Eric Gerster of Magnolia Lane Financial Advisors shares a brand new presentation on the top priorities for financial professionals. Enjoy and please share!

1. TOP PRIORITIES FOR FINANCE
IN 2016
Eric Gerster

2. • Hello and welcome back
• If you have viewed some of my previous presentations you would
see that I am deeply involved in the finance industry and love to
learn about current happenings with the industry
• I know the year is not over just yet but 2016 is just around the
corner and people need to be prepared for start of the next
year
• This presentation is intended for the education of any reader
interested in learning more about what financial professionals will
be focusing on in 2016
• I hope you enjoy the presentation and feel free to share it

3. • The following information is based on a study provided by Protiviti and
taken by more than 600 finance professionals including CFOs, Vice
Presidents, Presidents, corporate controllers, and more
• For those of you that are not familiar with Protiviti, they are a global
consulting firm that aids organizations in solving any problems associated
with finance, operations, technology, risk, and audit
• The survey ultimately found that the financial professionals continued to
focus on the strategic value of the finance function, instead of accounting
operations.

4. • In 2014 there were 3 areas of financial analysis that
ranked 7.0 or higher that were viewed as extremely
important by financial professionals
• These 3 areas were strategic planning, budgeting, and
profitability analysis
• The data for the 2016 study indicated that 7 key areas
were shown to be top priority
• These 7 areas include strategic planning, budgeting,
performance management, business intelligence, periodic
forecasting, profitability analysis, and risk management

5. • Please view the chart below for more information
on business area priority for financial executives

6. • CFOs and other top level financial executives
will be diligently focused on those 7 areas with
the intention and motivation to positively affect
margin and earnings performance
• Immediately following margin and earnings
performance is cybersecurity risks, strategic
planning, periodic forecasting, and budgeting

7. • Ryan Senter is a managing director at Protiviti
said in a recent interview, “With the modest
economic recovery of the past few years,
finance functions are preparing the enterprise
for challenges that could materialize at any
time by working to preserve margins and by
sustaining a strong focus on working capital
management”

8. • The report went on to say the following
quote, “Finance functions are working … to
equip business partners throughout the
organization with more precise and real-time
information on performance, cash positions,
and profitability drivers to strengthen strategic
decision-making”

9. Eric Gerster
Thank you for viewing my presentation. Please be sure
to check back again soon for more updates!