As a high school student in Perth, Australia, Brad Channer dreamed of becoming a professional actor, finding his accounting studies ‘horribly boring’. His circuitous career has spanned industries including television, film, hospitality, business and finance, and he picked up skills from them all to inform his current work as management accountant and CFO for early-stage companies.
After finishing acting school and working in film and television, Channer moved to London and eventually started his own business called Acceler8me, which helped early-stage companies raise money and scale. Channer started to realise how much he was using the accounting skills he developed in high school to make balance sheets, financial models and business plans for these companies. Yet, when someone told him he was essentially an accountant, Channer pushed back.
‘I said, “I’m not an accountant. I’m not boring. I don’t wear checkered shirts. I can speak to other humans”’, Channer said.
Later, an accountant friend of his clarified that Channer is effectively a management accountant.
‘And I’m thinking, what the [heck] is a management accountant?’ Channer said.
Eventually, Channer came to understand what a management accountant does and why he is so well-suited for the role. With his years of experience freelancing as finance director for a wide range of companies, Channer applied and was accepted into the CFO Programme, an Elite gateway to the CGMA® designation, which grants experienced finance professionals a fast-track to the CGMA designation. He successfully earned the designation, opening exciting new doors for him.
In podcast episode two of AICPA® & CIMA® CGMA® Success Stories, 'From stage to C-suite’, Channer shares his story and offers advice on how others can chart their own path to a fulfilling career. Here are three highlights from the episode.
Acting and accounting require excellent communication skills
One of the main skills Channer took from his acting training is the ability to effectively communicate. He argues accountants too often slip into finance speak and forget they’re communicating with people who aren’t accountants.
‘When you talk to a CEO of a company, especially start-ups and scale-ups which I specialise in, they don’t understand accountant’, Channer said. ‘If you talk accountant to them, they’re going to completely switch off and not give a hoot about what you’re saying.’
The secret, Channer said, is to communicate in their language, to speak entrepreneur but get across what you’re saying in accountancy.
‘That’s the good thing about the CGMA [designation], I find, is that it really helps you learn how to speak human and not just accountant’, he said.
Management accountants narrate the numbers
Channer didn’t understand the management accountant role initially, but now he knows they are the people who tell the story behind the numbers.
He explained that while a tax accountant might be focussed on why something doesn’t balance, a management accountant is looking at the overall strategy of a business. For example, if a company only has five months of cash flow left, a management accountant would help form a strategy for solving that issue. They would then weave their numbers-based solution into a narrative that is understandable to accountants and nonaccountants alike.
Numbers and narrative are both essential to Channer. Whenever he starts working for a new company, the first thing he does is get the last two years of bank statements and go through every single transaction.
‘The one thing that never lies in business is the numbers. Bank account statements don’t lie’, he said. ‘Just by doing that you can piece together a picture of exactly how a company works.’
The CGMA designation can open lucrative and exciting doors
Channer had substantial success working as a freelance finance director for several years, but found many doors were closed to him without a qualification.
He says that when he was qualified by experience alone, he would be lucky to charge 500 pounds a day for his work. Since earning the CGMA designation, he can charge 1,500 pounds a day and has found many previously closed doors are now open.
‘Everything changed after getting the qualification’, he said.
Channer said one of best things about the CGMA designation is the ‘endless possibilities’ it unlocks. A CGMA designation holder can go on to become a CFO, COO, chief of staff, entrepreneur, finance director and more.
Channer has found he needs a wide breadth of knowledge and expertise as a CFO of early-stage companies, which his CGMA studies prepared him for, but whenever he doesn’t know something, he can ask other CIMA members.
‘One of the joys of being a CIMA accountant is we have this lovely little community where we help each other out’, he said.
When asked what’s next for him, Channer said he’s very content in his current role.
‘I’m not really interested in working for larger companies because I like to build things’, he said. ‘I never say never, but at the end of the day, I love the adventure of coming into a business and being able to transform it, change it and watch it grow.’
Venture down your unique path to career success by registering as a CGMA candidate and starting your learning journey towards the CGMA designation.
