Accounting in the Age of AI: What Every Leader Must Know About Using AI
Artificial intelligence is showing up everywhere, from “autonomous” general ledgers to AI-powered fraud detection and tax research agents. But for many leaders, these tools are either misunderstood or overhyped. Staff are concerned about being replaced.  Managers are concerned about the use of AI causing chaos. This seminar gives CFOs, controllers, and tax professionals a grounded look at how AI is impacting real-world accounting departments. We will explore how these tools work, what they can (and can’t) do, and what finance leaders should be doing now to prepare their teams and processes for the changes that will happen.

Topics Discussed

• What are autonomous general ledgers: what are they and how much can you depend upon them?
• Financial statement analysis using AI.
• AI use in Budgeting and Forecasting.
• Using AI for research and planning (tax and GAAP), e.g.
  • AI-driven fraud detection tools: capabilities and limits.
  • What to automate and what to leave alone?
• Evaluating vendor claims and setting reasonable expectations.
• What to automate, and what to leave alone.
• AI ramification on staffing and hiring.
• The impact of self-serve AI research on your relationship with your CPA firm

Living in the World of AI – How AI Has Changed Ethics
AI (‘Artificial Intelligence’) has already reshaped the way we work, offering immense opportunities alongside serious ethical and organizational challenges. How should we use AI responsibly without slowing innovation? Is using AI ethical? Is it right? Is not using AI ethical? How can we build trust in tools we don’t fully understand, avoid bias, and address employee resistance? In this seminar, we’ll explore how to deploy AI ethically, engage teams with clarity, and ensure these powerful tools are used in ways that empower people, strengthen organizations, and create sustainable long-term value. The goal is to make better use of the power of AI, in a sustainable and ethical way.

Topics Discussed:

• Is it ethical to use AI, or not?
• What is ethical AI? Why it matters for finance and business professionals?
• Understanding and managing AI hallucinations and misinformation.
• Addressing bias in AI tools—even when you didn’t build them.
• Internal friction: navigating fear, resistance, and cultural challenges.
• Guidelines for responsible AI use in your organization.
• Accountability and transparency: who is responsible for AI outcomes?
• Real-world use cases and what we can learn from them?
• Creating sustainable, people-focused AI practices that build trust.

Improving Profitability the Right Way: How to Cut the Right Costs
Cost cutting is easy, cutting the right costs is NOT easy. Most cost-cutting exercises fail either; by cutting the wrong costs, cutting too much, ignoring interrelated impacts, taking shortcuts, cutting too little or waiting too late. The internal politics are problematic. One key solution is to take sufficient time to plan properly and assess the true goals and objectives? Planning is essential, we will show you how to cut the right costs correctly and avoid career-killing blunders.

Topics Discussed:

• Understanding what the goal really is
  • Better planning, ready aim and then fire.
  • What are the crucial considerations
• Why do others in the organization hate to cut costs?
• What are the ‘ripple’ effects?
• What are the right costs to cut and not to cut?
  • What are the more common mistakes made?
  • The need to consider politics, culture, and strategy!
  • Fourteen (14) different perspectives to utilize to cut costs efficiently
  • Over fifty (50) uncommon cost cutting possibilities
• How to prepare for the next cost cutting exercise
• A proven process to cut the right cost in an organization.

Activate and Execute Your Strategy: Turn Planning into Results
Organizations that execute a wise strategy succeed; others are executed in the market. Many organizations invest significant time in strategic planning but fall short when it comes to execution. According to McKinsey, most fail to properly execute their strategy. This session explores the critical transition from strategy to performance while challenging outdated planning models and myths. We often do not think of strategy in the same context of longer-term organizational projects like ERP transitions or risk management. Why should you consider “killing” your current plan and building a new plan centered around financial performance? We will dive into the reasons strategy fails, uncover the practical tools for bridging the planning-performance gap, and explore how strong financial integration enables strategy to succeed. We review insight into what works—and what must be stopped immediately.

Topics Discussed:

• The strategy-execution gap: common reasons why most strategic plans fail
• Why should financial planning lead strategy?
• Evaluating the lifespan and relevance of your strategic plan
• Building your strategy to include risk management
• Building an adaptive, finance-focused strategic approach
• What we should learn from the rise and fall of major companies
• How to align financial metrics with strategy

People who are, or aspire to be, CFOs. You do not need to be a CFO to gain value from this course.