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Raw Materials: Are You “Buying Right”?
treasury pillar
A few years ago a drought in Brazil caused a surge in coffee prices, affecting businesses a world away catering to latte-loving crowds. As the cost of coffee beans doubled, Starbucks was able to maintain its profitability—without raising prices—because it had locked in a year’s worth of supply at pre-drought prices. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters wasn’t as lucky; rising costs threatened its ability to turn a profit. Situations like this highlight the fluctuating nature of raw material prices - and the importance of “buying right.” This is especially true when a large portion of your raw material is made up of a commodity; for example, metals, energy, grain or coffee beans. Today we are faced with a trade war and supply chain disruptions that are creating widespread volatility in raw material prices in addition to shortages.

Steve Rosvold

CFO Talk: Accelerating Finance Transformation with Andrew Codd
leadership pillar
Andrew Codd, a global expert who combines deep finance knowledge with data & analytics to accelerate finance transformations, tackles questions like these in his CFO Talk with Steve: 1. What does the traditional vs modern approach to a data & analytics transformation look like, and why should CFOs care? 2. What is so important about outside vs internal investments in this area? 3. On how to leverage our core skills to keep transformations on the rails 4. How is the diamond organizational structure and why does it better support finance teams today than the traditional pyramid structure? 5. Andrew reflects on how learning from a guild formed back in the 13th century can help us today. 6. Team. Talent. Leadership. Culture. Visit Andrew’s library on CFO.University here:https://cfo.university/library/contributor/andrew-codd

Andrew Codd

Steve Rosvold

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Governance & Controls – structure and controls.

Transaction Recording – systems, transaction processing and closing the books.

Reporting - efficient, timely and accurate information for decision making and meeting compliance requirements.

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Accounting

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Business Planning - provide the financial roadmap for the company with supporting analytics.

Financial Forecasting - integrate the company’s current performance relative to budget with the real-time business environment.

Investment Analysis - the framework to analyze new opportunities as they present themselves.

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Finance

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Cash Management - the discipline to ensure cash is available to operate the business normally.

Funding - Planning for and raising funds to meet the needs of the business.

Risk Management – Identification and mitigation of key business risks.

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Treasury

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Self-Awareness - Internal.

Team Building - External.

Strategy & Culture – Motivate people to follow you.

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Leadership

Four Pillars of Executive Expertise

CFO.University is built around the Four Pillars of CFO Success. These Pillars are supported with Core Competencies. Our framework allows you to master your role as a senior financial officer. The Four Pillars are made up of:


Accounting – Governance & Controls, Transaction Recording and Reporting

Finance – Business Planning, Financial Forecasting and Investment Analysis

Treasury – Cash Management, Funding (Capital Raising) and Risk Management

Leadership – Self Awareness, Team Building and Strategy & Culture

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