Bill Koefoed, a 25-year veteran finance professional, has been named CFO of corporate finance software provider OneStream, the company announced Monday.
Koefoed served as CFO of online retailer Blue Nile, IT automation firm Puppet Inc, Microsoft's Skype Division, and The Boston Consulting Group's digital ventures department. He was named "CFO of the Year" by the Portland Business Journal while serving as Puppet's CFO.
"Bill has deep finance expertise in the technology industry," Tom Shea, OneStream CEO, said in the announcement. "He brings many years of experience with Microsoft as well as helping emerging companies grow and scale."
Koefoed spoke with CFO Dive Tuesday about his position, which he calls "any CFO's dream job."
Slow to digitize
Koefoed said there has been no shortage of software tools that try to solve the problem of finance functions that are slow to digitize. "If you look at some of the big software providers, they've made some acquisitions 12 or 13 years ago, and haven't updated their software since," he said. "OneStream is cloud-based, with modern user interface. It implements modern processes and ties together the consolidation function."
He said OneStream takes advantage of the most advanced technology available. "That's why we're winning against some of the bigger legacy software providers that haven't done any updates," he said.
Asked about barriers to full digitization, Koefoed points to needlessly complicated systems. "I think a barrier to change is the complexity of your processes and complexity of how you do business," he said. "With Y2K, a lot of companies made big investments in tech because they had to, and there hasn't been a driving force like that since."
He expressed confidence that OneStream is well-positioned to spearhead the integration of new, modernized software with whatever systems customers are using. "Software that solves complicated problems with modern solutions and cloud-based user interface is really our vision," he said.
Koefoed's many years as CFO informed his understanding of why CFOs may be slow to switch from their current operating systems, even if they fall below expectations.
"That's a great value for people to be able to use it, with your favorite Excel tools, to upload and download as well," he said.
Looking ahead at OneStream, where Koefoed started on Nov. 1, he sees "a real opportunity to help CFOs spend more of their time on the activities that add value, the strategy of the company, and analysis and planning, and help them drive their companies up and to the right."
