Webinar: Why a Deloitte Accountant Made the Switch to Tech Startups
This interview is taken from an episode of the Spend Culture Stories podcast. In this episode, Brittany Nasso, the Controller at Voices.com shares how to drive change and efficient processes that are positive on the bottom line, and also how she made the switch from big four firms to leading finance teams in fast-growing companies.
About the Podcast:
Your company culture might attract talent, but your Spend Culture will make or break your company.
Spend Culture Stories is a female-hosted and produced podcast that helps finance leaders learn the tactics, strategies, and processes to build a proactive Spend Culture.
Learn how to pick the right tools, implement the most efficient processes, and how to develop the right people to transform the Spend Culture of your organization for the better.
Why a Deloitte Accountant Made the Switch From Big Four to Tech Startups
Controller. Chartered Professional Accountant. Former Auditor. Volunteer
Brittany Nasso is a Financial Controller at Voices.com, the largest online voice over marketplace in the world. Having graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Brittany has since worked with multinational professional network Deloitte as a Chartered Accountant, operated a one-woman finance department as the Controller for Gemini Homes, and sat on the Board and Finance Committee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Guelph. Since beginning at Voices.com, Brittany has been driving change and efficient processes that have had noticeable positive effects on the bottom line.
In this episode, Brittany shares how to drive change and efficient processes that are positive on the bottom line, and also how she made the switch from big four firms to leading finance teams in fast-growing companies.
Speakers: Brittany Nasso, Controller at Voices.com
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Notable Quotes:
How would you describe the Spend Culture of Voices.com?
I would describe the current Spend Culture at Voices.com to be fairly administrative. Voices.com recently introduced a new bonus plan based on financial performance which includes the bottom line.
This program ensures that employers and the employees carefully consider the amount what they’re spending and the importance of things. I think this policy and our Spend Culture attitudes tie into our employees also agreeing that we have a fairly administrative policy.
What are the processes for managing and tracking spend currently look like at Voices.com?
The current processes we have in place at Voices.com for managing company spend is budget tracking and the use of a purchase order system. Each department creates a budget for their spend for the current fiscal year which is then approved. In addition to budgeting, we have our purchase order system in which an individual within the department can create the purchase order but it must be approved by their manager. Lastly, tracking spend is done through the financials in which the budget is compared to the actual forecast, where the purchase order system assists with this department.
Within this process, departments are aware of any requisitions for goods and services that are purchased on behalf of the company.
In your experience what are some of the poor practices that you’ve seen when it comes to companies trying to cultivate a healthy Spend Culture?
Some poor practices I’ve seen in the past when it comes to cultivating a healthy Spend Culture is employers not explaining “the why”. People do not like change, they especially do not like change when they’re just told to do it.
So, I think it’s extremely important to explain the “why” – things need to change and what the new change will look like. This is something that’s like really driven home here at Voices.com and I love it.
How do you think Spend Culture, in general, will evolve in the next five years?
I think that Spend Culture will evolve to be more data-driven, and by that, I mean that I think there’s going to be lots of new technologies introduced to assist companies to make better and faster decisions relating to spending.
I think in the past, spend has been very administrative. But moving forward, I think companies might open up to more types of Spend Cultures, beyond administrative or even more agile spend and seeing what works kind of with their company. I think that with new technology coming out and a lot of different options for people, I think companies are starting to realize that one size doesn’t fit all.
It’s great that there are all these systems out there that really allow companies to modify things to what works best for them, especially when it comes to money and spending. I mean when you look at the big picture, even as people, we all have different ways of spending and managing our finances and I think it just makes sense that companies would do the same thing.
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