The CFO Track

Tom Hunter
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Careers

Most finance people never get mentors who have lived and learnt through capital raises, IPOs, administrations or ACCC scrutiny. The CFO Track changes that. I am Tom Hunter, and every week I sit down with top Australian CFOs to unpack what happened and what they learned. Clear steps, real lessons and as always, free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and LinkedIn Live.

  1. 19 hrs ago

    If We Get This Wrong, We're In Real Trouble - Cale Bennett

    This episode was brought to you by Tallystone. Use the promo code CFOTRACK for a 30 day free trial by visiting tallystone.com/cfotrack CTM lost 90% of its revenue in a single month. Cale Bennett was part of the team that cut 1500 jobs to save the remaining 2000. At 17, Cale Bennett started university, studied international finance and landed on an FX trading desk managing sums of money he still can't quite believe anyone trusted him with. What followed was a career that moved through FX and interest rates in Brisbane and Sydney, a stint at Macquarie during the GFC and then corporate treasury at Aurizon through a government demerger and float. What he didn't know when the Aurizon chapter closed was that a relationship built during that period would end up reshaping the next stage of his career. A banker who remembered him from the Aurizon days rang a CFO and made the case for Cale to get a second interview at Tatts Group. He got the job. That same banker, nearly a decade later helped Cale save CTM during COVID when the business lost 90% of its revenue in a single month. The team cut 1500 jobs to protect the remaining 2000. Between those two moments he went from Group Treasurer at Tatts to building software from a coworking space in Kyoto. Then deliberately taking a role with Bank of Queensland finance because he thought he had gotten lucky the first time around. "If I fail here, then I was right," he says of the imposter syndrome that drove him into one of the most complex roles he could find. Again, he didn't fail. Today he is CFO at TechnologyOne, an ASX 100 software company with 1700 people across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. His approach to his career and networking is "If I can help you, I'll certainly try. And if I can't, I'll connect you with someone who can." Cale is a brilliant example of how networking can make an impact when you least expect it. You don't want to miss this one! What we cover: • How finishing school at 16 shaped his early career and his impatience • What happens when you leave a stable career to start a business and competitors physically turn up to try and intimidate you • The phone call that got him a second interview at Tatts, and what it teaches you about how networks actually work • How CTM lost 90% of its revenue in a single month and the decision to cut 1500 jobs to save 2000 • Why he took the Bank of Queensland role specifically to test his imposter syndrome • The difference between leading a team you inherited and managing one you built • Why he rented a house in Kyoto and went to the same co-working space every day for months • How compounding generosity replaced the version of networking most finance professionals do The CFO Track. Out now on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

    52 min

  2. 26 May

    From Wembley’s Half-Billion Loss to IPO of the Year - Sean O'Donoghue

    This episode was brought to you by Tallystone. Use the promo code CFOTRACK for a 30 day free trial by visiting tallystone.com/cfotrack This CFO watched north of half a billion dollars disappear on the Wembley Stadium construction project. While they were working on Wembley, the steel contractor went broke partway through construction. What followed was a domino effect that hit Multiplex from every direction at once. Sean O'Donoghue was the CFO carrying that and what he took from it shaped 40 years of financial leadership. Before Wembley, he was at KPMG in 1983, closing ledger books with a ruler the year Excel launched. After he helped build a digital bank called 86400 that NAB eventually bought to replatform UBank. Then 12 years as CFO of Cuscal, Australia's fifth end-to-end payments company. Culminating in a November 2024 ASX listing that won IPO of the Year and saw the share price move from $2.50 to $4. When the analysts asked him to describe the company, he said: "Boring and predictable, like me." They loved it. In this episode, Sean breaks down what 4 decades in the chair actually teaches you, from the red journal book to real time payments Sean retired from full-time corporate life just before Christmas. The lessons do not retire with him. He's also one of the funniest people you'll ever meet. This is one you don't want to miss out on! Episode Highlights: The Wembley Stadium domino effect and how to respond without reactingWhy getting kicked out of an acquisition led directly to the IPOWhat 86 400 was really built to prove, and why NAB bought itHow to genuinely cut 40% of fixed costs (it requires a three year process redesign, not a headline number)The "spare walls" business case and what it teaches about return on capital employedWhy "boring and predictable" is the highest compliment in public marketsHis advice on AI: stay close, be a fast follower, but never let artificial intelligence replace actual intelligence

    1hr 4min

  3. 19 May

    The CFO Who Had A Reset, Took Nine Months Off and Came Back Much Stronger - Jacqueline Hasler

    This episode was brought to you by Tallystone. Use the promo code CFOTRACK for a 30 day free trial by visiting tallystone.com/cfotrack Burnout didn't look like falling apart. It looked like losing confidence in things she'd done a thousand times before. Jacqueline Hasler spent a decade at PwC, 2 years in London and 6 years inside REA Group as it scaled from a $12 share price and 200 people to a listed giant. She was leading acquisitions, investor presentations and all over a Southeast Asia expansion. Then her confidence went, her sleep was impacted and her energy fell through the floor. She took nine months off. The scariest thing she'd ever done. She came back and put her dream companies on a Trello board. Nura headphones was in her top 3 and they were looking for a CFO. "You put something out into the universe and it sort of can manifest itself." She built their finance function from zero. Following that, she moved to Tribe to lead an IPO that was pulled within weeks of her joining and pivoted the business through a market collapse. Today she's COO at XY Sense, scaling a global privacy-first sensor business. Episode Highlights: Why burnout felt like losing confidence in things she’d done a thousand times beforeHow nine months off became the most empowering period of her careerThe IPO that was pulled within weeks of her joining as CFOWhy she started too high level for engineers and had to go to product unitHow REA Group grew from 200 people to thousands while she was inside the finance functionWhat happens when you pull the lever too quickly on a team that isn’t readyThe difference between a business that wants a CFO and one that’s told to hire oneHow she went from CFO to COO and what that transition means This is the episode for anyone who has ever pushed past the point they should have stopped. But also, how time out can be the best thing you ever do for your career.

    48 min

  4. 12 May

    3 Failed IPOs, 200 Investor Meetings and 1 Trade Sale - Paul Stevenage

    Three IPO attempts. Each one fell short. Paul Stevenage has been CFO/Head of Finance across some of Australia’s biggest names. Woolworths. Australia Post - Star Track and Coles. He ran finance for Woolworths’ multi-billion dollar supply chain transformation and oversaw a $500 million-plus StarTrack acquisition at Australia Post. But the period that tested him the most was the 7 years with Retail Zoo. The company behind Boost Juice, Betty's Burgers and a few others. They went through 3 IPO attempts and fell short, before a trade sale finally landed. Along the way, he did close to 200 investor relations meetings and watched the sun come up from the Chadstone office more than once. He learned that the moment you gloss up the numbers, “those investors will cut you up and eat you for breakfast.” But he credits his team for getting the deal over the line - "If anything, they picked me up." He described it. Episode Highlights: How Woolworths consolidated 25 distribution centres down to 8 and what that meant for financeWhy Paul calls the Woolworths-to-Coles move fair game for any finance professionalThe reality of running a simultaneous IPO and trade sale with vendor due diligenceWhat close to 200 investor relations meetings taught him about knowing your numbersHow Betty’s Burgers grew from 8 restaurants to nearly 60 under Retail ZooWhy going from a big business to a smaller one can accelerate your careerThe fuel crisis facing logistics right now and how a CFO manages it in real timeWhy routine is the only thing that makes Melbourne-to-Sydney weekly commuting survivable This week on The CFO Track, Paul Stevenage breaks down what 25 years across listed companies, private equity and family-owned businesses actually teaches you about finance leadership. You don't want to miss it!

    50 min

  5. 5 May

    Financial Storytelling and Using Your Powers for Good - Karma Auden

    A private number from the UAE rang at 8:30pm on a Thursday night. Karma Auden almost didn't answer, but it changed her career. The person on the other end was a recruiter calling from Dubai. They asked one question: had Karma ever thought about working in the Middle East? She had not. Three months later she was on a plane to Abu Dhabi. Business class, for a three-day job interview. It was her first trip overseas. Her second was to move. She landed in the UAE in January 2009, to work with a property business during the GFC. Her new employer was so quiet in those first two weeks they nearly sent her home. They didn't. What followed was 8 years of incredible learning experiences: - Managing shopping centre development finance during a listed property trust era. - Running commercial operations from a site shed 20 feet from the water on an Abu Dhabi beach. - Leading regional finance for an education company funding solar lamps for girls in rural Kenya. - Dealing with runaway camels from a neighbouring Sheikh's palace. When Karma moved back to Australia, she had no house and no job. But 1 recruiter in Canberra took the call. Today she's CFO at the University of New England, reporting directly to the Vice Chancellor, running what she calls "five businesses in one." She was never meant to be an accountant. Karma was going to be a pharmacist, a double degree fell through, but a three-day intro course at Coopers and Lybrand changed her mind. This episode is about what happens when you stop planning your career and start taking the calls you almost didn't answer. This week on The CFO Track. Karma Auden is a CFO and financial storyteller.

    51 min

  6. 28 Apr

    Problem solving and hitchhiking to work in -40C for 6 Months – Sammy Michaels

    Sammy Michaels hitchhiked to work in -40 degrees for six months. He was in Mongolia, helping PwC set up their local office. Negotiating ride fares with local drivers who didn't speak English, then trying to expense a trip that came with no receipt. That kind of problem-solving has defined his career since PwC in the UK. Then Anglo-American in Singapore where he learned the hard way that not everyone wants to be promoted. Qualtrics, where he helped list on the NASDAQ and watched APAC grow from under 100 people to 600 across 12 countries. Now he’s with Octopus Deploy, overseeing finance, legal, IT and compliance across 20+ countries. “I made so many mistakes,” Sammy says. “It was unbelievable. Mistake after mistake, but each one of those was a really great learning platform for me.” He also helped built something outside of his day job. A quarterly meetup for tech CFOs in Australia that now has a wait list. Sessions with senior finance leaders from some of Australia's best tech businesses, sharing what they’ve learned. Sammy credits that group with cutting out 80 per cent of the problems he’d have to otherwise solve alone. He says he wouldn't be where he is today without this group. Episode Highlights: Why Sammy hitchhiked to work in Mongolia at minus 30 degrees and what that taught him about solving problems with no supportThe management mistake that got him a confronting employee net promoter score, then what he changed to fix itHow he moved from energy and mining into tech after years of tryingWhat it’s like to be finance person number one at a company growing 40 per cent year on yearThe life stories framework he uses to actually understand what his team wantsWhy he believes you don’t need a great culture to be successful, but the best companies have one anywayHis concern that AI is removing the junior roles that create future finance leadersHow he built a tech CFO community from a Slack group into a quarterly meetup with a wait list If you’re a finance leader wondering whether the path you’re on is the right one, this is the episode to tune in for!

    51 min

  7. 21 Apr

    Becoming more than Finance – Rachel Wong

    Rachel Wong’s finance role disappeared overnight. So she went and ran the retail stores instead Rachel picked accounting because she ran out of other options at university. Her dad taught her debits and credits at the kitchen table because she had never done the subject at school. That accidental start has led to one of the most varied careers in Australian finance. Six months into her first startup job, COVID wiped out every dollar of revenue. Rachel was at July, a luggage company, when global travel shut down overnight. "Nothing scares me anymore," she says. "At July we were selling suitcases when global shutdowns were in place. We were making absolutely zero dollars in sales." Finance had nothing to do, so she volunteered to manage retail stores instead. That decision is a good summary of how Rachel operates. She took a CFO role that was only guaranteed for three months because saying no felt worse than the uncertainty. She was made permanent in a week. She has never worked in the same industry twice, moving through student accommodation, luggage, separation services, EdTech and venture capital. Rachel would tell you that is the whole point. She is now CFO at EdSmart 4 days a week and a VC investor at Gravel Road Ventures 1 day a week on Fridays. She also mentors through StartMate, writes The Finance Hybrid for finance professionals who do not want to be defined by their title and is raising two kids under five. "I am capable of more than Finance. I like to do more and I like to grow outside of that department." Episode Highlights How Rachel went from not knowing what audit was to building her entire career foundation at KPMGWhy she quit her job and booked a one-way ticket to London with no plan, no contacts, and no accommodationThe reality of being the first finance hire at a startup selling suitcases during a global pandemicHow volunteering for a retail manager role during COVID changed her approach to career growthWhy she calls herself a “finance hybrid” and what that means for how she approaches every roleThe identity crisis that came with having children and stepping away from a career she was buildingHow she went from asking investors for money to evaluating startups as a VC on FridaysHer practical, no-playbook approach to using AI in finance every single day If you're looking to build your career outside of finance, this is one you don't want to miss.

    1hr 3min

  8. 14 Apr

    Jorrick Chivers - Building Australia’s Most Successful Sports Startup

    Jorrick Chivers was a school business manager in Tasmania when a once-in-a-career opportunity came to him A brand new NBL franchise (Tasmania JackJumpers) needed someone to build the entire operation from scratch. With no office, computers, or staff. He said yes. Day one was his kitchen table. Jorrick became the first employee. Within three seasons, they had sold out arenas from their first game, ticked every internal success metric and won the championship. A timeline virtually unheard of in Australian sport. But Jorrick will tell you the championship was never the only measure. "There's no point winning a championship and then going broke financially in two years time. Sport is a business. Where clubs get themselves into trouble is that they forget that it's a business." As COO and later in a shared CEO role, he ran operations, finance and basketball recruitment simultaneously. He balanced salary cap management with recruitment trips to Las Vegas and kept the business is running, while the team kept winning. He also tells his board and CEO one of the most important things a CFO should say. "I'm not a scorekeeper." What that means for how finance actually adds value is one of the best parts of this conversation. Now as CFO of Stadiums Tasmania, he is overseeing Macquarie Point Stadium. One of the most significant infrastructure projects in the state's history. As well as delivering the Foo Fighters, the biggest concert Tasmania has ever seen. He has built from zero twice. The details are different, but the principles are the same. Full episode on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

    38 min
See All (25)

About

Most finance people never get mentors who have lived and learnt through capital raises, IPOs, administrations or ACCC scrutiny. The CFO Track changes that. I am Tom Hunter, and every week I sit down with top Australian CFOs to unpack what happened and what they learned. Clear steps, real lessons and as always, free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and LinkedIn Live.

Information

  • Creator
    Tom Hunter
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Tom Hunter
  • Show Website
    The CFO Track

You Might Also Like