The 2018 EasyFinance Annual Financial Management Summit took place on November 8, 2018, at the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai. Hosted by Shanghai EasyFinance Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., the summit focused on “New Environment · New Economy · Financial Intelligence” and brought together representatives of the management accounting profession, academics, and business leaders from Haier, Huawei, Signify, Yuanian Technology and Cainiao Supply Chain Finance.
The 2018 EasyFinance Annual Financial Management Summit
Participants discussed the changing role of finance, advances in digital technology, operating decisions and value creation. Findings from the 2018 management accounting research jointly conducted by EasyFinance and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) were also presented.
Business management amid a changing economic environment
Zhu Xiaoming, professor of management and former president at China Europe International Business School, identified the digital, open and intelligent economies as significant trends shaping business. He encouraged organizations to recognize the opportunities and managerial challenges associated with changing economic conditions.
Professor Zhu Xiaoming addresses the summit
Ma Shuang, co-founder and general manager of EasyFinance, spoke on “New Trends in Business Management under the New Economic Environment.” He emphasized that financial management should respond to the issues businesses face at their particular stage of development, while strengthening its ability to anticipate emerging management challenges.
Ma Shuang delivers his keynote presentation
IMA presents joint research on the changing role of management accounting
Bai Junjiang, IMA Asia-Pacific director and chief representative for China, presented findings from the 2018 management accounting research conducted with EasyFinance. His discussion covered finance professionals’ allocation of working time, professional skills, career development, and responses to new technologies and economic change.
IMA representative Bai Junjiang presents the joint research
The research encouraged finance professionals to work more closely with business operations and to apply management accounting knowledge as a means of interpreting value and supporting business decisions. Artificial intelligence, big data and other technologies were considered in relation to evolving professional responsibilities.
Haier and Huawei share management accounting experience
Liu Gang, vice president and general manager of strategy at Haier Financial Holdings, discussed “An Ecosystem Value Measurement System for the Internet of Things.” His presentation traced Haier’s finance transformation from centralized accounting and treasury activities to forward-looking management accounting and measures of ecosystem value.
Haier shares its finance transformation experience
Du Zhigang, former CFO of Huawei Russia, spoke on “Huawei’s Management Accounting Development.” He described Huawei’s management accounting framework and stressed that effective systems require integrated management thinking as well as a connection to operating processes and business scenarios.
Du Zhigang discusses Huawei’s management accounting development
Intelligent manufacturing, digital analysis and the evolution of management accounting
Chen Bing, a partner at EasyFinance, explored “Business Analysis and Decision-Making in Intelligent Manufacturing.” She described intelligent manufacturing as a transformation spanning products, equipment, logistics, sales and after-sales services. Automation and data capture alone do not complete the transformation: companies must use information across processes to support operating decisions, choosing approaches suited to their own management foundations.
A summit presentation on business management and value creation
Li Yuan, vice president and CFO of Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), spoke on “From Digital Analysis to Enterprise Value Creation.” Drawing on enterprise applications, she discussed four areas: end-to-end procure-to-pay automation, automation in credit risk control, the use of big data to improve sales and profitability, and the application of internet-based tools in management.
An executive speaker discusses applications of digital analysis
Hao Yuxiao, executive vice president of Yuanian Technology, addressed “How New Technology Drives the Advancement of Management Accounting.” He examined the collection and integration of business data, arguing that finance teams spend substantial time finding information. More effective systems for capturing, presenting and interpreting data can make management accounting more useful for budgeting, business analysis and decisions.
Cash-flow resilience, new retail and supply-chain finance
EasyFinance co-founder Lu Linping presented “Strategic Cash Management Across the Value Chain.” He stressed that an inability to meet debts as they fall due can threaten a company even when its accounting results show a profit. Connecting cash-flow resilience to profitability, operating efficiency, asset utilization, leverage and performance management, he set out a broader approach to financial stability.
EasyFinance partner Yao Minfeng spoke on “Challenges for Business Models under the New Economy and New Retail.” Using examples including Amazon, Alibaba, Hema and Yonghui, she examined the integration of online retail, physical stores and logistics. She explained that better customer experience and operating efficiency should translate into stronger revenue and profitability.
A presentation addressing emerging business models
Zhao Wei, general manager of Cainiao Supply Chain Finance, presented “Supply Chain Finance Supporting New Retail.” He discussed logistics, warehousing, technology, the Internet of Things and financing as connected elements of new business services. As logistics evolves beyond discrete functions into integrated digital scenarios, companies must still deliver stronger sales performance or better cost efficiency.
Together, these presentations connected financial management to customer experience, operational workflows, capital circulation and business-model innovation.
Recognizing collaborative business practice research
At the summit, EasyFinance presented Best Corporate Practice Research and Development Awards to three collaborative projects: SAIC-GM Automobile Sales, Geely Corporate University’s Finance and Financial Services College, and State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company. Their respective focuses were improvement of enterprise profitability, development of high-potential finance talent, and management accounting applications in support of high-quality development.
The SAIC-GM collaboration examined ways to connect financial analysis with the improvement of operating profitability. Geely’s project focused on the structured development of promising finance professionals. State Grid Shanghai’s work explored practical uses of management accounting in the context of higher-quality enterprise development.
Representatives of the three organizations joined the event, illustrating EasyFinance’s approach of developing management practice projects with corporate partners rather than treating financial education solely as classroom instruction.
Presentation of collaborative enterprise practice research
A Best Corporate Practice Research and Development award
Representatives of the award-winning organizations
Bringing together joint professional research and practical experience from leading businesses, the summit provided a forum for finance leaders to examine new approaches to management accounting and business value creation. EasyFinance will continue to connect professional research with enterprise management practice.
Easy Finance has supported management accounting, strategic finance and enterprise AI capability building since 2004.
Learn more: www.easyfinance.com.cn/en