Strategic Financial Leadership: Winston Abeyeratne on Succeeding Down Under

In this episode of the CFO Catalyst Podcast, host Sumith welcomes Winston Abeyeratne, CFO at Conference Group in South Australia. 

Winston shares his immigration journey, starting 12 years ago, and his career transition from audit trainee at KPMG in Sri Lanka to various roles in the finance sector in Australia. He discusses the importance of backing statements with numbers, the challenges of working with high-net-worth individuals, and provides advice for new migrants and aspiring CFOs on building a career in finance. The conversation also delves into the evolving role of CFOs, the impact of AI and machine learning on the finance industry, and the significance of continuous learning and process review. 

Winston offers his insights on earning respect in new roles, mentoring younger professionals, and the benefits of embracing flexibility and creativity in financial leadership 

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Transcript

Winston Abeyeratne - Audio version - Transcript

[00:00:00] Winston Abeyeratne: Back yourself with numbers.always, 'cause mathematics numbers is the language of the universe, right.

'cause some of these high net individuals are,migrants from Greece, from South Africa.so English might not be first language similar to us. So, but everyone knows numbers.so just make sure whatever you say, if you can't back it with numbers, just don't say it at all.the one thing with these people are like, you don't get a second chance.they trust you, then they trust you for a reason. that is to get it right the first time.  

[00:00:28] Sumith Dissanayake: Welcome back to Books to the Boardroom, Season Three CFO Catalyst Podcast. Today my guest is Winston Abeyeratne . Winston is a CFO at Conference group in South Australia. Winston, thanks for joining me today.

[00:00:42] Winston Abeyeratne: Now, thank you for having me, Sumith.

[00:00:44] Sumith Dissanayake: I'm gonna start this podcast at a different place today because, since, I mean since both of us are immigrant to Australia, and I would like to start, our conversation with your immigration story.

So when did you arrive in Australia and what made you to come to [00:01:00] Australia?

[00:01:00] Winston Abeyeratne: Yeah, it's, look, I got here about 12 years ago. I actually come from a family of accountants, which is sad, but That's okay.

my dad was an accountant; my dad's dad was an accountant. so we were sort of put onto that path naturally. it's not that I aspire to be an accountant growing up, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing, but, sometimes you just play the hands you're dealt. So, yeah.

I've started off, at KPMG as an audit trainee, like many of, many of

Sri Lankans would do. The usual path, didn't really, like it, not because of KPMG or auditing. I always, felt like I could do more. in a public practice setting, it's quite hard to, sort of do more because you're always bound by these engagement letters, charge out rates, your score, this, that, and the other.

which I've experienced throughout my career, even in Australia, which I'll get. Sure I'll get back to it, down the podcast. So, and yeah, so I've got an opportunity to work at, Amber Research, it's called now Moody's Analytics Knowledge Services. So Amber Research is a, [00:02:00] like a quite opportunistic, organization, that took advantage of the, GFC, before GFC investment banking.

used to be this really, Partying, rich money, capitalism. so GFC was a wake up call and then, it hit really hard for all these investment banks. so what they started doing was, I mean, BPO was around back then, but no one had thought of a KPO. So the main difference is a KPO is a.

Knowledge process, outsourcing, that's where you outsource a key component of your business, rather than a back office function. So, a key component of a, investment bank is their research, division. that's where they sort of generate ideas of, investments to buy, to sell, and then where they sell it to their institutional investors and then they make money off their trading desk.

So, so X investment bankers sort of set up this business, Colombo research and we were doing essentially Wall Street work. From Sri Lanka, which was amazing. It was a really good experience. to be honest with you, I struggled, at first, because it was [00:03:00] new and,especially coming from a Sri Lankan background, trying to sort of match with the culture. so I was, sort of on probation for, longer than I should have. but then I slowly,got into a rhythm and, within one and a half years I was the most valuable player, in the organization. and then I.

Grew up to an A VP position. I had about eight staff under me. this was all like, when I was like 22, 23. and then, yeah, I had few accounts under my belt, so, and then,as usual I started questioning what's next? and then I was like, okay. So I think I felt like, Amber research was.

Was the maximum that I could go in Sri Lanka. I really didn't wanna work in a commercial organization for some reason. I didn't wanna do more repetitive, sort of finance related tasks. not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's just, different people have different, things that stimulate them, mentally.

So then I wanted to, find something elsewhere like many Sri Lankans do,[00:04:00] migrate either to Canada or to New Zealand or to Australia. So Australia was the, easier path. the problem was I was underaged. 'cause I think, age 25, is when you get the maximum points for that. so because of that I had to come to a regional area a nd back then, surprisingly, all of South Australia was regional.

So, now it's like 60 Ks from Adelaide East Regional. So back then it was the whole of South Australia was regional. so yeah, so I came here,went through, hardships as everyone would do. but I don't think, but when compared to, I mean, when I hear stories from other migrants,I sort of had it.

Not that bad. 

[00:04:35] Sumith Dissanayake: Great to hear. So mine was totally opposite.

 So I had a bit of a tough time at the beginning. Part of that is not the Australia, part of that is your mindset. you were not shifted at your mind. To be here.

[00:04:45] Winston Abeyeratne: that's right. I think one of the, a key thing that I would probably sort of, wanna mention is to migrants when they come in here is. Like a lot of people, what they do is they try to find something to earn money, right? which is the ultimate goal. but in, in doing [00:05:00] so, without foresight, sort of, dampen their sort of long-term career in Australia, 'cause there's ways and ways we can make money, but I think having a stable career, should be the number one priority.

Even if you have to do two or three jobs or work for free. so I worked in a, accounting firm for free, for almost two months. just to get some experience. I was just looking for an opportunity to prove myself. so, and then luckily enough, there saw, the potential in me.

They offered me the job. so that's how I started at William Buck. but I had to start as a graduate. Again. so, but, any opportunity is an opportunity. So, I know it's sometimes it's a bit, it's tough. it's very hard to get in that mindset saying,when you have a setback, 'cause you are,you, you studied hard, you worked hard in Sri Lanka, you have all this experience and now you have to start from the scratch.

It's a very hard mindset to get into. but it's all short term. this country is full of opportunities. you just need to find them. it's there. so [00:06:00] yeah, I worked really hard and yeah. I worked there for about four and a half years. 

 started my journey in Australia. 

[00:06:06] Sumith Dissanayake: Right. So you started at Williams Bucks for free to start with and then, slowly, climbing the ladder, 

[00:06:12] Winston Abeyeratne: That's right. Yeah. 

good experience through William Bucks, and then of course you got yourself out to the commercial industry, or did you go to another accounting firm so funny thing is I've, I've never really, sort of applied for the job. and got one. So the, so every job I've applied, I probably got rejected. but then, once I've started to,make a name for myself, the other thing is, just creating connections is very important. Like putting your name out there,meet as many people as possible for a coffee, for lunch, for whatever it may be, because you never know,when they'll be useful, when they'll come in handy and they'll always have you in your, in their minds.

so I spend a lot of time doing that. During my tenure at William Buck, I crossed path with this, CEO that I worked with. but like I was the external CFO for that entity. And then she was the CEO and she found a [00:07:00] different job, in a, a large asset manager.

Called Duxton Asset Management.they're a alternative asset manager, predominantly focused on agri assets. so they got two listed companies and about 58 other, agri investment vehicles. So, so she was, Brought in as CEO of their fine wines division. So she tapped on my shoulder and asked, look, I found this job, I really like working with you.

Do you wanna come across with me, and work as my CFO in this, organization? So, yeah, I joined Duxton as a, finance manager. the thing about Duxton is, so you carry two or three titles, so, so, In the asset management function, and then you also work with, their investments, as the head of finance.

so yeah, so I worked there for a couple of years. and then, funnily enough, I, I met another individual, by accident, at a coffee shop. And we got into talking and he was like, oh yeah, I was with Duxton as well. And so he offered me a job, and then said, look, I am, I'm working for this, really [00:08:00] high net worth individual.

he has a couple of businesses in South Australia. we are looking for someone, to help run it 'cause we are going through a sale process. he's saying, look, no guarantee, we might sell within one to two years. I was like, oh, okay. So I thought about it. I had a young kid, so I actually sort of had to reject that offer.

but what he did was he put my name to, one of the consultants that worked with him and I said, look, hire this person and then lend him to me as a secondment. So that's how I joined Acota consulting, which is essentially a, preferred supplier for PWC, Price Warehouse Cooper.

So, yeah, in my career. So, yeah, I worked with high net worth individuals, so this is the second high net worth individual that I have. Work with,I'm talking about 500 million plus, in net worth.

[00:08:45] Winston Abeyeratne: and yeah, and then I looked after their, asset holding, for another,a year, a little over one year.

And then we managed to,sell it, to a little over 600 million, which is a good outcome. Then after that I was out of a [00:09:00] job. and while this, the deal process was going, PWC asked, oh look, you worked at corporate Advisory for, William Buck, do you wanna join us and do the same thing?

'cause a lot of the PWC, deal work was done, interstate. Didn't have a, like a solid, team here. So yeah. And then I sort of went on board to PWC. Again, while I was at PWC, didn't really like it because of the, mean, PWC is an amazing organization. It's,the culture is really good.

there's a lot of learning opportunities. the only reason why, I personally didn't like it, is because,of the same reason, of any, public practice, a lot of sort of red tape. you're 

bound by a scope 

[00:09:40] Sumith Dissanayake: It is not for everyone, is it? Public Practice is very different. Like, not every single finance person embrace that one. There's a, it's a different, it's for a different category finance, so I was in both as well. I can what 

you're talking about. 

[00:09:53] Winston Abeyeratne: So once you are that senior manager, associate director level, you can't really get hands on. As well. 'cause you charge out [00:10:00] rate and your,the scope, your engagement, things like that. So, yeah, and then I found this other,high net worth individual called Jerry Caritas.

And then, joined his organization as, head of Investment and Finance. so it's a very large portfolio. and Mr. Jerry Curtis is an instrumental person who's, helped build South Australia. He's a, order of Australia. holder. so he has hotels, car parks,and, he's the largest independent living units operator in South Australia.

He had about 600 homes. commercial properties at large, a land bank. the engagement was, again, another short term engagement is to help him stabilize his business. hire a finance team, set processes,get the business to a more stable, condition financially.

Which ,I really liked, so I, had to hire. From, general managers to all the way to, your guest service agents to work in hotels. So I did a lot of recruitment, and, yeah, so, that for a couple of years. then I met, these amazing young entrepreneurs, called Johnny and Michael at Comfresh.

And, at the moment [00:11:00] I'm, helping them with their transition. either to a public listing or. just to a step up from where they're at the moment. So, doing a lot of, bolt on acquisitions. again, training the finance team. It's a quite young finance team, so yeah, they're going through a transition from a small family business to a large corporation.

So setting up investment committees, setting up audit committees, setting up advisory committee, all of that. So, I think,I've done quite a lot over the past four to five months. I think I have everything now in place. I just need to sort of, execute it for the next one and a half years.

So that's my journey. Sorry, it's, I've been rambling for a while, 

[00:11:33] Sumith Dissanayake: Yeah, no, it's a pretty good story actually. it's very inspiring as well. And it's very hard even, to, go on a journey that you have been. Especially because you're coming from Sri Lanka and, not knowing how things work in Australia. So you have to learn everything at the same time of deliver.

So it's a like a double dipping. Right. and working with the high net worth, what I have heard is like, it's not that easy either. So because of the ego and all that. So you have to make sure that you have the diplomacy to convince the message. So [00:12:00] tell me your challenges working with the high net worth, and how those 

challenges? 

[00:12:04] Winston Abeyeratne: Yeah. look, you're absolutely right it's very different and each high net worth individual is different. From one another as well.so it's not like I can use the same, playbook that I use for one with the other. they're quite different. And then they are high, a high net worth for a reason.

They're extremely hardworking. they're first generation, not like they inherited all this wealth from their parents, so they earned everything from the scratch. And when you hear some the stories of these gentlemen So some of them came in with just two pounds, like back in the day, worked four or five jobs. very inspiring and one of the, common themes that I've seen across all these high net worth individuals is, they are their worst enemy. because of, as you said, the things like their ego and, they've got things right all the way through.

they just don't like to lose. they want to win all the time. whether it's right for the business or wrong for the business, I think as the CFO, or the number two. The challenge is to convince them. Challenge is tell them [00:13:00] to look, take a step back.

Let's think about this, without sort of upsetting them or without offending them, respectfully and then, back yourself with numbers. Always, cause mathematics numbers is the language of the universe, right.

'cause some of these high net individuals are,migrants from Greece, from South Africa.so English might not be first language similar to us. So, but everyone knows numbers.so just make sure whatever you say, if you can't back it with numbers, just don't say it at all.the one thing with these people are like, you don't get a second chance.they trust you, then they trust you for a reason. that is to get it right the first time. So,my advice is if you ever get to work for a high net worth individual, just,if you can't back it with numbers and, if you're not sure, 

just. Don't do it.just make sure that you have your facts right first because they’ve been around for a long long time,they will smell bullshit. Long, long way. So, 

[00:13:51] Sumith Dissanayake: No, that's a great advice actually. You're right. That why they are successful, like what you mentioned because of they have that uniqueness, right? So they know the [00:14:00] numbers, but they don't know the format but they know the number. 

[00:14:02] Winston Abeyeratne: Yes. 

[00:14:04] Sumith Dissanayake: They know the number that they look for and that they work towards, right? And you as a CFO who is a technical expert and and grew up in a framework, so we always have a framework. So we are trying to look at everything within the framework. But when you work with these people who went outside the framework and, build something on their own. So you need to be patient enough, like what you mentioned, and then of course, do your homework before you, start. Building the conversation with them 

about something. 

[00:14:31] Winston Abeyeratne: That's right. I think one of the key things, for my success, with them is that the CFOs before me, I mean, most of them came with this, preconceived, notion that, okay, this is how you do things. I mean, which is not wrong, right?

 you are hired or you are being paid a salary to make their lives easy. you can't invent something and ask them to get used to it,and yes, these people might not have paper qualifications. Entrepreneurs assign it to the individuals. but you know, they're, they are [00:15:00] smarter

than most of us. So sometimes, most of these accountants seasoned CFOs, let their egos get in the way and then, try to teach these people how to run business, try to get them used do doing things the way the CFO wants, not the other way around.so that flexibility, that’s what sort of created like.

Most of the opportunities for me, to go in and, be that, breath of fresh air and try and make their lives easy.one thing I've learned, over the years, Sumit is, like, you have to make yourself, important, valuable for a business, because these people always think about, okay, what's the return. On the money I'm paying for this, gentleman, right? So, doing a report every month or doing this, doing that doesn't cut it. So you have to make sure that you take the headaches away. That's how you, that's how you make yourself important. That's how you, get some bargaining power with these people, to steer them the right way for the success of the business. That’s another thing I've learned. 

[00:15:58] Sumith Dissanayake: I couldn't agree more to what [00:16:00] you said. Winston, that's so. True. Like, sometimes that we, like what you mentioned that we have, we go with the preconceived idea. I'm trying to sort of implement it without even doing our research and deep dive and understand why things are in some certain way.

Right. So I think, you mentioned in your notes as well that you review processes regularly as I think the part of the success for you as well as a CFO. So how often you think that CFO should review the processes, and of course, to go about it instead of just set and forget.

So what's your plan or how do you go about that side 

of the things? 

[00:16:34] Winston Abeyeratne: I mean, any organization, regardless of, you know, you're working for a high net worth individual or entrepreneur, a private organization, a public, doesn't matter. The environment in which we operate is very different to what it was like 10 years ago. It’s changing all the time.

So the information, the requirement for information and how the decision makers want it, how they want see it, how they want to visualize it changes all the time. my [00:17:00] opinion is there's no one format that fits. you can't set up a format and then say, yep, this is what's gonna be, you know?

[00:17:06] Sumith Dissanayake: Universal format, there's no universal format. 

[00:17:09] Winston Abeyeratne: That's right. So I think, as a CFO, you have to be flexible, right? and you can't be flexible if your back office is not if the back office that is my finance team, my HR team, my IT team, all of that, are not aligned, to support that flexibility where I can confidently go and, help these decision makers, and arm them with relevant information, my job is not gonna be very effective. And then setting up processes is the key. When you set up processes, don’t think about the past, don't think about the present. Just always think about the future. is my requirements. is it gonna change? and how would this particular software or the system or the process, adapt to it?

 You know, is it gonna be a rigid, am I gonna sink in a lot of money into this thing, but you know, I'm gonna be stuck with it for the next five to 10 years.so that's [00:18:00] where, it’s key before you do something to think all of that. the other thing Luckily, there are a lot of options available out there, and it’s, changing every month.

It's so fast. it's always a better option. There's always a better solution. I think being nimble, being flexible, I mean, us accountants have a bad repo. For being this boring debit credits, you know? well, I don't think that works anymore. I think you have to be creative. You need to think ahead. 'cause as accountants, we have thought, do the balance sheet, do the p and l. You always looking backwards, right? You always look what happened last month? What happened last year? The only time a traditional accountant would look forward is setting up a budget.

And you also set the budget looking at. Happened in the past. I think that's changed, quite significantly. Sumit. So I think we have to be a lot more creative, a lot more aware of what's happening in the market. So I send my team once a month, to events, to networking events, CPD events.so that they are. Across the [00:19:00] latest trends, what's going on? Talk to your peers. What are they doing in their organization? we have a problem. Okay, good. Let's talk to, people, you know, So it's very important. know it's a cost to the business, but I see it as an investment because the sooner I can, upskill my staff, the easier my job's gonna be. The faster and then, more efficient and more effective, the decision making would be at the decision makers. And it's quite important especially given the, the competitive landscape very, very, tough at the moment. I mean, it's, It's not always being right, it's always being first as well. it doesn't matter if you're right, but you're the last, you had to be, you had to be the first and you have to be right as So, yeah, that's my, sort of 2 cents on, how CFOs should be processes.

[00:19:45] Sumith Dissanayake: Yeah, I know. I like what you said about this investment thing about, upskilling your team, which is a quite important thing, right? So some people don't make an effort, even not only the star, but also for yourself. Like you need to be on the continuous journey of improving yourself and, [00:20:00] you know, increasing your leadership cap so that the others can grow up to that. This is quite a challenge for CFOs, especially because we have a routine job on top of the strategic, job. because of that, there's a bit of a conflict of interest or a bit of a compromise you have to do at some point. And I think it's like a chicken and egg situation anyway, right?

We try to elevate your team so that they can take care of more, more important task for you so that you can, be on your own journey to become a better CFO or a C-Suite executive as well.

[00:20:27] Winston Abeyeratne: another good advice that I've got from working with one of these, he individuals Mr. Ed Peter. he's a very prominent figure. He once told me, you, you are only successful at your job. If you have trained someone to do what you do,s o, so that means that then I can get you to do bigger, better things. And that, that hit me hard, like saying, okay, that's true. the only way for me to go up is someone has to take on my job, that’s why I believe in upskilling staff, Sumit, that's very important. 

[00:20:55] Sumith Dissanayake: I love what you, how you think, and it's leverage. That's what matters. End of the day, how [00:21:00] you leverage your team members to another level. That means you can get to a, level above them, So wonderful and Since you have, started your CFO journey in many organization in the past, so I know, it's, it's always kind of,the, unsettled time, right When start a new position. So in the first three months or so, how do you navigate through the challenges and, what kind of strategies do you use to make sure that you are still, keeping your head out of the water and then still relevant, and good 

progress?

[00:21:30] Winston Abeyeratne: a very good question. Because I've always, changed careers every couple of years. That's something that I, face more often than not. The first challenge is, the age, because, sometimes, when you're a CFO, people sort of expect you be at a certain mature, right? I've started that, being sort of head of investment in the finance five, six years ago ,I was little over 30. I just turned 30 years old, I've got, sometimes staff that's, been in the job for much longer. and then, with [00:22:00] more, experience, more qualifications.

 so that's, that's the, I think the first challenge is to earn your position. I don't believe in, designations as such. I want to earn it. yes, I may come in as a CFO, but you know, I'm not a CFO until, everyone. Believe that I'm A CFO, that I can actually, take this organisation to the next level. so, that's sort of leading by example. So, you have to work extremely hard. You have to work harder than everyone else. you have to put in the hours. You have to be the first to the office, last to the office. I mean, there are some things that I use, I mean, I'm not necessarily saying that everyone should do it, but it's.

It's just don't, like when you go to a new organization, just, don't feel entitled. Oh, it's like, okay, I'm CFO, I'm the boss. I'm to do this. You listen to me this now always, try and earn that place first. the other thing is, like never make decisions in the next, like within the first. Four to eight weeks. Just learn, just absorb. yes, things might seem, oh, okay, well why are they doing that? I mean, that's not the way to do it, but there's [00:23:00] always a reason why they've been doing it. So, what will happen is you will, you'll end up looking like an idiot for, making such radical changes. So, I think the first four to eight weeks is very important. Just absorb, talk to people, just understand what they're doing. just, learn the lay of the land. and that first four to eight weeks is very important. That's an investment. that's the foundation that you lay. Where you'll be successful. it'll be faster. Your growth, your learning process, everything will be much faster. If you put in that, first four to eight weeks just to sort of understand the business overall, just, talk to the ops team, talk to the sales team, just, get your head around and, when it's time to actually action, you are equipped with all the knowledge you need. I think that's probably the couple of, advices that I would give, to someone who's just joining any organization. 

[00:23:45] Sumith Dissanayake: it looks like you, found or articulate the right kind of recipe to success at the beginning. I think that was wonderful. Thank you very much for sharing that. And Winston, I'm going to sort of take you into a different territory now. Pretty much. I think it's a buzz word these [00:24:00] days, AI. I think I saw, you have a different, perception about that.

So you feel most of us are confused between AI and machine learning. So talk to me about how you come to that conclusion or how you, what what made you to think that way? 

[00:24:16] Winston Abeyeratne: so I'm not at all a expert in this area, from my CPD, my, learning and all of that. So, please don't, judge me for this. But, 

[00:24:24] Sumith Dissanayake: It's about the experience about, you know, from CFOs perspective, right? So none of the CFOs are, I mean, in most cases, technical experts in this area. But our input is very important in crafting and using the AI in the right way for an organization. 

[00:24:37] Winston Abeyeratne: That's right. when people say AI, it's a much broader term, machine learning is sort of a, like subset of AI. I. and what it does is it just, it'll perform a specific task or specific tasks given within parameters, right?

and actual AI, I think the world calls it the, artificial general intelligence,that is a lot more different.that's [00:25:00] adaptable. it has the cognitive ability similar to a human being. and, you know, it, it could do reasoning. It could do, I think we are,far far away from achieving that artificial general intelligence.

and when people say, oh, AI is gonna take over the world,not yet. At least,we haven't reached that because, all the, software in all the solutions are machine learning. you just Tell them where to look, tell them what to look,and they'll look for it and they'll just get you an answer very very fast.

so that'sthat's my view.we are, we are working in a more advanced machine learning environment at the moment.I'm sure we will reach,this true artificial general intelligence.which is gonna be interesting. I think how that will play is, it'll play into,a point where the human beings can't,The things that we can't do,live for long enough to do space travel or, do go deep under sea for longer period of time without oxygen.as human beings, our bodies are bound by certain, rules like environmental, natural rules. [00:26:00] think, that's.

That's where my view is, the artificial general intelligence will take us to the next level. it'll just help us overcome those boundaries. because we have, we are fragile,we live for a, smaller period of time. And,when you think things at a larger cosmic scale,yeah, just a blimp, right? So, I think that's where AI would, actual artificial general intelligencewould really help, humans. yeah, coming back to sort of machine learning,it's a very, very,I would say a very leap that we've made.because, like five to 10 years ago,I remember big data was a big thing. that's where the traditional accountants sort of struggled,on how to sort of handle, manipulate, structured, unstructured. when you look at big companies like BHP big listed companieshave. Massive amounts of data and what do you do with it? What was the problem?

And then that's where the big four firms have. the larger accounting firms, including the big four, have the advantage at the moment. They've invested heavily on, on big data. They have, all these software that can. Process all your [00:27:00] structured unstructured data and then, you can manipulate them and they'll have a user interface like Power BI or Tableau I think that's where they have gained advantage over the smaller accounting firms,that never really looked into it. that's, that's,my view on, on on learning.

[00:27:14] Sumith Dissanayake: No, that's that's very interesting. and Winston the AI, it's going to stay, right? AI and the machine learning and everything like that. The conversation is, we have a skill shortage in finance.Also, the less enrollment for the accounting degrees, accounting finance degrees these days.

So what's your advice or what's your view on, why people should still pursue a career in finance? How they should transform themselves, where they're still relevant. Even AI takes care of most of the grunt or the groundwork strategic work. 

[00:27:44] Winston Abeyeratne: it's a really good time at the moment to be an accountant, be in this industry in my view.back in the daywhen we were trying to be accountants, we have to go through the grunt work, the invoicing,the debits and, credits And, all of that. and now all of a sudden you've got.a machine [00:28:00] doing it for you. so you can start with more interesting stuff. because that's where, both should coexist.the machine learning can't exist on its own, without a human input and vice versa.

So I guess,it's a really interesting time to be an accountant because, now you get to use your imagination, your reasoning, you can spend a lot more time on, on how to manipulate data on, you know, everything is done for Youyou just have to be creative,all the grunt work is done for you.and one of the other things that I would give as advice just do something else with accounting. justa have a secondary,um, second interest or a secondary,path where you sort of acquire knowledge.

 it could be law, it could be economics, it could be whatever. that definitely gives you that competitive edge. others.cause now it's come to a point where, you need to be multi-skilled. you need to have a broader view of the world.

You can't just look at through the lens of an accountant anymore. because we are past thatand as you said, the, a lot of the processing work,in a finance team, would be very soon [00:29:00] eliminated.I mean, at the moment it's just a matter of like, cost for many of the mid-tier,businesses.a lot of the, large organizations have already implemented this.yeah, so look, my advice is, it's a great time to be an accountant and you don't have to,be doing what we used to do, like working in audit firms and, other bits and pieces. You can actually,start it at a much higher level.and then, work your way through. 

[00:29:21] Sumith Dissanayake: No more

[00:29:21] Winston Abeyeratne: No, 

[00:29:22] Sumith Dissanayake: and 

[00:29:23] Winston Abeyeratne: no. Scanning, filing, copy. No, no. I feel jealous almost. 

[00:29:28] Sumith Dissanayake: that's so true. I think, we can be more human now and then use the human potentials more now, than before. So we like what you alluded, it was hard before because you were spending too much time doing the curate. the organizing things, right? or filing this, scanning things that we should not be doing.

And now the time has come where you can be more human and then, use your infusion, use your knowledge, use your, Storytelling abilities, your different skillset, like what you said, be multi-skilled so that you will still be, relevant to still be, a highly valuable member [00:30:00] in the organizational, perspective.

Right. So Winston, I think we are coming to an end of the podcast today is a great conversation with you. And one last question. If any of our listeners want to get in touch with you,how could they do that?

[00:30:13] Winston Abeyeratne: LinkedIn would be the best,I'm quite active and I do,for younger,or more fresh professionals in industry.I quite often do a lot of mentoring for. For people who reach out to me just hit me up on, on LinkedIn and happy to spend some time to, clarify any queries, any questions or any support that you might need. 

[00:30:29] Sumith Dissanayake: Winston, Thanks for being on the CFO

Catalyst Podcast. 

[00:30:32] Winston Abeyeratne: Thank you for having me, Sumith. It was, it was fun.

[00:30:36] Speaker 4: Thanks for joining us on this episode of the CFO Catalyst Podcast season three. If you enjoyed our discussion on CFO leadership, please subscribe on your preferred platform. When you share with fellow CFOs and business leaders, you're helping us build this community of strategic financial thinkers together, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

Connect with us on social media and join the [00:31:00] conversation as we explore how the CFO role continues to evolve in today's dynamic business landscape. Until next time, keep innovating in your financial leadership and stay tuned for more forward-thinking discussions in our CFO Catalyst series. Join us next time, proudly sponsored by Brisca Global with production and distribution by Disrupt X one.