When AI investments underperform, the post-mortem usually devolves into debate: “The business didn’t adopt it.” “The data wasn’t ready.” “IT didn’t integrate it.” “The vendor overpromised.” All of that may be true. But the deeper problem is governance: the investment was approved on assumptions that were never made explicit—so nobody can own them, monitor them, or trigger decisions when they break. When assumptions remain implicit, accountability becomes politics. Everyone ca

Most AI business cases still feel “clean” because they’re built from what’s easy to count: licenses, a project team, maybe some IT time. That’s not AI economics. AI economics don’t live in purchase orders. They live in activities —the recurring work required to keep the tool producing usable, decision-grade outputs at scale. The costs you don’t see (until you can’t ignore them) If you want total cost of ownership (TCO), stop asking “what did we buy?” and start asking “what wo

It's Saturday and over morning coffee ☕ I started looking at facts about accounting - historical and current. Here is what I found: 1️⃣ Management accounting predates financial accounting. Cost tracking for internal decisions existed centuries before standardized financial statements were a thing. Owners cared about control long before compliance. 2️⃣ Standard costing was basically the original “performance dashboard.” Variances were an early form of KPI monitoring—long befor

I have been thinking a lot about what might happen in 2026 and although there is a lot of uncertainty – especially right now -, uncertainty seems to be becoming the norm rather than the exception. For that reason, I think the competitive advantage will not belong to the organizations with the most data, the most AI, or even the fastest analytics, it will belong to those that can adapt quickly to evolving situations and translate insight into economic control . For CEOs, CFOs,

Risk oversight has become a central responsibility for boards and senior leadership teams. Yet many of the most consequential risks organizations face today do not appear suddenly. They emerge gradually, often hidden within seemingly acceptable financial results. By the time traditional metrics signal a problem, leaders are already reacting rather than governing. I’ve observed that this happens because risk is frequently assessed through lagging indicators—variance analyses,

Few things concern boards and CEOs more than the gap between strategy and execution. Most organizations have well-articulated strategies. They invest significant time and energy defining priorities, setting targets, and approving initiatives. Yet months later, leadership teams often struggle to explain why results diverged from expectations—or where accountability truly lies. In my experience, this gap rarely stems from poor intent or inadequate effort. It stems from a lack o

In my experience, the challenge is not a lack of financial data. It is a lack of integration and causality . Most organizations measure revenue, costs, and investments in separate systems, using separate models, for separate purposes. Each view may be technically sound, yet together they fail to explain how decisions actually create—or erode—value. As a result, boards and CEOs are often asked to evaluate strategic initiatives without a clear line of sight into their profitabi

Over the years, I’ve worked with boards, CEOs, CFOs, and senior leadership teams who are deeply committed to improving performance. What consistently surprises them is not a lack of effort or intelligence—it’s how little visibility they have into why  profitability behaves the way it does. Financial statements are essential. But they were never designed to support strategic decision-making. They tell us what happened.They rarely tell us why  it happened.And they almost never

I am a fan of the music from Led Zeppelin, especially their song Stairway to Heaven. In their song are these lyrics:   “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there's still time to change the road you're on. And it makes me wonder.”   Here is a link to the song where you can hear those lyrics in the second stanza:   Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin   What does this have to do with management accounting? The problem begins with the imbalance of emphasis o

This topic is a little off topic for me. I much prefer Profitability, Cost, or Revenue management issues.....BUT people are the most critical resource. I saw this post by Justin Wright on Linked In and found it very concise and highly applicable. It illustrates clear behavioral characteristics.  I encourage everyone to self-evaluate and seek out, reward, and encourage these characteristics in everyone who works for you. 12 rare traits that separate high performers from

Cuento de Terror CFO #4 — Cuando el revenue te traiciona por Pedro San Martín | Strategic Finance Principal, Asher & Company / PwC Interaméricas 😱 El día que el CFO descubrió la verdad Hace unas semanas, un CFO de una empresa de distribución de bebidas y productos lácteos me llamó con la voz de quien acaba de ver un fantasma financiero en Oracle EPCM. —Pedro, no lo vas a creer —me dijo—. Mis clientes más grandes... ¡son los que más pérdidas generan! Welcome to the dark side

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By Pedro San Martín, Principal at Asher PwC Interamericas Executive Summary Cost reduction initiatives fail not because of flawed...

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Congratulations Doug Hicks!!!!! PACE Director Doug Hicks was recognized by the Institute of Management Accountants in June 2025 with its...

Discover why many businesses struggle with profitability despite high revenues. Explore common pitfalls such as operational inefficiencies, poor cost control, flawed pricing, weak leadership, and strategic rigidity, along with actionable strategies to optimize profits sustainably.

This article is not intended to be religious. It is using an aspect of religion as a metaphor and analogy.   However, regarding religion...

CFO view: The main task of a chief financial officer ( CFO ) is to maintain the company's solvency at all times and to value and publish the items in ...

Por Pedro San Martín, Principal en Asher PwC Interamericas El Modelo Perfecto que Nadie Usó En una multinacional de retail, el equipo de finanzas habí...