at the end of your campaign creation process, there will be an option to add a conversion to that campaign. And there's just no downside that I've found to attaching every possible conversion to every possible campaign. So don't get stuck here. Don't feel like you're out of your depth here. All right, here's a quick sponsor break and then we'll dive right back into considering your offer. 19:27 The LinkedIn Ads Show is proudly brought to you by B2Linked.com. The LinkedIn Ads experts. Managing LinkedIn Ads is a massive time and money investment. Do you want to return on it? Consider booking a discovery call with B2Linked, the original LinkedIn Ads performance agency. We've worked with some of the largest accounts over the past 12 years and our unique scientific approach to ads management, combined with our proprietary tools, allow us to confidently optimize and scale your LinkedIn Ads faster and more efficiently than any other in house agency or digital ads hire can. Plus, we're official LinkedIn partners. Just navigate on over to B2Linked.com/apply and we'd absolutely love the chance to chat with you about your campaigns. Consider your offer Alright, let's jump back into your offer. So before you start running your ads, you really need to understand what it is that you're offering your audience in exchange for their attention. 95% of the time, a cold audience, which means someone who's never heard of you before, they're not willing to convert on something like a demo request, or talk to sales or buy something until they've been warmed up. So as part of this warming, we highly recommend launching an offer that teaches your audience something new, solves a major pain point, helps them do their jobs better in some way. We'd recommend doing this through ungated assets and content. Things that really have next to no friction, and just provide a lot of benefit. Free assets like ebooks, webinars, podcasts, online communities, etc. These all provide a ton of value and we'll get people really appreciating you and keeping you top of mind. Craft your message Next, once you understand what it is you're offering someone, the obvious next step is to start writing and crafting your message of what they're going to get out of it. You obviously want to identify what sort of struggles your audience has an offer significant solutions to those problems. And don't be afraid to issue a strong and clear call to action. And we highly recommend running two ads per campaign so that you can AB test and learn over time what people prefer, versus what they don't prefer. Gather imagery for your ads After you've crafted your message, the next step is to get imagery, visuals for your ads. And this is so important to tell you, your imagery is not meant to convert. So often I see advertisers who try to cram way too much into their image. They think, oh, this is what's getting their attention, so I have to jam a whole bunch of explanatory text in here. Oh, and I gotta get my logo and a button and a subtitle and their image just ends up looking so cluttered. Instead, I would highly recommend that your imagery follows the billboard rule. If you've ever bought billboard media, billboard companies will tell you don't put more than seven words on your billboard, because that's about what people can get just at a glance as they're driving without having to take their eyes off of the road. The same thing goes for LinkedIn Ads, keep your imagery very simple, because its whole job is just to get people to stop scrolling. We call this a thumb stopper. Your ad copy is going to do the converting and the convincing and the solving problems, but your imagery, its whole job is just to get someone's attention so that they'll read your ad copy. Now because LinkedIn is color palette is very blues, grays and whites, you want your imagery to really stand out. So if you look at a color wheel, this is what designers use, opposite of blue is orange. So it's helpful to include pops of orange, reds, greens, purples, anything that's going to help stand out against that blue and get attention. We find that imagery on LinkedIn that is square tends to perform much better than about any other dimensions. So in sponsored content, if you're going to do like a single image ad, we'd recommend 1200 by 1200 square. Launch your ads So now as a recap, you've created the account or you've gotten access to it, you have access to the company page, you've set up the insight tag and conversion tracking so you're all ready to go there. Now you've identified your audience, decided on an offer, and now you've crafted messaging and imagery to help support that. You are ready to launch your ads. LinkedIn makes it really easy as you're going through the campaign creation process to put you right on the spot where you can start actually creating the ads and then launch them so you won't need any extra help for me on this. That being said, I'm going to walk you through the next few steps that like I mentioned at the beginning are optional, but highly recommended. Plan a holistic LinkedIn Ads strategy full funnel Point number 12 here is called plan a holistic LinkedIn Ads strategy. And like we've already talked about, if this is someone's first time hearing about your company, it's highly unlikely that they want to buy your high ticket product or service just after seeing one or maybe two ads from you. So you'll need to plan this holistic strategy and make sure that you're providing value all along the way and walking this cold traffic through your sales process until they become warm, and eventually hot leads for you. What this means is you'll want to specifically think about the kinds of offers that are useful to someone who doesn't yet know you, like you, or trust you yet. I really like video content for helping people get to know me and like me, because it's totally possible for someone to read like five of my guides, but still not feel like they know me like me or trust me. Whereas if you watch a two minute video of me talking and sharing something of value, maybe you're already knowing me, liking me, and trusting me just from that. The same thing is gonna go for your audience. I also really like subscribable content as a way of getting people to know me, like me, and trust me, because it takes the same amount of work to get you to go and listen to a podcast and subscribe to it as it does to get you to go and download a guide. Well, the guide is a one hit. Once you're done reading the guide, you're kind of done with me. But if you come and listen to this podcast, you're now hearing me in your ears every week. And it sounds strange, but it builds a relationship with your prospect to where by the time they reach out to you, they feel like they already know you, you have a friendship. So content like newsletters, like weekly live streams, podcasts, a YouTube channel, all of these are subscribable and get you multiple shots on goal with your prospect getting to know you. Create matched audiences But of course, when you get someone introduced to your brand, now you need to follow up. And this is something called retargeting. On LinkedIn, we create retargeting through something that LinkedIn calls matched audiences. Inside your LinkedIn Ads account, if you go to plan in your navigation, and then go to audiences, then you can click create audience and LinkedIn will show you the bevy of options of all the different kinds of retargeting audiences that it can create. So think of it this way, your very first set of ads where you're just being helpful, and getting people to know you and hear of you, that's your audience have cold traffic, and then based off of them taking action on whatever your ads are asking them to do, you can graduate them to the next level of retargeting, and there's no limit to the number of layers that you can push people through. But just realize that every retargeting audience needs at least 300 people, even to serve. So I would recommend right at first, create more of like a two or a three step funnel, where they interact with your cold ads, and then you graduate them to a warm, and then graduate them to a hot. And the way that graduation works, when you create a retargeting audience, you can then exclude that retargeting audience from your original cold audience. And that makes it so once someone interacts with that level of ads, let's say your cold ads,, they now get removed from that audience and now they only qualify to be shown your ads at the, let's say, middle of funnel level. And this is how you create sequences. It's how you can walk people from the top of the funnel down to the bottom of the funnel, and to create a demand generating machine. Optimize and scale My very last tip here is optimizing and scaling because once your ads are live, you never know what your audience is going to like or what they're not going to like until you've actually tested it. So you've launched these ads, and you watch the progress as it happens. If something's not working, you can pause it, you can shut it off, or you can even bid it down so you're making LinkedIn less incentivized to show that. And the things that are working well, you can bid them up and give them more budget and do more of those things. Really, at this point, the world is your oyster, and you're about to learn a lot about who your audience is and what they like, while at the same time you're generating leads. It's a beautiful thing. And it does take work and it does take attention. And quite honestly, that's why we have a job here at B2Linked because we do all this for you. When you're just barely getting started on an ad channel, there are so many moving parts. And quite honestly, that learning phase is so expensive. Working with someone like us who have already mastered that learning curve, we can get you right to an optimized campaign of LinkedIn Ads. Who knows it could be up your alley. If you're in that situation, reach out to us at B2Linked.com/apply. Alright, I've got the episode resources for you coming right up. So stick around. Thank you for listening to the LinkedIn Ads Show. Hungry for more? AJ Wilcox, take it away. Like we mentioned in the news section, there's a link to the Pixel Helper Chrome extension that will help you understand whether your LinkedIn insight tag is installed properly or not. You'll also see a link to the pulse article from LinkedIn Ads where they introduced the new AI tool for helping you write ad copy, which I think is really cool. I do highly recommend that you go and download this checklist and guide that we went over today because then you don't have to listen to me and hit pause and then rewind, just in case you missed something. You'll have the whole checklist ready to go. And like we just announced on Episode 100, we just recently launched the LinkedIn Ads Fanatics Community, where you get access to our four courses that take you from absolute beginner to expert level LinkedIn Ads professional. And if you're listening to this within the first month, chances are you still have access to the founding members discount. You get grandfathered into the very lowest rate that this will ever be at either $59 a month for access to the community and courses, or $259 a month to be part of the super fanatics where you get to hop on a weekly call with me. If this is your first time listening, hit that subscribe button so you keep hearing content like this in the future. But if this is not your first episode, please do go and rate and review the podcast especially on Apple podcasts. It is by far the best way that you can say thank you for us constantly coming out with this great content every week, if I don't say so myself. With any questions, suggestions, or corrections on what we've talked about, reach out to us at Podcast@B2Linked.com. And with that being said, we'll see you back here next week. I'm cheering you on in your LinkedIn Ads initiatives.

In this episode of The Sales Compensation Show, Maria Oczko Canant, Head of Global Sales Planning at Workiva, joins host Justin Lane to discuss a wide range of topics that pivot around key aspects of sales compensation, including designing, implementing, and monitoring sales compensation plans. Maria shares her insights on how sales compensation can help achieve broader marketing goals and improve sales compensation administration.