Selling Trust: Airbase CFO Aneal Vallurupalli on Risk Management

Aneal Vallurupalli, CFO of Airbase, an AP automation, spend management, and procure-to-pay solution, joins CJ to discuss all things risk management. He explains the different categories of spend outside of payroll and the biggest pain points within them. Aneal does a deep dive into fraud and how to prevent it, explaining how Airbase's number one product is really trust. He covers the non-payment risks to your company, the need for stage and growth-appropriate risk, and the benefits of a risk roadmap for your company. Aneal also delves into value metrics and what makes a good one. As someone with experience in the people function, he provides a unique perspective on why every finance person should get some recruitment experience, before explaining the qualities that separate good CFOs from great ones, and the role of the CFO as a "chief alignment officer".

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Leapfin is accounting automation software that automatically prepares and posts reliable journal entries. High-growth businesses like Reddit, Canva, and Seat Geek choose Leapfin to eliminate manual tasks, accelerate month-end close, and enable accounting leaders to provide faster insights to help their companies grow. To automatically standardize your revenue data with measurable business impact, check out leapfin.com today. 

Mercury is the fintech ambitious companies use for banking and all their financial workflows. With a powerful bank account at the center of their operations, companies can make better financial decisions and ensure that every dollar spent aligns with company priorities. That's why over 100K startups choose Mercury to confidently run all their financial operations with the precision, control, and focus they need to operate at their best. Learn more at mercury.com.

Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust®; Members FDIC.

NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 37,000 thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist. 

Maxio is the only billing and financial operations platform that was purpose built for B2B SaaS. They're helping SaaS finance teams automate billing and revenue recognition, manage collections and payments, and put together investor grade reporting packages. 🚀 Request a demo at www.maxio.com/runthenumbers for 10% off your first year.

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(01:52) Sponsor - Leapfin | Mercury

(03:57) Managing the People Function as a CFO

(05:28) Parallels Between Sales Pipelines and Candidate Pipelines

(07:49) The Evolving Nuances of Hiring Globally 

(11:54) Different Categories of Spend Outside of Payroll

(13:20) The Biggest Pain Points in These Spend Categories

(17:22) Sponsor - NetSuite | Maxio

(19:50) Fraud Prevention at Airbase

(24:43) Risk Management and Standing Up a Risk Function

(28:00) Non-payment Risks

(30:20) The Need for Some Risk and a Risk Roadmap

(32:25) Value Metrics  

(35:32) Airbase's North Star Metric of “Spend Under Management” 

(38:53) Examples of Value Metrics for Other Companies

(44:03) Metrics Aneal Looks at Each Morning 

(45:59) The Qualities of a Great CFO

(48:54) The Long-ass Lightning Round: Aneal’s Mindset Shift

(50:55) Aneal's Finance Software Stack

(52:41) Craziest Expense Story

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