Sampsa Rönkkönen, MsC, CFO at Finaly, Co-Founder
What does financial management mean to you?
To me, financial management means knowing where we are heading. People, and the entire organization for that matter, need to understand how their actions and decisions impact the overall business. Especially key personnel need to have a deep understanding of their own figures and, for example, the assumptions behind forecasts.
What kind of financial manager are you?
I’m quite precise and positive, and I enjoy getting things in order and automating processes. This creates a certain efficiency in our work and frees up time for collaborative efforts and coaching with people.
Share an interesting fact about financial management
Financial management is primarily about leadership, so it’s not just sitting behind the screen but more about working with people. Data is also closely related to leadership because the amount of data available from business operations is constantly increasing. Often, data tells more about a company’s condition than the CEO.
What is the most common misconception about financial leadership?
It’s hard to say what’s the most common, but when discussing financial management with smaller companies, many might initially say they already have an accountant. Financial managers rarely do accounting themselves, but they should definitely have the basics covered.
What do you think is the best part of financial leadership?
When we see that things are working and we help companies and people thrive.
What have you achieved as a financial manager (in numbers)?
One number is 2, meaning I’ve been part of doubling a company’s size. We grew organically and through acquisitions, and we sharpened our strategy by selling off parts of our business operations. Ultimately, we had about 1500 employees and had expanded internationally into Europe.
Another number could be 1. We recently secured a one-million-dollar grant for a client company.
What insight have you gained recently as a financial manager?
Nothing replaces good leadership.
Share something that doesn’t appear on your CV
Hobbies might be visible on my CV, but we have this wonderful golden retriever named Aulis at home, which might be missing from the CV.
