Speaker: Jeff Thomson, U.S. CMA, CSCA, CAE, President and CEO, IMA

Today’s CFOs face risks, uncertainties, and opportunities like no other. Maintaining profitability amid a pandemic, retaining key talent while containing costs, integrating new technology across the organization, and setting forward-looking strategic priorities are just some of the complex challenges they face. IMA President and CEO Jeff Thomson will share his perspective on what skills and attributes will contribute to the “DNA of the Tomorrow CFO.” His insights will be helpful to existing CFOs who must evolve to meet new challenges, as well as the finance and accounting professionals who must help them reach strategic goals.

Finance & Accounting: The Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

Distinguished global and AsiaPac leaders will discuss how COVID-19, geopolitical tension, and other hot button issues are impacting business operations and the role of management accountants. The panel will discuss new strategies and best practices for identifying new risks and opportunities and building value in uncertain times.

Moderator:

Jim Gurowka, CAE, Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, IMA

Panelists:

Trinh Duc Vinh, Deputy Director, Accounting & Auditing Supervisory Department, Ministry of Finance, Vietnam

Tony Kam, U.S. CMA, Vice President, Corporate Development, M&A (APAC and Middle East), Cognizant

Angeline Chua, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer, IBM ASEAN

Junko Watanabe, U.S. CPA, Member & Partner, Deloitte Asia Pacific and Deloitte Tohmatsu Japan Group

Maria Victoria C. Españo, Chairperson and CEO, P&A Grant Thornton, Philippines

Speaker: Nina Michels-Kim, U.S. CMA, CSCA, Director of Partnerships, Japan and Korea, IMA.

Speaker: Robert Chen, Partner, Exec|Comm

Businesses are increasingly using data to inform decisions across all functions. As this trend continues, business meetings are filled with data-heavy presentations that often miss the mark and are understandable only by data scientists and other technical professionals. Successful business leaders and their teams stand out by demystifying spreadsheets and telling a narrative around the data to influence key decision makers. In this session, you will learn best practices for synthesizing and delivering complex information in a persuasive and engaging manner.

Speaker: Josh Heniro, Ph.D., Senior Director, Southeast Asia & Australasia, IMA

Breakout Session 1: Case Study - Leveraging Data Analytics to Transform FP&A

Speaker: Keyur Shah, Senior Finance Director, FP&A COE, APAC, Johnson & Johnson

Business strategies and decision-making based on data analytics has increasingly become a crucial skillset in today’s business environment. Embracing the latest technologies for finance function excellence is integral to the modern FP&A team’s development. In this session, through the use of case studies, you will discover strategies in driving and implementing successful FP&A transformation and gain new insights on how finance professionals leverage on data analytics to navigate the ever-changing digital landscape.

Breakout Session 2: Educating for Empowerment in Industry 4.0

Speaker: Gillian Vesty, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Accounting, Information System and Supply Chain, College of Business and Law, RMIT University, Australia

This session addresses the calls from the accounting profession to enhance the technology skills of graduates. What are the moves by academia to include digital technologies in the classroom, from simulations to the development of case studies and microcredentials that encourage students to explore Big Data and data visualisations using the latest software? Gillian will demonstrate her IMA Outstanding Case, as well as her recent innovative CPE training module which provides accounting professionals the opportunity to immerse themselves in a serious game, Bogart, to bring them up-to-date with the new restructured code of accounting ethics.

Breakout Session 3: Strategic Transfer Pricing in Challenging Times

Speaker: Tae Hyoung Kim, U.S. CMA, U.S. CPA, EA, Tax Practice Group Associate, International Tax & Transfer Pricing, Yoon & Yang LLC, Korea

With these unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, transfer pricing has become a more important matter for multinational companies’ daily operation management to efficiently reallocate their resources and profits among foreign related parties in order to effectively cope with impacts from COVID-19. Tae Hyoung Kim, a transfer pricing professional, will introduce the general concept overview of transfer pricing. He will then address potential transfer pricing risks and strategic measures to cope with such challenges from both tax and management perspectives.