Category: The Accidental CFO
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The Accidental CFO — What My Kids Taught Me About Negotiation
“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.” I’ve negotiated deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars—M&A, financing rounds, complex vendor contracts. I’ve sat across from seasoned executives, investment bankers, and private equity partners. But some of the toughest negotiators I’ve ever faced? My kids. No playbook. No term sheet. No artificial deadlines. Just…
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The Accidental CFO — Q1 Retrospective – Did We Win?
“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.” You are closing the books on Q1. The numbers tie. Maybe you will even beat plan. So… did you win? Most CFOs instinctively look at the P&L, cash flow, and variance to budget to answer that question. And yes—that matters. But if your definition of “winning”…
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The Accidental CFO — Five Critical Digital Finance Skills
“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.” Finance isn’t just evolving; it’s being rebuilt. If your primary career flex is untangling messy ERP exports in Excel, the next few years will be rough. But if you are ready to put down the shovel and take your seat at the strategy table, this is…
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The Accidental CFO — Three Ways AI is Actually Changing Accounting
“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.” For decades, the accounting department operated a lot like a team of corporate archaeologists. We spent the first ten to fifteen days of every month carefully dusting off old bones—hunting down missing receipts, untangling messy ERP data, and reconciling lumpy subledgers—just to tell the CEO what…
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The Accidental CFO — Why I Don’t Hide Bad News
“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.” Every March 17th, the corporate world gets a license to dress in green and talk about luck. But as CFO, my journey taught me that relying on the “luck of the Irish” is a terrible recipe for Investor Relations (IR). Integrity Isn’t Optional (Especially when You Are…
