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(+ 353) 1 592 0850What’s one piece of advice that would have been worth £1,000 if you’d had it early in your career?
We put that question to the six finalists who competed for the FD of the Year title, which iplicit sponsored at this year’s Accounting Excellence Awards.
Their responses covered everything from personal branding to charging what you’re worth. And a couple of our interviewees threw in an extra tip, so this blog might in fact be worth as much as £8,000!
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Becky Glover: ‘Be broad in your knowledge – and curious’
Becky Glover won the FD of the Year title in 2023 and was a finalist again in 2024. She is FD of Yutree Insurance and spent five years running a side hustle, Elizabeth Rose Wines. She is in demand as a speaker on finance and diversity issues.
“Be broad in your knowledge. Setting up my own business really helped me get a broad business knowledge. I looked at building a website, e-commerce, delivery companies, marketing, SEO, so many things. All of that feeds back into my finance role and makes me a better finance professional because I actually understand other departments and what they're trying to get out of it.
“So be curious about every part of that business and really try and understand how it works day-to-day.”
Read Becky’s story: ‘We shouldn’t be the fun police’: Meet FD of the Year finalist Becky Glover.
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Lorna Leonard: ‘Value what you do – and buy the best you can afford’
Lorna Leonard founded Leonard Business Services to provide clients with the benefits of a high-quality finance department that might otherwise be beyond their budget.
“I was going through life not charging enough for what I was doing – and not giving myself any credit for it, because it came easily to me.
“Then somebody said to me: ‘Because it comes easy to you, you don’t value it – but believe me, everybody else does.’ That was massively powerful. You need to value what you do.
“My second piece of advice is that when setting up a business, it’s worth spending a bit more and putting things in place that will serve you longer. I’ve changed practice management systems four times and that wasted a lot of time.
“My dad was right when he told me to always buy the best you can afford – and that includes hiring the best people.”
Read Lorna’s story: ‘Don’t call us bean counters’: Meet FD of the Year finalist Lorna Leonard
Ciaran O’Donnell: ‘Describe yourself in one sentence’
Ciaran O’Donnell entered accounting in the corporate world after being advised at the age of 23 not to work in the City. He went on to found Virtual FD, using his corporate experience to advise startups and early-stage businesses.
“Refine your idea of what you do, so that everyone can understand and remember it. If someone can understand and recall what you do, it’s hugely valuable.
“There’s a story that Ridley Scott was pitching the idea for Alien in the 1970s. Even though he had a detailed printout with a one-page synopsis on top, when he went into a meeting, he was still asked ‘Could you just tell us in five words?’
“He said: ‘Alien: It’s Jaws in space.’ He got his funding and the rest, as they say, is history.
“If you can give people something quick that they can easily remember – and that describes what you actually do – that’s the key. It’s also respectful of their time. A five-year-old kid, or your mum, is a great audience to test it on. If they get it, other people will.”
Read Ciaran’s story: ‘I’d love to thank that recruitment consultant’: Meet FD of the Year finalist Ciaran O’Donnell
Charlotte Crowley: ‘Know what you can do – and what you can’t’
Charlotte Crowley worked in finance for PR and advertising businesses before moving to a consultancy that was taken over by McKinsey & Company. She was most recently FD of Xynteo.
“I was mentored by someone from the CFO Centre who said: ‘Always know what you can and can’t do.’
“That’s especially important when you’re a trusted person in the organisation. You have to act with integrity – and knowing what you can and can’t do, and where you need to get help, is very important.
“Nobody’s going to be able to deliver for the business if things haven’t been done correctly or if you incur a huge fine that you can’t pay because you didn’t do something for which you needed an expert.”
Read Charlotte’s story: ‘The people here want to save the world’: Meet FD of the Year finalist Charlotte Crowley
Aikta Varma: ‘Things will always go wrong’
Aikta Varma reached a senior level working with financial services clients at KPMG. She became Head of Finance at The West Brom Building Society shortly before the first Covid lockdown forced big changes to working culture. She is co-author of Finance Transformation: Leadership on Digital Transformation and Disruptive Innovation.
“Things will always go wrong, but it's how you put them right that matters.
“There are always mistakes but it's all about the attitude to fixing them and being open about them.
“I've worked very hard to create a much more open and transparent culture. It's natural, perhaps especially for highly-performing accountants, not to want to acknowledge that something's gone wrong but things will inevitably happen and it's important to be open when they do.”
Read Aikta’s story: ‘Everybody mucks in and shares knowledge’: Meet FD of the Year Finalist Aikta Varma
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Brad Channer: ‘Speak the truth – and remember numbers don’t lie’
Bradley Channer was crowned FD of the Year at the Accounting Excellence Awards. After starting out in showbusiness and getting into accounting in a “weird, backwards way”, he is now CFO of UBIO and has raised more than 60 million US dollars for businesses.
“When I speak to accountants who are in junior positions and want to become senior, I say: speak the truth and don’t be scared. Communicate. You can have the best ideas in the world, but if you can't communicate them, they're useless.
“You need to believe in yourself. Always get the facts and always double-check, but if that’s what the analysis says, it’s what it says.
“The other advice I’d give is that numbers don’t lie. The first thing I do when going into a new company is go through the bank accounts, transaction by transaction, for two years. It doesn't matter how big the company is. I did one for a £100m turnover company, going through every single transaction because it's the only way you're going to get under the skin of the business that you're meant to be in charge of.
“Numbers don’t lie – and just because it doesn’t look the way someone wants it to look, that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
Read Brad’s story: ‘My wife said, have you realised yet that you have ADHD?’: Meet FD of the Year finalist Bradley Channer
What’s your advice?
If you’re an FD, CFO or accountant, what advice do you wish you’d had when you were starting out? Do find us on LinkedIn and let us know.
Our own advice would be to take a quick tour of iplicit’s award-winning finance software. You might find it could drastically improve the performance of your own finance or accountancy team.