July 2020 – New World News

3 Things That Every Modern CFO Should Have

Posted on July 27, 2020 by James

Nowadays, there are more resources and tools available for the modern CFO to leverage. From innovative Artificial Intelligence tech to financial metrics, there is so much to consider. As a modern CFO, you may be wondering where you should be really focusing your attention. From data to forecasting, this article will go over three specific things that every modern CFO should be using to succeed.

Traditional Metrics:

The fact is, no two companies are alike. However, that being said, the metrics typically remain fairly consistent when talking about one business versus another. The leaders of finance at either a bootstrapped startup or a fortune 100 company will need to fully understand these metrics if they are going to be able to make wise financial decisions that take into account what’s best for the company.

For instance, just about every CFO will need to have a strong understanding of the business’ current ratio and working capital. Without this, they will be unable to fully comprehend the company’s financial standing. At the same time, the cash flow the company has will allow the CFO’s to figure out how healthy their business operations are and how capable their customers are of paying on-time. Lastly, the CFO needs to be able to accurately view metrics on both sales performance and customer satisfaction in real-time in order to complete proper assessments on the financial health of the business.

A Centralized Dashboard

You may be wondering whether you can make a simple spreadsheet to track everything. Unfortunately, that’s not enough anymore.

While a lot of businesses do in fact have a lot of financial management is done from a simple spreadsheet, it is becoming increasingly common for even medium-sized businesses to take it up a notch. For pretty much any company that has a lot of different products, services, or even regions that they need to cover, a CFO is going to need to have a centralized dashboard that is dynamic and that updates in real-time. That way, they will be able to see the entirety of their company’s metrics at the same time to make better assessments.

What’s even better, when a CFO has a cloud-based system that they can fall back on. This will give them customer records and real-time data that can help them maintain confidence they are making decisions based off real numbers. CFO’s tend to depend on their staff in order to handle some of the most basic tasks including figuring out the margins on a specific service they offer. This can send even the most well-trained staff into complete chaos if they are only using spreadsheets to track this data. For the finance teams that have the benefit of a connected cloud-based system, they will be able to answer important questions like that accurately in a matter of seconds.

Accurate Forecasting

What’s ironic is that the forecasts that we typically used in the past really gave an overview of past events. After all, CFOs were limited with static spreadsheets and had to use past data to predict future growth and trends. Not only was this flawed because the data was aged or inaccurate, but it also relied too heavily on having the right formulas. By connecting the front office to the back office data, you will be able to get a lot more information to base forecasting on. This will allow you to get much more accurate forecasting and you will have a lot better analysis that is based on real-time data allowing a CFO to make better decisions for the business as a whole.

Reasons To Rent A CFO

Posted on July 3, 2020 by James

The majority of our clients are relatively small in terms of scale. Most do under $10,000,000 in sales each year. Because of this, they aren’t privy to having the same in-depth financial reporting that larger companies have. Nor do they have professionals analyzing their company figures. Many don’t even have bookkeepers that are keeping track of all of their finances.

Along with this, a lot of our clients that are business owners don’t have the ability to read their own financial statements. While the majority can read the profit and loss statement, practically none of them can read and explain their cash flow statement. As far as reports are concerned for a business owner, cash flow statements are perhaps the most important.

Because of this, I will be going over some of the reasons it makes total sense for a lot of private companies to actually rent a CFO for startups or for their business.

Reasons To Rent A Chief Financial Officer (CFO):

1. Renting a CFO is much more cost effective than hiring a professional to work for a salary. After all, you pay less for it and not all businesses will require the services of one throughout the entire year.

2. They will be able to help you understand where your cash is coming from, where it is going, and how to properly budget for changes in cash flow.

3. A CFO will help you understand all of the key performance indicators to analyze your company.

4. They will be able to help you develop ways to measure the drivers in your business to ensure your key performance indicators are moving in the right direction.

5. They will be able to help you understand how to gain financing you need for your business.

6. They will be able to help you ensure that your company remains as profitable as it can be by focusing strictly on your cash flow and optimizing it.

7. They will be able to help effectively position your company in the best possible way so it is able to become more valuable whenever you intend on selling it in the future.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you think about hiring a Chief Financial Officer for your business.

How To Develop Greater Consistency With Your Acting

Posted on July 2, 2020 by James

As an actor, you have probably had this happen to you at one point or another: during rehearsal or while you are on stage, you experience something you weren’t expecting. For one second, everything is perfect. Instead of being trapped in your own head, you are caught up in the moment, feeling more alive than ever. This incredible sensation stays with you until you step off the stage. Sadly, however, it usually doesn’t last. Trying to recapture the magic of that moment rarely works since you may not have any idea how you achieved it in the first place. The best way to have a similar experience again is to focus on building consistency in your acting.

One of the reasons why people struggle to have more experiences like these is because they haven’t taken the time to hone their technique or master their craft. Before you can become a master at any activity ranging from dancing or painting to music or sports, you first need to get a handle on the basic skills. If you look at the top artists in any field, they devote years of their lives to building their skills. After decades of hard work, they can look back with pride at everything they have accomplished. Most of them will be very good. In some instances, it may even be incredible. To reach this level, actors need to ask themselves what they can do to become more consistent in their work.

One step is to begin working harder on acting fundamentals. These skills should be practiced so often that they come naturally every time you step on stage. I find that the most effective way to accomplish this is using a technique designed by Sandy Meisner in the 1930s known as the Meisner Technique.

The best actors are consistent in many different areas. They can step out of their heads and focus entirely on their actions or on the other person they are interacting with. They are excellent listeners and always react appropriately, never going overboard or coming on too strong.

Thanks to their hard work, they can respond appropriately to every situation. Instead of waiting for the right feelings or emotions, they know that acting is about taking action. They embrace vulnerability, which allows them to fit into any role. Instead of spending time stuck in their heads, they simply act without thinking in advance. They are familiar with the art of crafting everything from a previous circumstance and acting relationship to a shared circumstance and objective. This allows them to mold themselves into any role.

The best actors aren’t necessarily born knowing how to do all of these things. Instead, it is something they have developed through hours of training and incredible dedication. Once they master this process, they use it every time that they act to put on better performances and to portray characters in a much more convincing manner. Being consistent in terms of mastering the craft and developing your technique will eventually lead to greater inspiration, allowing you to experience moments of magic on the stage more often.
Enroll now at New York Acting School for Film and Television to develop your acting skills. You may also visit our website, https://actingclassforfilm.com/ or call 212-877-2219 / 917-797-2577 to learn more about our film acting programs.