Christopher Toshiro Jocson

AccountingSuite CEO and founder Kurt Kunselman was recently featured in the Woodard Report. With accounting professionals leaving the industry in droves, it’s time for them to take advantage of opportunities to increase market share with #software that automates repetitive tasks - inventory, invoicing, and expense tracking. "By automating these routine processes, #CPAs can focus their time and expertise on higher-value activities such as financial analysis, strategic planning, and client advisory services." https://lnkd.in/eGUVx3xu

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Kohlberg & Company-backed Riveron has recently acquired Yantra, a distinguished technology and advisory services provider renowned for its extensive expertise in supporting technology-enabled CFOs. While the financial details of the acquisition remain confidential, this strategic move propels Riveron into the ranks of the largest NetSuite Alliance Partners worldwide, offering clients comprehensive solutions designed to amplify value. Yantra's integration brings a wealth of knowledge in data science, analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and platform integrations. "Forward-thinking organizations require adaptable and scalable technology solutions. With Yantra, we now have a global team ready to enhance Riveron's support for CFOs and Private Equity firms, driving performance to new heights," said Sam Shaw, CEO of Riveron. Founded in 2009 by US entrepreneur Vikram Bhandari, Yantra boasts around 300 employees across the United States, Canada, India, and the Philippines. Bhandari will join Riveron as Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, bringing innovative insights on AI's practical impact for CFOs. This acquisition boosts Riveron's team to over 1,000 dedicated professionals globally. “Yantra has consistently guided clients through digital transformations across varied technological and business landscapes. Now, as part of Riveron, we are excited to drive growth and deliver cutting-edge technology to our clients," Bhandari remarked. "Yantra’s legacy of innovation will strengthen Riveron’s leadership in technology and transformation, enhancing the value we provide to our clients. Our combined strengths will deliver a unique competitive edge and sustained success globally,” added Shaw. Established in 2006, Riveron excels at simplifying and solving complex business challenges, partnering with CFOs, private equity firms, and other stakeholders to maximize outcomes. Its teams offer industry insights and a comprehensive suite of solutions focused on the office of the CFO, M&A, and distress. In 2023, affiliates of Kohlberg & Company acquired Riveron from H.I.G. Capital. Advisors involved in the transaction included Canaccord Genuity and Ropes & Gray for Riveron, and Telegraph Hill Advisors and Sklar Kirsh LLP for Yantra. #Riveron #Yantra #Acquisition #TechInnovation #CFOSolutions #DigitalTransformation #NetSuite #AI #RPA #DataScience #BusinessGrowth #PrivateEquity #BusinessAdvisory #GlobalExpansion #InnovationLeadership #TechIndustry #StrategicGrowth #BusinessSolutions #CorporateFinance #TechnologyIntegration #TechAdvisory #AllBoutCorps

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Aspirational. That’s the state of AI implementation for most accounting & finance teams that we initially speak with. Often they’re excited about the prospect of using AI and certainly have an appetite, but haven’t yet found practical ways to get started. Last week’s webinar with Riveron confirmed that’s more or less true across the board — on a webinar on AI practical tips for today’s accounting pros, roughly 42% of poll respondents claimed that they aren’t currently using AI but want to put it on their roadmap. The good news: if you’re feeling behind the curve in implementing AI into your finance org, you’re not. That being said, with 8% of teams currently using AI on a broad basis and another 31% investigating and testing for use cases, there are certainly teams that are ahead of the curve. Our recommendation for those in the aspirational camp? 1. Ask around. The finance and accounting space is full of peer communities on Slack and in-person. Navigating what’s simply hype versus what is concretely useful can be challenging and there’s no faster way to a clear answer than learning what’s working for your peers. 2. Do some window shopping. A lot has changed in the last year. Block out some time to explore new tools on the market and take some demos. At the very least, you’ll walk away understanding options available for the future and begin to pattern match where AI can be a helpful addition to the toolkit. 3. Start small. Find one area where your team is spending too much time and doesn’t enjoy the work, then search for any overlap with AI tools on the market for that specific problem. For most teams we work with, they initially get started with our free technical accounting policy bot to get quick responses to questions or generate policy memos. A bit of exposure to the power of AI then helps gain team buy-in and familiarity with the next generation of tools. 4. Seek inspiration from other departments. Odds are, somewhere in your company a team has leaned into adopting AI. And while the exact use case may be different for the sales or marketing team, for instance, learning about how they implemented the tool, what’s working and what’s not, and how they navigated procurement/data security can inform your approach as a leader.

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New Episode Alert! How Automating Accounting Fuels E-Commerce Growth → Jason Richelson === Why Listen? 🟣 Understanding Revenue Accounting: Dive deep into the often overlooked but critical area of revenue accounting with Kunle and Jason, founder of Bookkeep - Smarter Ecommerce Accounting Automation. Learn why traditional accounting overlooks crucial details until it's often too late, and discover how focusing on revenue accounting can keep your books timely and accurate. 🟣 The Importance of Accrual Accounting: Jason breaks down the essentials of accrual accounting in a way that is easy to understand, emphasizing its importance over cash-based accounting for e-commerce and retail operations. Understand the impact of recognizing income and expenses in the period they occur, not just when money changes hands. 🟣 Simplifying Complex Transactions: Explore how to handle complex transactions such as draft orders, wholesale accounts, and annual subscriptions in your accounting processes. Jason provides actionable advice on ensuring these transactions are recorded accurately to prevent financial discrepancies. 🟣 Practical Tools and Tips: Learn about the tools and techniques that can automate and simplify the accounting process for e-commerce businesses. From daily transaction summaries to sophisticated reconciliation processes, get a grasp on how technology can aid in accurate bookkeeping. 🟣 Future-proof Your Business Accounting: With changes in e-commerce platforms and payment methods, Jason discusses the necessity of adaptable accounting practices that can evolve with your business needs. Discover how staying updated with accounting software and practices is crucial for business growth. --- 🎧 Listen now on all platforms! Spotify: https://lnkd.in/erwa3EFV Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eX3sBqAU

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🔧 How did Oregon Tool transform its accounting operations across global entities? By centralizing with FloQast. 🌍 Faced with decentralized processes, Oregon Tool sought a solution that could streamline their workflow and improve visibility. FloQast delivered with: -Centralized accounting operations -Enhanced compliance with real-time controls -Quick implementation with minimal IT involvement -Empowered teams through FloQademy for continuous learning 📈 The results? Improved operational efficiency, reduced administrative burdens, and a more cohesive financial landscape. Discover why they chose FloQast over BlackLine and how it revolutionized their accounting processes. 👉 Read the full blog: https://lnkd.in/gxyeK2Mw #FloQast #AccountingInnovation #FinanceTransformation #Compliance #CustomerSuccess

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What’s the recipe for a better night’s sleep? Automating financial reporting with Aleph + impeccable bedding from Parachute Home. Gregory Silva and Ariana Egli, CPA at Parachute Home walked us through their finance team’s transformational journey with Aleph. ✅ Eliminated the trust issues that another solution had created. “With Aleph, we don’t worry about the speed of getting data or whether or not it’s correct.” ✅ Reduced monthly close reporting from 1 day to 20 minutes. “There are tons of instances where Aleph saves us 2 hours here, 3 hours there, 8 hours here.” ✅ Improved cross-functional visibility and collaboration with web-based dashboards for teams to track their budgets, spend, and performance. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/eGP6P5Bt

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In April, OpenAI Controller Sowmya Ranganathan walked me through how her accounting team leverages ChatGPT to revolutionize the close process. I instantly knew we needed to share her story with the broader finance community. Accuracy and process are core to accounting workflow, so it can be intimidating to stray from traditional approaches. In our webinar last week, Sowmya walked through some brilliant demos, illuminating how you can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks with ease. I’d *highly* recommend watching a replay of our webinar if you weren’t able to join live – it’s linked in the comments. We’ve also distilled her advice into a how-to guide: https://lnkd.in/gbheYKf2 Here are some of the pro tips she shared: ⚫ Seek out ways to automate. When you’re repeating a task that takes more than a few minutes in Excel - or something you hate about the close process, rewire your brain to find a way to automate it. Those minutes quickly add up to streamline your day-to-day workflow. This works with the close process, but also many other projects in finance and beyond. ⚫ Be curious about code. While she’s not a trained programmer, Sowmya uses ChatGPT to create Python scripts to build pivot tables and parse through massive CSVs. Her team can categorize a full month of OpenAI’s Azure usage data 👀 in 10 seconds 👀, whereas before they’d have to manually process the data every few days to avoid hitting Excel’s row limits. ⚫ Train ChatGPT on your company’s specific guidelines. After Sowmya ran a prompt to recognize revenue from a transaction file, she asked ChatGPT to cross-check it against their audit firm’s ASC 606 guidelines, which she uploaded as a PDF. The result was nearly the same, but it added an extra step to protect against hallucinations. And, she always triple-checks the results. ⚫ Don’t fear the error message. Pre-ChatGPT, if she was working on an automation project and received a technical error message, she might have given up. Today, Sowmya dumps the message back into ChatGPT, where it can diagnose and resolve any issues. You can see this problem-solving in action during her demo! A big thank you to Sowmya for sharing this hands-on demo and giving finance leaders the confidence to test it out themselves. Now that you have inspiration, how will you use ChatGPT and AI to revolutionize operations at your company?

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🎙️ Exciting Episode Alert: FP&A Insights from a 5-Time CFO! 🚀 ​ Brian Lanier, CPA, a seasoned CFO with experience at multiple growth-stage companies, recently joined us on FP&A Tomorrow to share his wealth of knowledge. His journey from auditor to CFO of five different companies offers a unique perspective on financial planning and analysis. ​ Key Takeaways: ​ ➡️ Collaboration and the ability to perform "sniff tests" on data are crucial skills for FP&A professionals ➡️ Clean data is a persistent challenge in FP&A, but decisions can often be made with imperfect information ➡️ Tailoring communication to different audiences is key for effective FP&A business partnering ➡️ ​ Great FP&A involves partnership with the company and identifying key business levers ➡️ Building a robust budget model requires keeping it simple, teaming up with stakeholders, and considering materiality ➡️ Understanding operational metrics is crucial for effective financial planning ➡️ M&A processes benefit from early preparation and understanding of key metrics ​ We loved the emphasis he placed on learning to tailor your message to your audience.  ​  "When I'm trying to get the board to approve, $2 million funding to help us get through next year's plan. It's a lot different approach than when I'm trying to convince the implementation guys that people need to do twice as many implementations in a week as they've been doing the last five years." ​ Learning to tailor your message to your audience is a crucial skill every FP&A professional should develop.  ​ 🎧 Don't miss out on more insights from Brian Lanier! Listen to the full episode of FP&A Tomorrow and learn how to elevate your FP&A game. https://lnkd.in/gTgBDnkc ​ ​ ​ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📰 Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter and receive access to a free FP&A Business Partnering Digital Course Module - https://lnkd.in/g8g5XN7j 🧔 Follow the Host at Paul Barnhurst 📺 Check out the podcast on our YouTube Channel at https://lnkd.in/gE45bU4A

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Through the leadership of an interim FP&A director with expertise in Adaptive, a $1 billion retail company automated its financial reporting infrastructure within weeks, overcoming unexpected staff losses and tight deadlines.    Delivered outcomes as part of this engagement included:  1) Established top-to-bottom P&L integrity  2) Automated daily finance KPIs  3) Enhanced reporting granularity  4) Provision of a roadmap for future Adaptive enhancements    Read the full case study: https://lnkd.in/gNpH3cjG.    #casestudy | #interimexecutiveservices | #financialplanningandanalysis 

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📊 Webinar Alert: Essential Strategies for FP&A Tool Success! 🚀 Join QueBIT on November 14th, 2024, at 2pm EST for an exclusive webinar designed for finance professionals eager to streamline financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting. Discover practical insights with Justin C., VP Solution Architecture, and Chris Willson, Director of Services Delivery, including: - Aligning FP&A tools with business processes - Key selection factors like expertise and system compatibility - Implementation essentials: clean data and clear ownership - Common pitfalls and how to avoid them - How AI and machine learning are reshaping FP&A Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FP&A strategy! Register now: https://hubs.ly/Q02Xn1Kb0 #FP&A #FinanceWebinar #FinancialPlanning #Budgeting #Forecasting #QueBIT #AIFinance

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Imagine scaling a one-person finance team into a strategic powerhouse without adding more staff. That's exactly what Vena customer Kuali, Inc. achieved using #VenaCopilot for FP&A! ⚡💡 Their finance team is now empowered to:​ 👉 Enable budget stakeholders to be self-sufficient.​ 👉 Easily answer questions about budget variances and year-end projections.​ 👉 Free up time for more strategic, high-impact work,​ And the best part? With Vena Copilot’s insights, they still have full visibility and control over the process. 🙌 Want to scale your finance team like Kuali? Watch how they did it and learn how Vena Copilot can help your team https://bit.ly/3Yrnly1 🌐 ​ #FPandA #FinanceInnovation #StrategicFinance #CustomerStory

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In the latest issue of XU, Dan Kang, VP of Finance Mercury, discusses accounting systems, financial workflows, and taking stock of the existing financial landscape as a startup’s first financial hire. Read his article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eAP-MEsK #XUMagazineIssue40

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It’s time to reframe how you approach managing your accounting tech stack 🖼️ We partnered with Rillet to interview 12 finance leaders from Oracle, Notion, and others to how to map out a tech stack with the functionality, automation, and cost savings you need. See the full guide 👉 https://lnkd.in/dHBRn_h8

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🗨️ “The role of FP&A has become much more important, much more strategic, and commercial, as has the CFO.” Maxio CEO Randy Wootton is joined by Paul Barnhurst, also known as The The FP&A Guy. Paul explores the evolution of FP&A over the past two decades, highlighting shifts from traditional back-office reporting to a crucial strategic partnership within modern organizations. Paul emphasizes that today’s FP&A experts do much more than crunch numbers. They need a robust understanding of historical trends and business operations to effectively shape financial strategies. 📊 With these insights, FP&A professionals are increasingly regarded as mini-CFOs, skillfully guiding their companies through complex, high-stakes decisions in an environment marked by significant global uncertainty and economic shifts. 🎙️Tune in to the full discussion here: https://lnkd.in/gip-bBxt

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Today’s finance leaders need to extend their tools beyond Excel to make their systems more beneficial. In fact, many finance teams are prioritizing software investment for fast, effective forecasting as the economy continues to pitch and yaw. The CFO Show’s latest guest, VP at Marcum Technology Stacy Brown says forecasting is more critical than ever. That means applying better tools to the job. By allowing finance professionals the chance to enhance their workflows with the right tech, they’re free to focus on the high-impact elements of their day-to-day flow. In this week’s episode, Stacy shares the impact of leveraging tech. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

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🎉 Another productive SaaS CFO roundtable in the books! Yesterday, we gathered finance leaders in SaaS to discuss ARR accounting edge cases and treatment options. Click to read the full recap: https://lnkd.in/eRRjdP-r #arr #arraccounting #subscriptions #customeroperations #recurringrevenue #saas

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In our latest FP&A Tomorrow podcast episode, Leslie Stuart, CPA, CA shares invaluable insights from her experience leading FP&A transformations. We appreciate her emphasis on how implementing new systems, and making changes in an organization is an evolution not a one-time event.  ​ Key takeaways from our conversation: ​ ➡️ Great FP&A leverages technology and data for better insights  ➡️ Focus on people and processes, not just technology in transformations  ➡️ Start with 'why' and get leadership engagement  ➡️ Conduct thorough current state assessments before implementing changes  ➡️ Embrace agile, iterative approaches over traditional waterfall methods  ➡️ Develop strong communication skills between finance and technology teams  ➡️ AI and machine learning are reshaping finance  ➡️ View transformations as ongoing evolution, not one-time events ​ Leslie's personal experience shines through as she shares, "You know, it was one thing to have a bird's eye view from an audit lens, but to actually get in there and do the work and the realities of it, it's not perfect. It's not ever perfect."  ​ This candid perspective highlights the importance of understanding the day-to-day realities when driving change. ​ Whether you're a seasoned FP&A professional or just starting your journey, this episode offers valuable insights to help you navigate the complexities of finance transformation. ​ Don't miss out on Leslie's wisdom - tune in to the latest episode of FP&A Tomorrow now! 🎧📊 https://lnkd.in/gj3z8TCw ​ ​ ​ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📰 Join The Modern Finance Playbook Newsletter and receive access to a free FP&A Business Partnering Digital Course Module - https://lnkd.in/g8g5XN7j 🧔 Follow the Host at @Paul Barnhurst, The FPandA Guy  📺 Check out the podcast on our YouTube Channel at https://lnkd.in/gE45bU4A ​

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