Top 3 SMH Moments in Finance.......

Ever have instant panic, fear, or realization you messed up ……continue reading to help ease those feelings.

We all had those moments in finance or working with finance where you look back over a situation and instantly SMH (slap my head). Over my career and in business, I've missed out on many opportunities to provide value, think more strategically, completely bombed or simply not on my A game.

So, here are my Top 3 SMH Moments in Finance so you prevent them from happening.

#1 – “Throwing other functional areas under the bus by mistake.”

Situation: I just came back from visiting the European operations for a high growth international SaaS business, and I saw the level of partnership, productivity, and value the commercial team had with other business areas. I realized this was a missed opportunity for our America’s operations. 

SMH Moment: At a townhall meeting with all our America’s employees I wanted to share what I witnessed and how we could get better. I called out our commercial team that they need to step up their game, adopt some best practices and significantly improve. Then, instantly when the meeting was over my slack, phone and email was blowing up. It was at that moment I realized I messed up bad. 

Key Learnings:

1.     Make sure to align with your partners on messaging beforehand

2.     Run your ideas, perspective, and insights by your business partner to make sure you’re aligned

3.     Ask yourself, “Does the entire team need to know this or just the leaders to cascade down?”

#2 – “Ok, I hear you but here is the solution we need to execute.”

Situation: I was leading the FP&A function for a high growth SaaS business, and we needed a new HRIS system. We were a small team, so I tasked one of my direct reports to do the research for potential solutions. After around two weeks research we met to review the potential solutions together.  

SMH Moment: After the meeting, the solution was clear in my head (#1 mistake). However, I didn’t ask for my teammate’s recommendation (#2 mistake). In a full finance team meeting, I said the phrase above; then looked at my teammate and it was at that moment I realized I messed up. I could tell they had a different perspective and opinion that I didn’t consider. 

Key Learnings:

1.     Don’t just listen to act but listen to support & understand

2.     It’s great to empower but also allow the ability to enable & execute as well

3.     When delegating a project or initiative make sure to communicate the rules of engagement

#3 – “If we collect those 3 customers, we will be fine to make payroll. We're good.”

Situation: I was leading the Finance organization at another high growth SaaS business, where the most important metric was cash flow. We were growing, scaling, and working on securing a venture debt round. At this stage, I was wearing like 20 different hats, I was the CFO, contract manager, collector, lawyer, and many other hats. I was moving fast and balancing many competing priorities.  So, I pulled the most updated AR aging 3 business days before processing payroll which always stressed me out because I was balancing cashflow daily and sometimes hourly. Yes, hourly!

SMH Moment: After a 13-hour workday, I pulled the AR data to do a quick collection analytic to ensure we have the cash coming in to meet our payroll by Friday. I quickly reviewed the AR report and identified 3 key customers that if we collected, we would have payroll covered. My quick analysis gave me a false sense of comfort, so I moved on to other things. Then, Thursday night my awesome staff accountant let me know those 3 customers are having implementation problems, technology issues and said, “We won’t be paying you until we get our issues solved.” It was at that moment I realized I messed up bad. I made the critical mistake no CFO should make; the Bank Balance was going to be negative. Luckily, I called our Bankers to help float us until that following Monday when we would receive funding from our Parent Company. That weekend was rough!

Key Learnings:

1.     If you’re wearing many different hats, make sure to balance another set of eyes on key assumptions that will have an enterprise impact.  Pressure test & proactively validate key assumptions.

2.     Slow down, focus and go in depth on key risk areas

3.     Prioritize what are one way or two-way doors. One-way doors: If you make this decision there is no coming back so you want to spend more time, energy, and effort on those decisions & outcomes. Two-way doors: You could go through but easily come back through so you can be more high level. 

What are some of your SMH moments in Finance? Do these situations resonate with you? What else could others learn? Drop your insights and advice in the comments below!  

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