FEIconnect - a benefit you may be overlooking

One of the best benefits of membership in Financial Executives International is NETWORKING.

That starts at FEI Louisville chapter meetings, which offer ample opportunities to connect face-to- face with members and sponsors. These conversations can open the door for advice, recommendations, referrals (or cautions), and other ways to help you in your job.

Another way to connect with members here and around the world is through FEIconnect. It’s an on- line community of engaged FEI members – CFOs, controllers, academics (like me), and others – who ask questions and get feedback from those who face the same issues we are trying to solve. We can learn from the successes, mistakes and experiences of other financial executives.

How can you connect with this community? It’s accessible through the FEI member website and through an FEIconnect app available through the usual sources (for me, that’s the Apple Apps store) for both cell phones and tablets.

The discussions cover just about every aspect of a financial executive’s professional experience. Here are some recent queries:

• “I am curious to hear from anyone who might be using MS Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations ERP for their financial system. I work for a small company, about 60 employees. We have an in-house IT person but are considering an outsourced firm to supplement that person. Any recommendations?
• “What is your practice when a vendor asks for your company’s financial statements for purposes of extending credit?
• “I’m interested in the group’s thoughts on two points related to CFO qualifications. Is industry-specific experience/knowledge critical? Is experience as CFO for a large unit of a bigger company (and no other CFO experience) acceptable for you to consider a candidate?
• “We are switching ERP systems. The cost of the new systems is much higher than we were expecting, any suggestions based on your experience? Interestingly, this item includes no information about the size of the company, the systems involved, etc., so it would be difficult for someone to provide meaningful information.”

FEIconnect helps facilitate answers by:

• Connecting communities within FEI (such as the Louisville chapter)
  
• Allowing as much discussion as is needed
• Providing contact information
• Allowing members to send and receive messages from other members
• Providing advice through relevant blogs

FEIconnect also offers a library, which members use to post documents (like a sample RFP.)

If you're concerned about confidentiality, there really is none -- other than you must be an FEI member to access these discussions. Most of the above examples of questions asked would not have confidentiality concerns, in my opinion.

My advice? Give it a try. You may get some valuable input. And if not ... you’ve spent a few minutes framing your question and setting the stage for future interactions with other FEI members.

William Stout, PhD, CPA

Director, FEI Louisville

Email: william.stout@louisville.edu