Financial Management and Planning Strategies for Organizational Success

Quentin Morice, Director Corporate Finance at Soneva

Quentin Morice, Director Corporate Finance at Soneva

1. What strategies do you use for budgeting, forecasting, and long-term financial planning, and how do these processes contribute to the organization's financial stability?

We structure our professional calendar a year in advance, and time management is one of the most important attributes for successful execution, regardless of what happens on an actual basis. All major activities (weekly calls, month-end activities, quarterly reviews, budget seasons, year-end closing, and annual audits) are mapped according to our expectations. That allows us to plan for the most essential resource:

Human capital: Steve Jobs was undoubtedly a visionary leader when he said, “You cannot mandate productivity; you must provide the tools to let people become their best.” Our approach differs from other organizations—the human capital is where everything begins. All the annual leaves and important requests from each of our hosts are planned to ensure we balance our hosts’ personal lives with our company's annual goals. Training schedules regularly on general and professional topics are provided to our hosts, allowing them to find a purpose in what they would like to achieve in life. Constant training is being undertaken to make sure everyone grows personally and professionally.

Long-term Financial Planning: Every year, a Zero-Based Budget (ZBB) is created across all entities to ensure we question each initiative to understand whether we align with our company’s goals. The critical benefit of making a budget from scratch every year is to review and agree upon our three-year revenues and expenses to meet our financial convenience with our various stakeholders. We acknowledge that the operational inputs are the most important; without the collaboration of all teams, a budget becomes too abstract.

Annual Planning: The annual strategic planning narrows everyone's attention as we look at “what we are expecting to offer to our guests” and how to make it happen. Putting yourself into your client’s shoes is one of the most important activities that, as an organization, we do twice a year; what would make the experience more unique, more memorable, and more impactful for the well-being of the client? The rest, how do we make it happen? It is where planning on Return on Investments and the complexity of how to stage it is where monthly Gantt chart planning kicks in.

Review and Feedback: The “After Action Review” process (taken from the Navy SEAL) is vital for any team, whereby we recognize what went well, what went wrong, what we did well, and what we didn’t do well. It is crucial to discuss without bias openly. “Any man can make a mistake, only a fool keeps making the same one” by Cicero is vital for any organization to remember. We can’t change the past, but we can expect to be the best at what we do with the best intentions at heart. Taking care of the host with whom you work is vital for the long-term financial well-being of any organization that wants to leave a legacy in this world.

2. If your company can consent to this, can you share your experiences from one of the initiatives you were recently involved in?

We have decided as an organization to revamp our whole financial perspective on data utilization: financial information should be accessible in the most simple and accessible form to truly review it and make decisions about whether what we planned worked. Being able to learn from the past and project how we can do better comes from the accuracy of all the financial impacts of each initiative. In 2022, Soneva decided to change our view on financial information: not only storing data but being able to see the data live at any moment, anywhere in the world. As fast as you understand what happened, you can react. We decided to move all our financial information to “Workday” and “Birchstreet,” which has been a 22-month process as it impacts the whole organization.

3. What are some of the challenges in your business that current services cannot provide an optimal solution?

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands- one for helping yourself, the other one for helping others” by Audrey Hepburn. The most difficult part of a business is the complete engagement of stakeholders towards a common goal that requires regular interaction between every team. There are no optimal solutions to success, only a personal mindset of “what can we do more” and “what happens next.”

4. Are there any advice, suggestions, or warnings you would give to professionals in a similar role working in other companies in the financial sector regarding dos or don’ts?

Constant learning (from outside and inside the organization) is key; nothing is impossible if you break it down into baby steps. Challenges and setbacks are here on purpose: the passion to master each task to perfection.

5. What, according to you, are the most significant opportunities in financial planning and analysis in the coming years?

The evolution of AI is what will separate the successful organization in this 21st century, like the steam engine in the 19th century- all companies need to embrace the infinite possibilities of evolution to catch the train. Automating repetitive tasks will enable the end user to utilize their intellectual capacities to be truly creative; accounting is an art; like Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.”