So just what is financial planning and analysis anyway? Like many practitioners, at first Jake Hammon thought it was about forecasting, budgeting and spreadsheets. Now he's not so sure. Today Hammon acts more like an internal consultant to his company's business units. "Honestly that's one of the things I pitched to new hires as they come in," he says. "It's one of the benefits of working in FP&A."

In this edition of AFP Conversations, hosted by Ira Apfel, Jake Hammon talks about the changing role of FP&A, what he looks for when hiring for his team, and all the crazy things he did as a member of his college's Financial Society Management Consulting Club. (Okay, not really.)

You can hear more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations. 

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Just in time for Tax Day, the IRS issued a new new phishing scam warning. This ingenious new threat combines business email compromise and W-2 fraud; cybercriminals posing as company executives send emails to employees in payroll and HR, requesting a list of all employees and their W-2 forms. The result: stolen money and reams of confidential data. 

In this episode of AFP Conversations, host Ira Apfel talks to Brian Lapidus, Practice Leader, Identity Theft and Breach Notification, with Kroll, a risk management firm. Lapidus explains what treasury and finance professionals can do to fight this new battle in the war on cyberfraud, and he reveals other new cyberscams as well as additional advice.

You can hear more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations. 

If you subscribe to AFP Conversations on your favorite podcast app, please give it a review -- it will help other listeners notice the show. Thanks!

Vipal Monga covers the world of corporate treasury and finance as a reporter and editor with The Wall Street Journal. In this episode of AFP Conversations he gives a preview of the coming battle over corporate tax reform, what he's hearing from treasurers and CFOs that he regularly speaks with, how his background as a documentary film maker informs his business reporting, and more.

Follow Vipal on Twitter at @VipalMonga.

You can hear more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations. 

If you subscribe to AFP Conversations on your favorite podcast app, please give it a review -- it will help other listeners notice the show. 

Gauthier Vasseur has held many roles in his career: auditor, controller, marketer, strategist, to name several. These days, though, he’s probably best known as an educator -- he lectures on data science at Stanford University and in organizations around the world. His goal is to help students rely less on spreadsheets and more on smart data-driven processes. Vasseur believes treasury and finance professionals need to become data CEOs, relying less on technical skill and more on intellectual curiosity.

In this episode of AFP Conversations, Vasseur tells host Ira Apfel why spreadsheets need to be set aside, how anybody can be a data scientist, why it’s so important to be professionally curious, and more. Vasseur will lead a virtual seminar, “Leading with Data: Design Efficient and Sustainable Data-Driven Processes for Treasury and Finance,” in May. You can learn more and register at www.AFPonline.org/training.

You can listen to more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations.

After 25 years in corporate treasury and finance, Eric Matheny remains on the cutting edge. The Vice President of Corporate Finance and Treasury for Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has embraced fintech and offers a glimpse into his company's blockchain venture. 

A Certified Treasury Professional, Matheny also talks about what he learned while working abroad and how it influenced his leadership style and his treasury management strategy. Finally, Matheny is on the planning committee for the upcoming AFP Executive Forum, May 21-23 in New York City, exclusively sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Learn more about the AFP Executive Forum at www.AFPonline.org/executiveforum.

Listen to more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations.

When the IRS and Treasury Department proposed changes to Section 385 of the tax code, corporate treasurers and CFOs went ballistic. Besides discouraging corporate tax inversions, they claimed the proposed changes would make everyday cash management functions like cash pooling nearly impossible.

Now the final 385 regulation is out and due to take effect soon. Is it easier on treasurers and CFOs? And will the Trump administration repeal this Obama-era holdover?

In this edition of AFP Conversations, host Ira Apfel talks to Melissa Cameron and Michael Mou of Deloitte. Cameron, U.S. & Global Treasury Leader, and Mou, Principal at Deloitte Washington National Tax, explain the final rule and what treasury and finance professionals must do to prepare. 

Download more AFP Conversations at AFPonline.org/conversations, or subscribe in your favorite podcast format so you never miss an episode!

If you do subscribe, please leave a rating -- it helps other people find the show.

And be sure to follow AFP on Twitter @AFPonline and at Facebook.com/AFPsocial. 

When it debuted last year, Same Day ACH promised to make payments faster and more secure. So how's it doing? 

In the latest episode of AFP Conversations, Michael Herd, Senior Managing Director, ACH Network Rules at NACHA, discussed the progress of the Same Day ACH program. Herd commented on how the initiative is going and its challenges, the future of Same Day ACH, and why treasury and finance professionals should take advantage of it.

Download more AFP Conversations at AFPonline.org/conversations, or subscribe in your favorite podcast format so you never miss an episode!

If you do subscribe, please leave a rating -- it helps other people find the show.

And be sure to follow AFP on Twitter @AFPonline and at Facebook.com/AFPsocial. 

Corporate treasurers have a lot on their plate these days: Geopolitical risk, regulatory risk, blockchain, fintech... and of course their traditional duties too.

To take stock of all their challenges, many global corporate treasurers will gather in New York City in May at the AFP Executive Forum, sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. And the host of this event is the guest of the latest AFP Conversations: Craig Martin, Director of Executives Programs and Treasury Practice Lead at AFP.

Craig previewed the Executive Forum, the sessions and keynoters. He also talked about the challenges he's been hearing from his corporate treasurer contacts.

Download more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations. 

Financial planning and analysis faces different challenges across the globe -- as Anne-Marie Rice will tell you. In this episode of AFP Conversations, Anne-Marie, Director, EMEA at AFP, provided the view from the UK and Europe on corporate treasury and finance. She discusses trends in FP&A, which she sees as the future of the finance function.

Connect with Anne-Marie Rice and read her posts.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Got a topic you'd like us to discuss? A great treasury and finance professional who deserves to be heard? Contact Ira Apfel.

Chris Voss is the founder and CEO of the Black Swan Group as well as the author of the new book, Never Split The Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It.

Chris worked 24 years at the FBI as a hostage negotiator. He's a favorite speaker with corporate treasurers and CFOs -- and now with Hollywood executives, too.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

How do you go from client services to preparing data for National Hockey League player contract negotiations? Daniel Tolensky has the details. In this episode, Tolensky discusses doing FP&A in the advertising industry and online gaming industry, how he got his start as a hockey blogger, and how it led to his role helping a major sports agency represent NHL players at the negotiating table.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Kendall Frederick knows treasury and FP&A from both sides of the office. The Senior Manager, Finance Integration for Hanesbrands Inc. discussed analytics and modeling, cash management, corporate finance, and capital markets with AFP Conversations. He’s written for AFP publications and he even helped write the book on the AFP Financial Planning and Analysis certification. 

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Christopher Mager has a very interesting new job -- and a challenging one. He's the head of BNY Mellon's new Global Innovation Group for Treasury Services Business. 

Mager is in charge of helping BNY Mellon keep up with the frantic pace of change in payments, so he is overseeing his institution's faster payments initiatives, its real-time payments innovation and, yes, blockchain and distributed ledgers. Mager also talked about the challenging regulatory landscape, and what treasury and finance professionals really want from fintech innovation.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

What do you do if you suffer a very public failure? How can you re-start your career? 

Catherine Hoke can help.

Hoke knows about being a long shot. As the first female wrestler on her high school boys’ team, she owns the school record for getting pinned the most and fastest. Years later, she suffered a very public humiliation in her career -- yet she came back stronger than ever.

In this short, but sweet, AFP Conversations episode, Catherine Hoke, founder of Defy Ventures, a national nonprofit that equips former drug dealers and gang members to start legal businesses, producing a 3% recidivism rate, explains what you need to do rebound from failure. 

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Your dashboard should be more than a few charts – it should tell a story. In this AFP Conversation host Ira Apfel spoke with data visualization expert Catherine Madden, who mapped several sessions at the 2016 AFP Annual Conference.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

New year, new job? The best way to find your next career opportunity is by presenting at an industry event. Aurora Gregory explains how treasury and finance professionals can become thought leaders by presenting at AFP San Diego and other conferences.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Nader Mousavizadeh advises some of the world’s leading corporations, investors, and organizations. When he speaks to clients, Mousavizadeh talks a lot about the need for organizations to master uncertainty. But is that even possible? 

In this episode of AFP Conversations, Mousavizadeh, who previously served as Special Assistant to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, explains how treasurers and CFOs can cope with the rising tide of geopolitical risk and uncertainty. 

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

In many ways John Fruin's career encapsulates the major changes in treasury and finance. He started as an investment banker, moved to Growmark (where he still works) as a financial analyst, then moved to treasury and, ultimately, FP&A.

In this episode of AFP Conversations, host Ira Apfel interviews Fruin, Manager of Financial Planning & Analysis, about his multi-faceted career, managing Millennials, his challenges in FP&A, and why he volunteers so much time with AFP.  

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Treasurers tend to be introverts. They're always being urged to get outside their cubicle and connect with the rest of the organization.

So what happens when the treasurer runs for public office? In this episode, host Ira Apfel talks to David Damschen, CTP, on his successful campaign to become State Treasurer of Utah. Damschen, a long-time AFP member, discusses his unique challenges as a state treasurer, what it's like to campaign, and more.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Relations between China and Donald Trump are off to a rocky start. But Anja Manuel, a former special assistant at the U.S. Department of State, believes we need to dial back the rhetoric – and India could be the key. In this edition of AFP Conversations, Manuel explains to treasurers and CFOs what’s at stake in the world’s two biggest emerging markets.

Visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations to hear more treasury and finance conversations.

Christine Hollinden believes that managing relationships is far more complicated than choosing the right words. In today’s AFP Conversation, Hollinden reveals the biggest mistakes we make in nonverbal communication – and how to fix them.

To hear more AFP Conversations, visit www.AFPonline.org/conversations.

Treasury and finance professionals heard plenty of talk about bitcoin. Now, blockchain technology is here -- and it's supposed to be a better payments technology than bitcoin. Is it? If so, when should the industry embrace blockchain? In this episode of AFP Conversations, Steve Mott of BetterBuyDesign explains the differences between bitcoin and blockchain, the promise of blockchain, and the challenges. 

Download more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations. 

A senior finance manager for Kaiser Permanente, Peter Geiler explains why financial planning and analysis is so important to the enterprise. And he explains how he got into wine-making.

Download more AFP Conversations at www.AFPOnline.org/conversations.

Dan Burns, Reuters’ Economics and Markets Editor, Americas, tells AFP Conversations what treasury and finance should look for from the global economy in 2017.

Download more AFP Conversations at www.AFPOnline.org/conversations.

When it comes to lax cybersecurity, are humans the problem? No, says Dr. Jennifer Golbeck, a computer science professor. Golbeck believes better cybersecurity starts with human-centered technology. She spoke with AFP Conversations at the AFP Annual Conference in Orlando.

Download more AFP Conversations at www.AFPonline.org/conversations.