Financial Executive Forum

This Financial Executive Forum is a peer advisory board for CFOs, VPs of Finance, Financial Directors and others.

Facilitated by a certified Forum Leader, REF is a pioneer offering group experiences uniquely tailored and focused to meet the needs of Financial Executives, helping them be better leaders delivering better results for their organizations.

WHY?
Our purpose is to accelerate the personal, professional and business evolution of our Financial Executive Members.

HOW?
We give Financial Executives access to Collective Intelligence in an environment of trust and confidentiality.

WHAT?
We design and assemble peer advisory boards of best-in-class Financial Executives to help them make better decisions and reach their next level.

Financial Executive Forums Led by Financial Experts

REF has formed a strategic alliance with fellow global leader ERA: Expense Reduction Analysts, who has 700 consultants globally and 160 across the USA, which is our initial focus, to expand the accessibility of Financial Executive Forums.

FIND A FINANCIAL EXECUTIVE FORUM LEADER

In addition to the peer interaction, I have learned valuable insights and ways to bring value to my organization.

I have been able to work through and brainstorm challenging and complex topics with top-notch executives with a diverse industry background.

Brandon Standford

CFO Eastridge Workforce Solutions

Being an active member in the group has helped reshape my perspective of the CFO role from an analyst focus to an action oriented copilot of the business.

Thanks to the REF Financial Executive Forum, I was early to apply for the ERTC in January of 2021, securing $5.5mm in reduced payroll tax payments while my business rebounded from COVID19 shutdowns.

Frank Jamie

CFO Cartmart

It has been instrumental in the development of several of my C-Suite players and each would agree that REF has helped them grow personally and professionally.

Participation in a regular dialogue with like minded professionals, who are dealing with the very same issues and opportunities can be invaluable, especially in these difficult times.

Brian Rott

CEO Cartmart

REF Financial Insights

CFO as the “Facilitator of Excellence”

5 minutes read

I have to confess, it was only in the latter part of my 25-year “CFO life” (career) I came to this realization. I wasn’t always 100% clear on what I was supposed to focus on in any given situation because there were so many things in need of my attention. I know a lot of […]

CFO: CURIOUS Financial Officer

3 minutes read

There is a (relatively) universal view of CFOs and Finance & Accounting folks in general as pure OVERHEAD – part of the necessary costs of running a business. In my 25 years as a CFO, this was the assumption that others had about my role that I liked the least – BY FAR! So much […]

CFO as the Chief FILTERING Officer

3 minutes read

Have you ever seen a swimming pool with no filtering system? Bet not. Who would even THINK of leaving out the all-important filtering system in a pool just to save a few bucks? No one, that’s who! Yet it is more common than not to discover businesses that have invested millions (or tens of millions) […]

CFO: “Knower of all Answers” or “Asker of Great Questions?”

3 minutes read

The first part of my finance and accounting career was all about being SMART – having the right answers. Knowing the rules (IRS and GAAP). Like many in technical professions, my sense of self-worth was ANCHORED in knowing the answers and making sure others knew who to come to FOR those answers. SMARTNESS got me […]

Does the Calendar Rule Your Business?

3 minutes read

As a former (now “recovering”) CFO, I have long been curious about why most businesses seem to only measure their financial performance in months and quarters (and years too). I have also noticed that some CEOs have been willing to accept higher costs and/or lower margins in order to pull future revenues forward into the […]

Decluttering your INTERNAL P&L – WITHOUT “ADD-BACKS”

-1 minutes read

I am going to over-generalize here, but most organizational P&Ls do not paint a very clear picture of the organization’s results for any given period (month-quarter-year). How can I say that? Because there is usually some NOISE / DISTORTIVE line items that affect the clear analysis of results. The following are just SOME of […]