The CPA Ontario Centre for Performance Management Research and Education at the University of Waterloo is holding a half-day conference on performance measurement and budgeting at SaaS-based businesses. The conference program will benefit financial management professionals (e.g., CPAs) working at SaaS-based and other tech companies, particularly those at the start-up and scale-up stages.
The event will kick-off with a talk by Charles Plant, CPA, CA. Charles is a Senior Fellow at the Impact Centre, University of Toronto with considerable expertise in the areas of technology innovation and entrepreneurship. Two of Charles’ recent projects include “Scaling Up: Growth Metrics for Software Companies” and “Great Expectations: Phantasmagorical Forecasts and Optimistic Entrepreneurs.” He was a co-founder and CEO of Synamics for 15 years, a telecommunications software firm. Charles currently teaches innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto.
The second session of the morning will examine performance measurement issues at SaaS-based companies and will be led by Howard Armitage, FCPA, FCMA, Founding Director, Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, University of Waterloo. Howard has written over 100 articles in the area of entrepreneurship and cost management systems. He will present the results from his performance measurement research team’s recent interviews with CFO's/CEO's of SaaS-based businesses, investors who provide funds to SaaS businesses and decision makers in companies/institutions whose responsibility is to purchase SaaS products and services for their organizations.
The final session will focus on practical issues regarding the development and use of budgets and forecasts by SaaS business but will also be relevant to finance professionals at other small and medium sized companies. This session will be led by an expert panel who have extensive experience in the financial management of SaaS business: Lois Norris, FCPA, FCA, SSIMWAVE Inc. CFO, Dave Pooley, CPA, CA, Axonify CFO, and Chaoran Wang, CPA, Auvik Networks Inc. Financial Planning and Analysis Manager. The panelists will share their advice and experiences on various topics ranging from who to involve in the budgeting process, how often to review results against budgets, preparing and using forecasts for planning purposes, and other related issues.
Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions or make comments during each session.
The event will conclude with lunch.
Cost for attendees: No charge
WHEN Friday, September 13th, 2019 from 8:45am until 1pm (doors open at 8:15am, light breakfast provided)
Event Program
8:15am Doors open
8:50am Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:00am Session 1: Charles Plant "An Algorithm for Growth"
10:00am Refreshment Break
10:15am Session 2: Howard Armitage: "Performance Measurement in SaaS Businesses"
11:15am Refreshment Break
11:30am Session 3: Expert panel on "Budgeting and Forecasting in SaaS Businesses"
12:30pm Closing remarks and Luncheon
WHERE Tannery Event Centre (151 Charles Street West, Kitchener, ON)