Finalists announced for the 2023 Australian CFO Awards

MEDIA RELEASE

Sydney, NSW
October 2023

Australia, 18 October 2023 – The Australian CFO Community powered by spend management solution, Weel, is delighted to announce the 2023 finalists for the Australian CFO Awards, including finance leaders from Employment Hero, SBS, Oroton Group, University of Canberra and Canva.

The Australian CFO Awards recognise the unsung Chief Financial Officers, Financial Controllers, rising stars and finance teams and set the industry standard for excellence.

Winners will be selected by a panel of peers and company executives on the basis of merit and finance leadership excellence. The Australian CFO Community encourages a diversity of entries from across Australia.

The panel comprises a distinguished assembly of accomplished finance and business leaders, featuring Gillian Larkins, former CFO at ASX; Alena Bennett, CFO Executive Coach; Damon Hauenstein, CFO at Weel; Richard Richards, CFO at Seven Group Holdings; Geoffrey Buchanan, Interim CFO at Austal; and Graham Jowett, CFO at OzHarvest.

The winners of each category will be announced at a gala dinner at The Calyx, in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden on 3 November. Limited tickets are available for purchase.

The event receives generous support from our esteemed industry sponsors: Weel, PKF, Alena Bennett, Eftsure, National Audits Group, MyAccounts, Valiant, Fathom, Hudled, and Primary."

Congratulations to all shortlisted individuals and teams:

Finance Team of the Year (Enterprise)

• Employment Hero
• Aurecon Group
• ACT Education Directorate
• SBS

Finance Team of the Year (SME)

• Queensland Airports Limited
• The Entourage
• Octopus Deploy
• Bandai Namco Entertainment Australia Pty. Ltd.
• Sheldon Interiors Pty Ltd

Most Valuable Finance Team Member

• James Neylon - Seaway
• Daisy Diem Phan - Singularity Tech
• Emile O'Connell - Bishopp Outdoor Advertising Pty Ltd
• Dilshi Gunasekara - Dovetail Research Pty Ltd
• Sakshi Chawla - No Standing Pty Ltd

CFO of the Year (Enterprise)

• Damien Singh - Canva
• Tony Phan - Smart Cleaning Solutions (Aust) Pty Ltd
• Karma Auden - University of Canberra
• Ian Turnbull - ACT Education Directorate

CFO of the Year (SME)

• Melissa Marshall - Mad Mex
• Cheryl Ling - Jetts Fitness
• Natascha Tjendana - Youth Projects
• Federico Tata-Nardini - Fleet Space Technologies
• Santiago Spada - Pirelli Tyres Australia
• Andrew Yee - Walkinshaw Group

CFO of the Year (Start-up)

• Lidia Valenzuela - Bonza Aviation Pty Ltd
• David Bicknell - Immutable
• Daniel Giles - PayApps
• Cyril Gabriel - Academy Xi
• Kunwar Aditya Saxena - CIMET

CFO of the Year (NFP)

• Beth McIlwain - Windarring
• Melanie Lin - Creative Australia
• Rob Hall - Housing Trust
• Kerri Ryan - RSL Queensland
• Louise Johais - Ngala

Financial Controller of the Year

• Rachel Bohr - Experient
• Jatin Mahajan - Bandai Namco Entertainment Australia and New Zealand
• Elise Banks - Oroton Group
• Justin Ong - Engage Marine Pty Ltd
• Jason Dunlop - Camplify

Young Achiever of the Year

• Joe Orlando - Naked Wines Australia
• Matthew Larkin - Superhero
• Ludivine Scheidecker - Ofload
• Alyse McPhee - BurgerUrge
• Tochau Nguyen - Buildsafe

About The Australian CFO Community 

The Australian CFO Community is a networking and professional development resource for finance teams established by spend management software company Weel (Previously DiviPay).

About Weel

Weel (previously DiviPay) is an all-in-one virtual business card and spend management platform that enables finance teams to better manage, control and streamline spending across their organisation. Founded by Daniel Kniaz and Russell Martin, Weel’s easy-to-use web and mobile app includes instant virtual corporate cards, bill pay, card controls and budgeting, a real-time transaction feed, automated expense reports, powerful accounting integrations, subscription spending management, mobile reimbursements, and exclusive rewards. Businesses use the Weel platform to manage over $250 million in annual spend.

For more information, please contact:
Adriana Amato
adriana@letsweel.com