Welcome back to CFO after last week’s break. We hope you had the opportunity for a short holiday as well, and we now enter the home stretch for 2024.
If you had the opportunity to log off early last week, you may have missed out. But never fear, we have you covered, with inspiration from Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel, “The Hobbit.”
But before we get to that, one last Thanksgiving-themed finance joke: “Why does a family of auditors always feel at home during Thanksgiving?” (See the answer at the end of this post.)
“Where did you go to, if I may ask?” said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.
“To look ahead,” said he.
“And what brought you back in the nick of time?”
“Looking behind,” said he.
CFOs must constantly push to look past the horizon to best position their organizations for success in 2024 and beyond. And they rely on their finance and accounting teams to look back to make sure what they believe has happened, has happened. That way, they can journey to the mountain Erebor and its treasures with confidence.
Do you remember what it felt like to be a first-time CFO? We have you covered — here are five finance chiefs spanning the gamut from real estate to hospitality who shared their perspective of what it feels like to sit in the chair for the first time.
What kinds of twists and turns might you encounter once you get there? Culture is a significant factor in any circumstance, as these five most-read Q&As this year indicate.
And how do you continue to grow, learn, and matriculate in your careers? From Lamborghini’s Paolo Poma to astrophysicist -turned CFO Alice Globus, the journey is never-ending.
Can finance be fun? At times, it’s completely bananas.
CFO has much more in store as we look to December and close out the year, but don’t miss two final events coming up in New York City:
Maybe we’ll see you there.
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Because everyone counts.