Count Me In at SuiteWorld 25 - Featuring Kimberlee Duval

It was that I saw how strategic it could be. Yeah. That I could build and and really create something. And I made the decision to not go into at the time, it was a big eight. Yep.

With that, you know, I got my CPA and all that good stuff and really wanted to figure out how I was gonna make that into a career. Mhmm. And I found my first startup. Wow. And that changed the trajectory of my life in a in a moment because I really got to be a part of a growth story from the beginning.

Okay. It was a medical device company. We ended up scaling quickly, taking the product to market. We bought another company, so I got to be part of that process. We started, down the path of going public.

And so I got to do all of that, like, amazingly hard work, but really understood the value of the day to day compliance and considerations you have to have to enable you. Yeah. So that that role, I think more than anything else, really taught me the value of my mantra, measure twice, cut once. Yeah. Right? Be thoughtful as you make plans, as you do things, and not be about just today. Mhmm. It's gotta be about the future as well because otherwise, you're just gonna rework it.

Right? And and as I was saying, these men really created opportunities for me because I went after them. I wanted to know what doing business development was. How do I get more involved in that? How do I bring my strategic finance capabilities into that part of the world?

And so I had a head of BD that worked, you know, and he welcomed me in, and I got to start looking at deals and figuring out why we were a very large medical device company. And so we had a lot of opportunities for people wanting to sell us their stuff. But we were also looking at sometimes and proactive versus reactive. And he was the first one that really was just like showed me how much more being an accountant could really be. Yeah.

And I think then that drove to the next, you know, opportunity. And then I had an incredible CEO who had been a CFO for most of his career that, again, showed me what was possible Mhmm. And that the the standard expectations were just that, and that doesn't mean it needs to be me. Yeah. And he was who gave me my first CFO role.

I took the job director of finance for three months, and at the end of the three months, they said, you're the CFO. You we don't need to look for anybody else. You've got the job. That's amazing. And it was it was really great. Yeah.

To find it, but more importantly, to be willing I have to be willing to work to help them find it. I can't do it for them, but I can certainly help them figure that out. And I think a lot of times leaders tend to get caught up in this path is what you're supposed to take. Right? You're you're in accounts payable. Therefore, you should you're in certain accounts receivable. No. The my path was not a straight line. Mhmm. You know?

I did lots of zigs and zags of different roles and opportunities and industries and full time consulting. So why should they have to stick to a certain path? Let's figure out what's interesting to you. Mhmm. What does excite you?

What is it about your current role or different things that maybe we are not doing today that we should be doing? And then how do I help them not just move toward to reach those goals, but give them time to spend to learn. Right? It's it's about great. It's a new skill set.

You're not gonna just know it. You've gotta learn it. Right? And whether that's me supporting them and teaching them, whether that's going to classes, whether that's, you know, doing something that's going to help them, and they have to have the time to be able to do that. Yeah.

Right? It's we have to have some balance. And, yes, this is part of your career, and I'm not suggesting, well, you only work eight hours a day every day. No. So, yes, maybe you're taking two hours out of this day, but they need to know that they've got permission, that they're empowered to do

This is how we're gonna build a great team, a great organization, right, and and to be able to do all the things that you want us to do. Yeah. I need to be allowed to do my job, which means I need to be able to empower my team to be allowed to do theirs. And so it's gotta work. Alright?

They have to respect that they are being given this time, this effort, you know, money to cover classes or whatever the thing may be. They have to want it more than me for themselves. And if we can do that and then you show the value of that, it becomes very obvious. And then next thing you know, other leaders are looking around going, that back office team, they've got their stuff together. Right?

They they're really making a difference. And you see it by promotions, by career development opportunities. Those team members then are more willing to reach across to other parts of the organization to educate, to work with, to support. And now you've got a collaboration, And then that becomes really a foundation across the entire organization. Yeah.

Over time, obviously, it's not gonna be quick, but I've seen it, you know, and and I've been able to really help establish that expectation. I only hire in. If you're gonna meet you gotta be hungry. I don't want you to want a job. I want you to want a career.

Everybody gets something out of it. And I I don't think enough companies, especially in the back office, because we are the frugal ones and having to be conscientious of the spend, we don't give ourselves that budget and that opportunity. And we need it just like any other part of the organization does. And I think, you know, it's like, don't be a martyr. Like Mhmm. Well, we've never been on a, you know, whatever. No. That's a shame. Yeah. Invest in your people.

There's a lot of ways that you can do it inexpensively over time. Right? They earn it. Give it. Share it. Right? And and I think ultimately, there's just not enough people, in senior leadership positions. When these young kids, you know, these days are asking about balance. Well, that is a big part of how you help them achieve that balance.

As we've gone into retail now, you know, the complexity of our business is so different than it was really even six months ago that, you know, it's it's different skills. It's different work, you know, product that's being asked. And I've got this incredible team who's just like, bring it on. That's awesome. Let me I'm I wanna learn it.

I wanna do it. I wanna do what it takes. And and I've been so impressed with them. And, you know, they are going to be part of my legacy of future CFOs of the world one day, you know, and, oh, I got to help them do that. That's pretty awesome.

And after that first keynote, I thought, oh, well, that's out the window. We're gonna have to rethink this entirely different way. And and I think that it's it's great. It's exciting. I've got a little nervous. There hadn't been a whole lot of news coming out of anything really big and new from NetSuite for a while. So I was like, oh, this is game changing.

And more time thinking and then doing something with the data, with the information, less time building the data, more time actioning the data. So for my team in particular, the timing is excellent because this is the team we're building. And we've been building this team for about a year and a half that I've been with them. And we've moved people into different roles. We've got some great, you know, promotions for people.

We've added a couple of, folks in with the goal that we are doing that. We are bringing in AI. We are putting in sweet apps. We are putting bill capture. We're doing things that make it so that there's integrations to do the key punch. There's not value in the key punch just to get it in the system. There's tools that can help you do that now. So great. Let's invest in those tools. And then now I want you to take that information, and what are you gonna do with it?

How is it valuable? What does it tell us? Right? And I think that's also the expectation of today's, you know, young people coming out of that first job, that second job. They they want to think. They really want to add value. And hopefully it makes accounting sexy again.

The way your team looks now is completely different than it's looked in the past.

Mhmm. Because with AI especially, you can't be siloed. It it forces you to break down those siloed walls. Yeah. Because what somebody's doing in marketing has a direct effect on and if you're not building your AI tools to be across your organization, you're gonna end up with bad information, bad data. You're gonna not make full fully aware choices and and decisions because you're you're too siloed. You it has to be across.

How you know, what are the classes? What are the training? What what do you need in order to do that? And then you need to make sure that they it has to be a priority for both of you. Yeah. It is really easy to put something on the paper at the review Six months later, a year later, well, did you do it? Oh, nope. Right? And I think accountants, back office team members tend to also Yeah. Like, oh, well, I I there's so many other things that I should have done.

I didn't really wanna put the time and take the time away. No. It's it's required. Yeah. And and and if you if you mean it Mhmm. Right, then they will, and then you you naturally start to just build that culture just by meaning what you say and saying what you mean.