Best Practices in Finance & Accounting Self-Study Webinar

To arm CPAs and other financial professionals with an arsenal of best practices now being applied by today’s leading organizations. You’ll discover many practices you can employ immediately, as well as ones that require advanced technologies but can pay off quickly.
 

SPEAKERS:

Tim Bulman, Managing Director, Protiviti

Neal Eisenberg, Director, Protiviti

Nicholas Folan, Manager, Technology Consulting, EY

Robert Hirth, Consultant, Protiviti

Lauren A. Klosterhoff, Director of Self-Study Operations, CPE Inc.

Charles G. Soranno, Managing Director, Protiviti

David Taylor, Managing Director, Protiviti

Andrea Vardaro Thomas, Managing Director, Protiviti

Christopher Wright, Global Leader, Business Performance Improvement Solution, Protiviti

DETAILED LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the evolving role of finance professionals in a technology-driven environment

• Identify how generative AI (GenAI) supports efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation in finance

• Explain how data quality and process analysis contribute to GenAI readiness

• Recognize key use cases of GenAI in FP&A, controllership, audit, tax, and treasury

• Distinguish between AI functions such as translation, classification, anomaly detection, and recommendation

• Describe the characteristics of scalable GenAI use cases

• Evaluate the integration of GenAI into finance dashboards and business intelligence platforms

• Apply AI to reduce cycle times in finance processes like order-to-cash and record-to-report

• Assess risks and benefits of AI implementation in investor relations and internal audit

• Identify the layers required to build a scalable AI architecture, including metadata integration

• Understand how finance can act as a strategic partner in sustainability and ESG reporting

• Outline the CFO’s role in aligning finance with long-term sustainability goals

• Evaluate the financial reporting implications of ESG-linked loans and green bonds

• Describe how internal controls apply to sustainability reporting (ICSR)

• Recognize the impact of regulatory changes on ESG data collection and disclosures

• Define best practices for cybersecurity governance involving both CFO and CISO roles

• Identify the SEC’s disclosure requirements for material cybersecurity incidents under Form 8-K and 10-K

• Understand the definition of a cybersecurity incident per the SEC

• Apply governance strategies to ensure accurate cybersecurity-related disclosures

• Recognize the importance of tabletop exercises for improving incident response preparedness

• Describe the strategic benefits of business process outsourcing (BPO) and global business services (GBS)

• Distinguish between different BPO transition models such as “Lift and Shift” and “Fix then Lift”

• Identify key risks and mitigation strategies in outsourcing finance operations

• Evaluate service level agreements (SLAs) as performance management tools in BPO

• Understand how integrated GBS models deliver cost savings, process efficiency, and quality improvements

• Recognize treasury transformation opportunities through ERP integration and data automation

• Identify analytics use cases across financial risk, cost of capital, and banking cost management

• Explain how long- and short-term cash forecasting support strategic planning

• Describe “must-have” capabilities for modern treasury decision-making

• Evaluate finance’s contribution to profitability through cost optimization and process reengineering

• Top Priorities for CFOs & Finance Professionals in Leading Companies
  – Security and Privacy of Data
  – FP&A and strategic planning
  – Enhanced Data Analytics and Process Improvement
  – Cost optimization
• AI & Finance
  – Financial Data, AI and Automation
  – Enhancing Work Force Productivity by automating tasks while accelerating insight generation
  – Effective Finance GenAI use cases
• Working Capital & Treasury Management 
  – Leading Practices and Challenges for forecasting cash
  – Commonly used Business Analytics
• A New Era of Cybersecurity Accountability
  – The CFO/CISO Relationship
  – Data protection program framework
  – Evolving regulatory requirements
  – SEC cyber disclosure rules
• Finance Leadership in Sustainability
  – Regulatory overview 
  – Treasury considerations
  – FP&A considerations
  – SEC materiality reporting
  – ESG controllership
  – Internal control considerations and assurance
  – Sustainability governance
• Finance Business Process Outsourcing/Insourcing
  – Business Process Outsourcing benefits
  – Key project risks and proposed mitigations
  – What leads companies to Global Business Services (GBS) model
  – Digital Solutions for integration and automation
  – Managing expectations
  – Service placement strategy

Tim Bulman, Managing Director, Protiviti

Neal Eisenberg, Director, Protiviti

Nicholas Folan, Manager, Technology Consulting, EY

Robert Hirth, Consultant, Protiviti

Lauren A. Klosterhoff, Director of Self-Study Operations, CPE Inc.

Charles G. Soranno, Managing Director, Protiviti

David Taylor, Managing Director, Protiviti

Andrea Vardaro Thomas, Managing Director, Protiviti

Christopher Wright, Global Leader, Business Performance Improvement Solution, Protiviti