Excited to be part of the CFO Awards again this year, Coupa will be sponsoring the Finance Transformation Award.
With the future on everybody’s mind, everyone is turning to the CFO for answers and solutions that will ensure their organisations can still operate in years to come. This has been a requirement of the role for many years, and over the last 10, the CFO Awards has recognised the leaders who have excelled in this requirement.
“In today’s turbulent times, a good CFO needs to lead with agility. They must equip their companies to respond faster and more strategically to disruption, and as necessary, must be able to pivot their business based on changes in market conditions,” says Coupa MEA VP Julie Tregurtha.
“A successful CFO must balance the business imperatives of growth and improved margins with cost containment, and must guide investment into priority projects that deliver value, all while keeping compliance, social, risk and environmental responsibilities proactively front of mind at the same time.”
She adds that a “great CFO” requires a diverse set of characteristics by combining strategic business thinking with authentic leadership.
“The reputation of the CFO Awards is one of prestige and honour. I believe it is a spectacular forum for bringing together the best of our CFO community in South Africa, facilitating a network opportunity, celebrating success and achievements,” Julie explains, adding that because of this, Coupa remains incredibly excited to be part of this event again this year.
CFO South Africa will celebrate the 10th year of the CFO Awards on 16 November this year, shining a spotlight on the enormous contribution made by finance leaders to the economy and direction of South Africa for the last decade.
Finance transformation
Coupa has been a partner of the CFO Awards since 2021, and has shown its support again this year by sponsoring the Finance Transformation Award.
“It is not an easy task in any organisation to undertake a transformation project. It requires time, investment and change orchestration, when businesses have many other challenges and priorities facing them,” Julie says.
However, she explains that a true finance transformation doesn’t affect only the finance department, but positively impacts every area across the business every day.
“Therefore, when a CFO gets it right, and the results of their vision and leadership are demonstrated in a successful transformation, Coupa sees this as something worth celebrating.”
The Finance Transformation Award winner has significantly improved the finance function to meet future challenges. The winning CFO has redefined finance to become a cost-effective, service-oriented partner to the business, showing courage in radically rethinking its operation. The CFO considered stakeholder requirements, best practices, and lessons learned from others. They realigned all aspects of the operating model – process, organisation, people, and technology – to become a finance master. They are respected for fostering a culture of added value, excellence, and continuous improvement within finance.
“One of our preferred practices of spreading good news of success is telling stories, and Coupa believes that this Finance Transformation Award facilitates the story-telling of success and the CFO’s behind these great stories,” Julie says.
She adds that it is energising to hear from CFOs who are positively impacting financial performance, the environment and societies for a brighter future in South Africa.
“We hope to continue to hear inspiring success stories from CFOs in the community who have accelerated performance and moved into a new frontier of problem-solving to meet the challenges of today, and those of the next decade,” Julie concludes.
