DAY TWO: TUESDAY 14 OCTOBER

Wrap up

Australia’s positioning in the region – reform + innovation = competitiveness

Speakers: Peter Harris AO, Chairman, Productivity Commission, Rebecca McGrath, Non-Executive Director, OZ Minerals Ltd, Incitec Pivot Ltd, CSR Ltd and Goodman Group, Alex Malley FCPA, Chief Executive, CPA Australia

1. National income growth has been constant at around 2% per year for the past decade.

2. Need to recognise opportunities and shortcomings and create industry capabilities that support those.

3. It’s a reasonable view to assume that if we don’t take some pain now, we’ll be much worse off in 10-20 years time.

4. Must deal with issues sufficiently in advance of them becoming crises - don’t defer decisions or you will inevitably have a bigger problem to deal with.

5. Australia’s future needs innovation. But innovation and technology is not in the vernacular of politicians.

6. The only way out of problems is innovation.

7. The more questions we ask about decluttering the processes in small businesses, the more we find out just how cluttered they are.

Key points:

Anthony Alexander CPAChief Financial Officer, OxfamBuilding a financially sustainable organisation – lessons learnt from Oxfam

1. Oxfam focus in 4 main areas: Long term development. Humanitarian work. Advocacy. Fair trade shops. They work in 90 countries and turned over $90 mil AUD in 2013/14. They have 600 staff, 11 shops and an online presence.

2. In 2011, organisation ran into trouble Assets and equity dropped $20 mil over 4 years.

Developed strategy based on 3 questions: Where are we now? Where want to be in future? How do we get there?

3. Phase 1: Immediate cost reductions. Phase 2: Identify longer term cost reduction actions to focus on growth.

4. Key tasks were to reduce expenditure, grow income.

Income: Focus on flexibility, diversification, stability of funding. Create good quality programs to ‘sell’. Create a unique offering.

Expenditure: Voluntary and compulsary redundancy. Operational spend reductions. Consolidating assets and processes.

5. Learnings: Regular monitoring essential. Need to know business’ numbers ‘inside out’. Keep staff involved and informed.

Key points:

Steven SmithDirector, Digital Consulting, KPMG Australia

Demystifying the cloud

1.The cloud is just the storage devices and computers that are housed off-site at a facility owned by the provider.

2. The data is the valuable thing, not the device that it is sorted on.

3. Some of the benefits of the cloud are:- Cost-saving on IT equipment and staff- Greater productivity - Better version control - Accessible anywhere, anytime

4. Data will be safer with a cloud provider because: - Robust security software and systems- They have secure premises - They have trained staff in security

5. When selecting the right cloud provider, treat it like you would any other external provider - research them! 

Key points:

Anthony HodgkinsonExecutive Director, KordaMentha New developments in fraud detection

1.Whistleblowers are the most important people when it comes to fighting fraud and corruption.

2. Drug, alcohol and gambling are significant contributors to corruption.

3. The higher the person's level of authority in an organisation, the higher the loss. The average loss is $500,000.

4. Companies need to make sure adequate procedures are in place to fight fraud and corruption.

5. Fraud red flags include a history of dishonest behaviour, rumours of an improved lifestyle and a failure to take leave.

Key points:

Rosemary KirkbyPrincipal, Rosemary Kirkby Consulting

Leadership and the future of work

  1. What millennials wants in the workplace: - 64% want to make the world a better places - 88% prefer collaboration over competition - 88% want ‘work-life integration’ 2. The role of “place” or community is key. The workplace should be a collaborative environment. There is no excuse for poor design.

3. Many advantages of virtual teams. Use technology to your advantage. Economical. Efficient. Recruit globally: Look up O-Desk and Freelancer.

4. Challenges of virtual teams: Managing performance, time zones, availability of technology, teamwork and collaboration difficult.

5. Six ‘DOs’ for leaders of a distracted workforce:Be role models. Access global talent pools. Build cultures of inclusion. Make trust a given. Create cultures of collaboration. Rethink processes

Key points:

Ram SubramanianPolicy Adviser – Reporting and Auditing, External Positioning, CPA Australia

Not-for-profit-sector – status update

1. An update on charity regulation, and some of the impacts, including the status of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission as a Commonwealth Regulator.

2. The current regulatory changes and requirements you need to know about, including your obligations under Commonwealth and State/Territory laws and regulations

3. Update on current financial planning reporting issues including the reporting entity concept, and some accounting standards that have not-for-profit specific considerations.

4. Looking to the future of financial reporting and obtaining an understanding of some of the developing innovations in this area.

5. Reminder – when complying with ACNC financial reporting obligations, there are a number of transitional provisions the ACNC provides for 2014 that may alleviate your compliance burden this year. 

Key points:

David MahonyGeneral Manager, Financial Control, Stockland

Stockland case study – adding value with integrated reporting

Key points:

1.  Duplication of information across all reports means no clear company narrative.

2. We have progressed from sustainability is 'the right thing to do' to 'creating long term value’.

3. It provides the opportunity to draw out a narrative not found in one place

4. Things to consider: Materiality. Streamlined reporting. Minimise duplication. Optimise accessibility.

5. Our approach to Integrated Reporting: Scoping. Design. Build. Review.

Paul CameronChief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Booktrack (New Zealand)

Disruptive technology in business - reading never sounded so good

1. The world has changed so much when it comes to books, people have new entertainment expectations.

2. Be brave when it comes to pushing a new idea.

3. Never, ever, give up.

4. Having a good business culture is important and going against the norm can lead to success.

5. Disruptive accounting, a more effective way to run a business.

Key points:

Ethan GlessichManaging Director, enarah

The simplest way to instantly boost productivity

1. Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you feel that there is not enough time in one day? Every single one of us experiences productivity issues.

2. Our attention is limited: You can control the attention spotlight but… You may have very limited bandwidth. Attention doesn’t divide well. Might feel very sensitive.

3. The longer a task, the more errors you will make and the poorer the quality will be due to DISTRACTIONS.

4. Distractions add up. Little interruptions during your day add up to at least 1/3 of your day!

5. One tip to immediately improve productivity: Choose when to look at your email. Turn send/receive off.  

Key points:

Vera VisevicPartner, Mills Oakley

Effective boards – the holy grail!

Key points:

1. Challenges for boards include time poor Directors and constitutions which lack appropriate clauses to encourage limited terms for directors.

2. Boards are facing increased security from regulators in regards to stakeholders. 

3. Effective boards have a good mix of members and a culture of trust and respect.

4. It's important to create a strong relationship between the Chair of the Board and the CEO. 

Continuous improvement: Better metric reporting for driving efficiency

Tania Galbraith CPADirector, Continuous Improvement, The Walt Disney Company

Key points:

1. The role of metrics: Identify opportunities for improvement. Monitor adoption rates of new tools and process. Compliance to policy. Monitor defects.Improve efficiency. Reporting success.

2. How metric reports help: Shock and gain peoples attention. Makes the problem a tangible one. Provide a benchmark and highlights areas for improvement. Facilitates a structured conversation. Provides insights in the root cause .

3. Designing a metric report: Be clear on the objective. Consider your audience. Prepare many, report on a few. Review regularly as the business changes so will the metrics required. Make it visually appealing.

4. Metric reports for driving efficiency: Be consistent. Follow up on actions. Focus on small and incremental improvements. Don't report on redundant metrics. Focus on inputs and process not just outputs. Use metrics as a tool to help you drive efficiency but don't rely on them to be the solution.

Joshua VialFounder, Enspiral (New Zealand)

Collaborative funding: Dissolve authority, empower everyone, and crowdsource a smarter, transparent budget

Key points:

1.Enspiral has embraced entrepreneurship within its employees.

2. Democracy, network, collaboration and a decentralised information model are the keys to its business.

3. When it comes to budgeting, Enspiral uses different 'money buckets' to fund its projects.

Bri Williams CPAPrincipal Consultant and Behavioural Specialist, People Patterns

Why rational arguments fail (and what you should be doing instead)

Key points:

1.Eliminating low-grade decisions saves energy for more important ones. 

2. 3 biggest mistakes - we rely on willpower and motivation, we think we are always rational, we underestimate our environments. 

3. It takes 66 days on average to form a habit.

4. We have bad habits because the is something good about them. 

Stuart CameronPartner, KS Black & Co

Performance management for NFPs – the requirement to adapt

Key points:

1. Not for profit organisations need to continually adapt in response to external demands on their services given their funds available.

2. NFPS need to measure performance in terms of solvency and profitability both to assess past performance, and to identify trends to determine appropriate responses.

3. Solvency is the primary financial risk for NFPs.

4.  Profitability and NFPs are not incongruous, especially given the basis of government grants.

5. NFPs have similar legal obligations to for-profits entities. They have the same business objects of solvency panda profitability.

Key points:

Michael DavisonSenior Policy Adviser – Superannuation, CPA Australia

Future of retirement savings: Critical policy decision

Key points:

1. We need a long-term vision and goal for Australia's retirement savings system

2. We need to encourage a retirement incomes culture. We should think of our superannuation as pension plans not savings plans.

3. Flexible saving incentives are needed and innovative pension product design encouraged to minimise the risk we'll outlive our super.

Ken Christie FCPAChief Financial Officer, NAB Wealth

BNZ case study: World class finance transformation

Key points:

How the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) was transformed into a world class finance company:

1.Define the vision 'the what’ - For BNZ to be in the top 10% of the market benchmark.

2. Build trust in the leadership team - Finance problems were easy once trust was built.

3. Deliver the core work stream - Grow the number of team members who have the right attitude.

4. Benchmark the team - Aligned, acted, adjusted on issues/challenges.

5. Measure the value created - BNZ Improved in engagement and enablement score. 

Bri Williams CPAPrincipal Consultant and Behavioural Specialist, People Patterns

How to make and break habits

Key points:

1.Don’t rely on motivation and willpower.

2. Design your physical and social environment to support your habits, i.e. smaller plate sizes.

3. Use the three parts of a habit - trigger, reward and routine to make and break habits.

4. To break a habit make it hard, to make a habit make it easy!

INTHEBLACK presents – Building a winning culture of workplace productivity and innovation

Speakers: Annalie Killian, Founder, Curator & Executive Producer Amplify Festival; Director of Innovation & Social Business, AMP, Eileen Burnett-Kant, Executive Global Head of Human Resources, Orica; Kieran Flanagan, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, The Impossible Institute

1. Companies need to be really clear about the purpose, or innovation doesn’t stick.2. Make the finance team a part of your creative team to get company ideas off the ground.3. Engaged workers improve a company’s bottom line.4. Innovation is a gift - It’s when people put meaning into their work and do over and above what they’re paid for.

Stay tuned for the Day Three Wrap Up

tomorrow at cpaaustralia.com.au