June 24, 2022

This was NextGen Finance: ‘Next-Generation Leadership’

Transformation Forums and KPMG, along with their Board Program RAAD, organized this NextGen Finance meeting. Next-Generation Leadership from finance professionals is needed to remain relevant and to create long-term value for all stakeholders.

Theme and topics

During this session, we discussed the sub-theme Driving value creation: Data-driven decision-making & ESG. Wouter Nijmeijer, Senior Vice President Tax and Accounting Ahold Delhaize, contributed to the session with the latest updates on the sub-theme. All participants shared their top-of-mind issues, based on the similarity in challenges, and with the aim of learning from each other’s visions and experiences.

Keynote speakers and contributors

Moderator: Kees Veraart, Finance Director Northern Europe Parker Hannifin

Rudolf Nieweg, CFO Pon Automotive | SVP Finance
Wouter Nijmeijer, Senior Vice President Tax and Accounting Ahold Delhaize

Location: PON Automotive

Key insights

  • We are all at the start of our ESG strategy journeys; 70% of the finance function still consists of accounting and reporting.
  • Frontrunners already have these strategies in place in the form of a framework.
  • An ESG framework is the pillar for reporting.
  • Financial data is available; the issue is the non-financial data.
  • Data points need to be flexible, as stakeholder and reporting requirements change over time.
  • The aim, and also the difficulty, is getting all stakeholders aligned.
  • The finance function and CFO (or perhaps the new role of CPO – Chief Performance Officer) play an important role in centrally gathering data, creating data points, making audit trails, and making an integrated report.
  • Finance is a leader and enabler, maybe even an architect, but NOT the owner. Operations should be fully aligned, supportive, and responsible for their data.

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