CFO Weekly, the accounting podcast Personiv releases at the top of each week turned out to be a big hit at the Stevie® International Business Awards, where we snagged the top spot award – and won Gold – for "Best Business Podcast" in the category's first year. We happen to think that's a great reason to add it to your subscription list on Apple or Spotify.
But it's not the only one.
CFO Weekly is an Entertaining Accounting Podcast, Even if You're Not an Accountant
We won't hold it against you if you're a little skeptical of a claim like that. Frankly, we understood at the onset that many people wouldn’t associate the words "finance leadership" or “accounting efficiency” with "riveting topics". So when we decided to make a podcast for finance leaders, we went in with our eyes wide open: there wasn't much out there to begin with, and we knew that we needed to make a show that engaged, informed and, let’s be honest brought these topics to life.
Want More Podcasts? See Our List of The Top 6 Podcasts Accounting Leader Should Listen To Today
We'll be the first to acknowledge that it's challenging to create content on the topic that can tick the boxes we knew we wanted to tick. We wanted CFO Weekly to be insightful and educational, but we also wanted it to be accessible, not to mention to be the best accounting podcast available online.
After all, if you're looking to be rocked to sleep, chances are high you already have a podcast or app that does the job just fine.
Making this topic accessible and interesting is why we chose our VP and General Manager of FAO Services, Megan Weis, CPA, MBA to host CFO Weekly. She's a Big Four alum and Six-Sigma green belt, which gives her the bona fides to lead a discussion on all things finance and accounting, but she also has an incredible knack for making the accounting landscape exciting with insights you don’t want to miss. She manages to strike a conversational tone with guests that's jargon-free and gets right to the point.
We're not the only people who think so, either. The judges on the Stevie® International Business Awards panel can back us up here:
"This entry took a long time to judge because I went down the rabbit hole of wonderful content," said one, going on to acknowledge that, "As a non-accountant, I tend not to be excited by the subject, but this podcast brings the subject alive, in providing content useful to any businessperson."
Another judge added that, "Personiv's Financial Leadership 'CFO Weekly' podcasts are informational, and subject matter experts provide insights on various business challenges and decisions faced. The host does a great job with targeted questions to gather insights from podcast expert guests. Listeners can learn from the podcast guests across a spectrum of leadership topics."
That's high praise for Weis, and it's well-earned, too. There's something for everyone on CFO Weekly, even if you were never a mathlete, or don’t live the day-to-day life of a CFO.
CFO Weekly, Serves Accounting Professionals and Finance Leaders First – By Spotlighting Them
That said, Weis never waters anything down. If the idea of an entertaining accounting and finance podcast has you thinking of tired personal finance advice, you can rest easy.
This is a podcast that's for finance leaders and professionals in the accountancy field. We have a very effective strategy for keeping it that way, too: we invite our audience in. Our guests are CFOs, Finance VPs and Accounting Directors. Sure, we'll occasionally invite a Founder like Ali Green or a CEO like Gene Corvino on to the show, but in the end it always comes down to what keeps these leaders up at night, and how to do their jobs even better.
“I think what’s incredible about our Gold Stevie win is not only that we grabbed the top spot while growing our podcast,” said Lydia Adams, VP of Marketing & Communications at Personiv. “It’s that we saw a need in the market –in this case, the lack of a true accounting leadership podcast—and we filled it. This is what we do here at Personiv is that we create solutions that make an impact, and 'CFO Weekly' is just one example of this commitment.”
Read More: Get Our Free White Paper,Building Lean Accounting Teams
There's a lot of content out there that claims to be tailored to finance leaders but either reads like a fintech press release or delivers little more than buzzword salad with a few numbers thrown in for good measure. It's rarely helpful, because finance leaders are rarely invited to contribute to it. We set out to change that, one episode at a time.
On CFO Weekly, that perspective isn't just considered, it's the whole point. We ask CFOs to come talk about what's important to them, share strategies that have made a difference and even vent their frustrations. Our guests span industries and their expertise varies, but it always – always – comes back to the numbers. We've talked to finance leaders that work at banking institutions, flooring distributors, book publishers and grocery chains, and every time, we learn something new.
You might even be the next person we learn it from.
If CFO Weekly Hasn't Covered a Topic You Care About, It's Only a Matter of Time
We know it's possible that you've had your fill of webinars, podcasts, white papers, blog posts and emails that start with the words "In these challenging times" and end with the words "we're all in this together."
We'll always cover relevant topics, of course. We invited Ali Green (Episode 2) to disclose everything she ever learned about setting up a home office, for instance, and Drew Neihaus nailed the topic of reopening amidst a pandemic on Episode 8, but we also understand that there's a lot more ground to cover, and a whole future to explore.
Finance leaders are expected to do more than ever, and CFO Weekly never forgets that. It's why we've included episodes that deal with evergreen issues: navigating the accounting shortage, practical strategies for change leadership, bookkeeping for profitability and even a CFO's guide to healthcare benefits. For instance, if you haven't listened to Brent Chadwick talk about his time on the checkout lines at the company where he's the CFO – Plaid Pantry – you'll want to head to Episode 11 as soon as you can.
CFO Weekly is Proud of Our Stevie® Gold Award for Best Podcast, But the Best is Yet to Come
Megan and the CFO Weekly team work really hard on the podcast, and we're absolutely honored knowing that our work is being recognized. But consider this: the first episode of the best accounting podcast that won a gold award was released just four months ago.
We have a whole lexicon here at Personiv that serve to remind us of what we're all about. Sometimes it's a hashtag, like one we'll use today: #PersonivProud. Other times, it's shorthand for putting people first and investing in our employees, like when we refer to our service offerings as "People Powered Solutions."
Then there's this one: "Anything Can Be Improved". That's true of our employee engagement initiatives, the care we offer our clients and even the experience we offer our website visitors.
It's certainly true of our award-winning business podcast for accounting & finance leaders.
“We’re here to not only provide top outsourced accounting solutions to our clients, but to go above-and-beyond to give our audience the content they need to thrive and gain success as they lead accounting teams coast to coast. Our small part of that success is what drives us, and I am #PersonivProud to be engaged in this work,” Adams said.
We're so proud of our gold award from the Stevie® International Awards, and of course, how far we've come with the best accounting/business podcast CFO Weekly. We hope you'll tune in to see how far we go.
We owe this accounting podcast award to all of our listeners!
To listen to all of the CFO Weekly episodes and read recaps, advice and insights from guests, see our full podcast archive.