This document discusses challenges facing New Zealand businesses and provides recommendations from Mindfull, a business consulting firm. It outlines issues such as tight bank regulations, disparate systems, and the need for accurate financial reporting. Industry leaders note that maintaining good relationships with banks, having quality financial information, and understanding business drivers are important. The document recommends that businesses shift their focus from profits to cash flow management, get out of spreadsheets, and use forecasting to help make timely decisions. The key message is that "cash is king" and agile cash flow management is needed to adapt to today's fast-changing business environment.
4. WHO IS MINDFULL?
4
• Our gift ….”The clarity to adapt” and “Make sense of a fast
changing world”
• Business Intelligence Consultancy – 100% NZ Owned
• Over 20 years in business, 40 staff, 135 Clients
• Leading IBM Premier Business partner
5. MULDOON…
BRILLIANT COST ACCOUNTANT?
5
• Distinctive scar
• 1984….
• Mini budgets, national superannuation,
wage & price freezes, inflation and
Think Big policies
• 1967 – Decimal Currency
• The contradiction that was Robert Muldoon
– Blog.Mindfull.co.nz
6. TODAY
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• The Deloitte CFO Survey (2014 Q1) survey – Risk appetite and
consumer confidence high
• The Deloitte CFO Survey (2014 Q4) survey – Risk aversion sets in
• The Deloitte CFO Survey (2015 Q1) survey – High levels of
uncertainty
• In 2015 - 56% of CFOs will take greater risk onto their balance
sheets, down from a record reading of 71% in 2014
7. THE PROBLEMS
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• Banks and compliance
• Disparate systems
• Excel – show of hands?
• Fast changing environment
• Reporting
8. WORD ON THE STREET
"Poor cash-flow management is
causing more business failures
today than ever before.“
Philip Campbell, a CPA and CFO
9. WORD ON THE STREET
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What our clients are saying…
10. 10
JOHN HARRISON
CFO NZ BLOOD
Establishing and maintaining a good working relationship is
essential, noting relationship managers are rotated by the banks
Provision of quality financial information as frequent as necessary
to provide the bank with its desired comfort
Be open and share your strategic plans inclusive of financial
forecast outlook
Understand your key business drivers and their external
influencers to enable a ‘no surprises’ policy approach
Maintain a good understanding of the general economic
environment and its outlook – that’s the banks’ world
Never forget that age old truism ‘Cash is king’
11. 11
• Being a cash rich business provides opportunities
• Low cost of capital
• Banking governance are important ratios to measure
• Good information & reporting
• Being able to manage global variables and changes
• Timely decision making
• Harness your existing assets
WILSON ALLEY
CIO DELEGAT’S WINE
12. 12
• Technology / customer Disruption is happening to all /
our industry
• Good information is critical to help inform decisions
• Good forecasting important so changing trends /
drivers can be acted upon in a timely manner
• Companies data rich - how do we distill to help inform
decisions
• Asset bubbles arising due to excess liquidity pumped
into economies heightening banks concerns and risks
such falling commodity prices / Greek exit mean bank
are being conservative in protecting their investment
ANDREW DONALDSON
CFO GENESIS ENERGY
14. • Business plans look good on Balance Sheets
• Collecting receivables
• Increasing sales
• Managing cashflow not profit
• Negative cashflow. Cost of short term funding
15. • Pricing Discounts
• Positive cashflow. Treasury optimisation
• Tightening credit requirements
• Timing is everything
• What is hiding in our budgets
16. ACTIONS
WHO WE ARE 16
• Agile cashflows
• Get out of Excel
• Shift the paradigm
• “What if analysis”
17. SUMMARY
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• Business is changing fast
• Don’t spend budgets
• Get out of Excel
• Use cashflows to make decisions
• Cash is King