Why am I the finance guy?

In recent years title became a tricky thing. You can be regional finance controller, senior finance analyst, finance manager, finance director and the list goes on. Within your own company it might even be understood what the title actually means, your level, responsibilities, etc. When you talk to somebody external, believe me they would not have a clue… Especially when you are on a meeting with a person from logistics and a person from the supply chain department. If you present yourself as the regional controller, head of finance or senior finance manager you will see their faces becoming puzzled. The question they will be pondering is: “Is he the decision maker when it comes to finance matters, or is he not?”. This is why when I present myself I simply say “I am the finance guy”. So people know what I am not and what I am. At least this is my experience when talking to non-finance people.

My background

I have been in finance almost in all my career. I’ve started as business analyst, then professional assistant to CFO, head of controlling department, CFO, etc. I’m not sure whether this was by accident, faith or my own decision. I like finance, I like the numbers and I like to see the money flow. I also like engineering and marketing, but to be honest, only the logical side of it. I like to understand how an engine or piece of machinery works in order to refine my financial models, but I would not be able to fix an engine. I would rather outsource it for a price. I would definitely negotiate the price.

I like procurement as well, information services and everything that has to do with logic. I generally speaking like to get involved and like to understand the details as well, not just the basics. After a few years in the oil & gas industry I could participate in a morning meeting with engineers discussing how the setup of the viscosity breaker would affect the production cycle. In my mind I related that to how much money we can make that month and what is a bottleneck to my profitability. Later on it was helping me to understand whether investing in such could increase this potential, etc.

I also know what I am not. I am not a person who can navigate the same ship for years. I am not a person of repetitive tasks. Not that I cannot do it, it’s rather that I get bored of it and mistakes are inevitable. I am also not somebody who is best at following rules, especially if I don’t agree to the rules.

Besides this, if you want to have a look at my background, have a look at my Linkedin profile.