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Author and instructor of the Linkedin Course "Strategic Financial Intelligence for Business Leaders"

 Course Author - Strategic Financial Intelligence for Business Leaders

The CEO Financial Intelligence Program

Built for CEOs, CFOs and executives who want to lead with strategic financial insight and engineered performance. 

Through expert sessions, real-world cases, and a private executive community, you'll learn to connect the dots between vision and results, challenge financial assumptions, ask the right questions, and make confident decisions that drive enterprise value.

Founder

Financiario

Financiario delivers the financial foresight of a strategic CFO — automated into real-time dashboards — to unlock capital, drive growth, and lead with confidence.

Always know how today’s decisions impact cash flow, profitability, and long-term value — without the guesswork, spreadsheets, or delays.

Designed for mid-market companies, Financiario connects financial planning, forecasting, and reporting into one powerful, fully managed platform.

From multi-entity consolidations and scenario modeling to capital allocation and debt management, every dashboard and report is engineered to align financial performance with strategic objectives.

Experience real-time financial intelligence. Book a demo at Financiario.com.

Founder & CEO

OanaLabes.com

Hi, I'm Oana Labes.

As one of the top worldwide Linkedin content creators, my strategic finance content has been seen by over 140 million people over the past year.

My Linkedin following has grown to over 350,000 followers, and the business and finance Checklists and Cheat Sheets I created have been viewed and downloaded by millions of people worldwide.

My 'Cash Flow Masterclass' has transformed hundreds of careers and businesses and my Corporate Trainings have helped thousands of professionals around the world.

Join over 55,000+ people and subscribe to my free newsletter 'The Finance Gem 💎' to get strategic finance insights every Saturday and compound your impact & influence on in boardrooms and beyond.

Get in touch at www.OanaLabes.com

The Finance Gem

Join 55,000+ subscribers to get The Finance Gem 💎delivered to your Inbox every other Saturday. Don't miss the strategic finance insights enjoyed daily by my 350,000+ Linkedin Followers.

Founder & Content Creator

Corporate Finance Institute® (CFI)

Founded in 2016, CFI is the world-leading provider of practical learning and productivity tools for finance and banking professionals. Powered by expert instructors, hands-on lessons, and proprietary technology, CFI delivers the skills, certifications, CPE credits, and resources to help anyone—from beginner to seasoned pro—drive their finance career.

Guest Writer

Profitability Analytics Center of Excellence

PACE is an independent, non-profit, community of professionals dedicated to developing ways for companies to strategically manage and improve revenue, cost, and investments using causal analytic models to help make better, more informed decisions and drive greater value creation.

Advisory Board Member

I enable the financing that supports the growth and success of growing businesses operating in the Manufacturing, Wholesale and Logistics space.  I also lead RBC’s relationship with my clients at the enterprise level; I oversee the overall risk monitoring process for my portfolio and actively manage the portfolio credit risk within the bank’s risk appetite.

Senior Commercial Manager - Supply Chain Industries

Commercial Manager / Technology Banking KBI

Holidays Inc.

After working in the industry for 6 years I founded a travel concierge business at the age of 23, and bootstrapped it to 1.3MM EUR in revenues, 13 employees and 2 offices over the course of 4 years. We partnered with Thomas Cook in Germany to gain exclusive access to the full travel offering of more than 70 of the world’s largest 70 wholesale operators including Thomas Cook, Neckerman, TUI, ITS, DERtour, Schauinsland or ITS. 

Our strategy focused on product leadership, customer service, and innovation, which helped to differentiate us in the local market and afforded us record high retention rates and customer referrals.

I used to think finance wasn’t rocket science — until I saw how many CEOs and companies get crushed by it.

Great products with solid margins - consistently struggling to engineer growth with proactive cash flow planning and smart capital allocation.

That’s when I realized: it’s not just about numbers — it’s about knowing what they mean, how to plan around them, and how to make decisions that actually build value.

That’s what I teach. And that’s what my company Financiario delivers.

📌 I’m a CPA, MBA, and Founder of Financiario — the only financial intelligence platform built to think, report, and advise like a CFO in real time — whether you have a CFO or not.

📌 My background:

→ 15+ years of mid-market capital expertise
→ $300M+ secured and deployed across growth, M&A, and enterprise value acceleration
→ Scaled hundreds of companies 10–20x by aligning capital, cash flow, and strategic planning

📌 I’m also:

→ A Top 10 U.S. LinkedIn Finance Creator
→ A LinkedIn Learning Instructor
→ Read weekly by 45,000+ CEOs and CFOs via The Finance Gem
→ Followed by 500,000+ worldwide across platforms

📌 I’ve taught over 5,000 leaders through:

→ The CEO Financial Intelligence Program – master the 20% of finance that drives 80% of results
→ The Cash Flow Masterclass – used by thousands to turn liquidity into leverage
→ The Financial Analysis Masterclass – helping leaders turn numbers into strategy

📌 Brand partners & highlights:

→ Oracle, SAP, HubSpot, Mercury, 
→ AFP speaker (largest finance conference in the world): 3 years running

If you’re a scaling company, ambitious executive, finance pro, or growing brand — I can help.

→ Follow me here, on IG and YouTube (coming soon)
→ Scale with me: Financiario.com
→ Learn with me: oanalabes.com
→ Reach me: hello@oanalabes.com

Oana Labes, MBA, CPA

Most CEOs are building strategy on Adjusted EBITDA.

But Operating Cash Flow is the number that tells the truth.

➡️ Learn to analyze an income statement in 10 steps and never miss another red flag again: https://bit.ly/3QsGLyV

Let’s talk about the most abused metric in finance:
Adjusted EBITDA.

On paper and in quarterly calls it looks impressive.

↳ Big number
↳ Solid growth story
↳ Great for pitch decks

But dig deeper, and it’s often nothing more than a sanitized version of the truth.

📌 Save your spot for the upcoming executive masterclasses covering EBITDA, Valuation and our exclusive CEO Panel: 

➡️ https://bit.ly/4nHxemo
➡️ https://bit.ly/4nZwau8
➡️ https://bit.ly/4oCA2RK

Here’s what happens when the heat of real business pressure kicks in:

↳ Adjusted EBITDA: a full pan of spinach — puffed up with “one-time” add-backs

↳ EBITDA: a few wilted leaves left — still disconnected from actual cash

↳ Net income: the bare truth — what’s left after everyone else takes their share

↳ Operating cash flow: the real litmus test — what the business actually generates to reinvest, repay, and survive

Most CEOs are obsessed with EBITDA.
But it’s operating cash flow that fuels today and builds tomorrow.

Smart CEOs understand this:

✓ Adjusted EBITDA is easy to manipulate — operating cash flow isn’t
✓ EBITDA ignores working capital swings — OCF exposes them
✓ Operating cash flow shows what’s sustainable — not presentable

Because at the end of the day, only one number fuels:

Payroll
Debt repayment
Growth reinvestment
Dividend distribution
Breathing room in downturns

That number is Operating Cash Flow.

If you’re not tracking it religiously, and planning it carefully - you're in for some seriosu financial trouble.

This isn’t about becoming a CFO.

It’s about being a CEO who actually understands how value is created — and destroyed.

So here’s the question:

Are you managing by numbers that survive heat?
Or by metrics that evaporate when reality sets in?

📌 Want to transform your leadership, company and career?

▷ Scale yourself with my CEO Intelligence Program: https://bit.ly/3ZCI0kr
▷ Scale your knowledge with courses & graphics: https://bit.ly/3RlTCDD
▷ Scale your company with Live CFO intelligence: https://bit.ly/3Aa36fG

♻️ Like, Comment, Repost if this was helpful. And follow Oana Labes, MBA, CPA for strategic insights on financial leadership.
------------

10 more days left to enrol into The CEO Financial Intelligence Program
Last cohort for 2025 kicks off November 12, 2025
6 weeks with me, 2x live weekly, recorded
Transformational & immediately practical
Enrol now: https://lnkd.in/e_4V8pWR

CEO @ Financiario | Real Time CFO Intelligence for Mid-Market Companies | Rolling Forecasts • Dynamic Dashboards • Board Decks | Founder & Coach @ The CEO Financial Intelligence Program | Top 10 LinkedIn USA Finance

AutoPayPlus

A Personal Financial Management Service
AutoPayPlus (APP) is a Company that helps everyday people improve their financial lives.  Utilizing proprietary technology that simplifies and automates financial well-being, AutoPayPlus has helped more than 300,000 people over the past 20 years.
Value-added services include vehicle valuation from Kelley Blue Book and vehicle recall and service maintenance alerts; the ability to enroll other household debts; and a free financial toolkit that includes a monthly VantageScore® 3.0 credit score with trending from TransUnion®, and credit monitoring and instant alerts from TransUnion® to help prevent identity theft

CFO/COO & EOS® Integrator

The Florida CFO Group

A partnership of Chief Financial Officers (CFO) providing fractional (part-time) and interim CFO services.
Founded in 2010, the Florida CFO Group provides part-time and interim CFO services to Florida’s growth companies. This includes assisting in raising funds, mergers and acquisitions, recapitalization, exit and succession planning, and structuring to meet ongoing opportunities. 
Our approach to client service includes two core guiding principles. First, we implement our CFO services to leverage our client’s full-time permanent accounting and finance staff whenever possible. Secondly, we believe in a proactive approach to the CFO function and the financial leadership of our client’s executive management team.

Partner

LightPath Technologies

LightPath Technologies (NASDAQ: LPTH) is a global leader in optics, infrared, & photonics manufacturing and solutions, with $50M revenue. As corporate CFO, I drove finance and accounting strategies for domestic and international (China and Latvia) operations. Partnering with the CEO, I transformed strategic direction to reinvigorate stalled growth and improve global marketplace positioning across diverse verticals, including commercial, industrial, telecommunications, defense, space, testing & measurement, and medical. In this role, I also prepared board presentations and mentored 23 direct & indirect reports. 

THIS POSITION ENDED AUG 2021.

✔ Galvanized innovation by establishing term limits for board of directors, ensuring growth focus and fresh ideas. 
✔ Delivered financial turnaround, saving millions annually, by repositioning cash flow, relocating operations from New York to Orlando, implementing ERP system, & reorganizing finance department. 
✔ Lowered interest payments and negotiated additional 8-figure secured credit to fund future M&A transactions and strategic initiatives, by cultivating new banking relationships. 
✔ Increased employee satisfaction survey score 17.6% by driving employee engagement initiative. 
✔ Explored business development opportunities related to M&A and advised executive team and board.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & Senior Vice President (SVP)

Houser Logistics, Inc.

I was recruited as a business turnaround specialist for a 1-year contract to perform a comprehensive needs analysis and create action plans to improve company performance and employee engagement. I also diagnosed issues related to management behaviors and drove change management.
 
✔ Turned around underperforming business & established viability, resulting in successful sale of company. 
✔ Realized 16% growth within 11 months, increased net income 14%, and boosted cash flow 23%.

 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & Senior Vice President (SVP)

CBS - Corporate Business Solutions

This was a consulting role advising the owners and leaders of small to midsize businesses in distress. During the 2- to 4-week engagements, I conducted reviews of financial systems and balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow management; delivered turnaround strategies; and coached business leaders on business best practices. 

✔ Delivered profitable transformations for 6 SMB clients.

Senior Business Consultant

Seaboard Corporation

With this promotion, I reported directly to the Corporate CEO and CFO to oversee finance & accounting for the SOMC division, which focused on milling and animal feed across 85+ US and international branches. Concurrently, I also managed the growth strategy and corporate operations for West Africa. Here, I managed a team of 18 direct reports and a $32M P&L for Sierra Leone.

✔ Launched startups in The Gambia and added 8 new branches in Kenya (300% growth). Led market analysis, identified locations, established financials, and built & staffed new factories. 
✔ Actively explored business development opportunities as the Africa-based senior executive. Partnered with branch managers to establish growth strategy and new branches, improve processes, and optimize revenue.
✔ Saved $1.4M annually by renegotiating supply chain agreements with intercompany and external vendors.
✔ Implemented Navision ERP software.

KENYA: $55M revenue, 18 accounting staff, 420 employees
ANGOLA: $55M revenue, 415 employees
NIGERIA: $45M revenue, 10 accounting staff, 425 employees
GHANA: $30M revenue, 8 accounting staff, 246 employees
MOZAMBIQUE: $30M revenue, 385 employees
SIERRA LEONE: $32M revenue, 382 employees
THE GAMBIA: $26M revenue, 6 accounting staff, 218 employees

Financial Director (Country CFO) & Managing Director –  (SOMC)

When word of my success in Angola spread, I was asked to relocate to Mozambique to replicate my efforts. I also cultivated relationships with labor unions to prevent/mitigate business barriers.

✔ Transformed Mozambique & Kenya branches and reestablished profitability. 
✔ Reversed 5-year $400K annual losses in Mozambique, resulting in successful sale of business. Participated in M&A due diligence.

Financial Director (Country CFO) & Managing Director – Mozambique (SOMC)

In this expat assignment based in Angola, I spearheaded the company’s international growth in Africa by introducing Kaizen, reorganizing and upgrading local talent, improving financial controls, and implementing financial software. I did this by first earning the trust of local leaders to facilitate change management.  

✔ Improved profit $700K within 9 months by renegotiating supply chain contracts to yield better returns for raw materials.
✔ Achieved $30M (2%) turnover savings by securing local government assistance with tax and port cost holidays, which ultimately heightened shareholder confidence in the company’s market sustainability.
✔ Cut costs by 22% by managing raw materials procurement and bolstering extraction efficiency rate from 73.2% to 74.6%, reducing daily manufacturing time by 2.5 hours.
✔ Reduced monthly close from 60 days to 20 days by instituting US GAAP (vs. just IFRS) reporting locally.  
✔ Cut labor costs 35% and financial reporting time 60% (45 to 18 days) by automating corporate accounting system and converting to a more efficient ERP system.

Financial Director (Country CFO) – Angola (SOMC)

Eurest USA

This was a 12-month contract as Interim CEO/President of Eurest Support Services, a $30M division of Compass Group. My objective was to transform a division with 80 jobsites serving oil rigs, schools, mineral mines, and prisons. I collaborated with a team of 5 senior executives and 185 operations staff to identify root causes of performance issues and developed and executed comprehensive turnaround strategy.

✔ Turned around operations from a loss to $400K profit and delivered $3.5M sales by restructuring entire organization, updating the ERP system, securing contract extensions and expansions, and negotiating a $1M major oil company contract – all within 9 months.
✔ Increased quarterly revenues by 9%, gross margins by 1%, and net profits by 12%.
✔ Reduced employee turnover by 23%, while reducing SG&A by 2%, by instituting retention programs, performance improvement programs, and a client-business partner satisfaction committee.

Interim CEO/President – Eurest Support Services

Sodexo

After building Universal Ogden Services’ International Operations, I was promoted to VP to continue aggressive global expansion. I managed a $118M P&L and oversaw 16 international branches providing food and logistics services for O&G, refineries, mining, construction, and DoD/military sites, including Guantanamo Bay, Haiti, Trinidad, USVI, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela (22 sites), and conflict zones Somalia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Concurrently, I continued to serve as Corporate Controller for all the branches, navigating unique country regulations and cultures.

✔ Launched international operations and expanded company footprint beyond Gulf of Mexico and Alaska to 30 new startup offices worldwide. Built local business infrastructure and teams. 
✔ Positioned company for acquisition by Sodexo in 2001 by propelling revenue 195.6%. Further increased valuation by driving business development and securing ongoing multi-year contracts.
✔ Implemented ERP systems JD Edwards & Peachtree, and designed proprietary job costing software program.
✔ Achieved 60% market share in Venezuela and 8-figure monthly revenue by growing oil & gas contracts. 
✔ Grew Brazil to 35% market share.
✔ Uncovered $22M in new market opportunities by spearheading expansion to US military operations, partnering with defense contractor Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).

Vice President International Operations - Universal Ogden Services

Universal Ogden Services was a $19.3B global remote-site services leader, which was acquired by Sodexho in 2001 and rebranded as Sodexo (Euronext: SW). In a dual role, I served as Corporate Controller, ensuring timely and accurate consolidated financial reporting, while also standing up the company’s international operations.  

✔ Grew business more than 30% by establishing presence in various international geographical locations.
✔ Spearheaded implementation of ERP system Navision (now Microsoft Dynamics NAV), designing a custom job costing program unique to the industry.
✔ Minimized exposure to exchange rate fluctuations by effectively managing currency remeasurement and maintaining low cash balances on the books, and in local currency. 
✔ Implemented strategies to circumnavigate local taxes and reduced losses from currency translations by paying parent company for supplies and management fees, under GAAP and IFRS rules.
✔ Reduced food cost by 2% and administrative labor by 3.5% by introducing accurate expense monitoring systems.

Corporate Controller – Universal Ogden Services

Seasoned CFO with 35+ years in international business, skilled in solving complex financial challenges. Led financial units in Fortune 100 companies and startups. A strategic integrator, focused on driving revenue growth and maximizing profits, blending business acumen with financial insight.

CORE COMPETENCIES:
➤ Strategic Counsel for C-Suite & Board
➤ Financial Governance & Internal Controls
➤ Organizational Turnarounds & Transformations 
➤ Building Startup Infrastructures
➤ Expanding into Domestic & Global Markets
➤ Fostering Organizational Development
➤ Facilitating Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) 
➤ Integrator (EOS)

With a proven ability to bring order to financial disorder, I provide clear, strategic insights that enable CEOs, founders, and board members to make informed and empowered financial decisions.

SELECTED ACHIEVEMENTS:
🎯 Orchestrated the turnaround of over 10 companies, restoring profitability.
🎯 Led the successful launch and growth of 30 startups across Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America, notably in high-risk conflict zones.  
🎯 Steered a $288M P&L and supervised over 85 branches globally. 
🎯 Cultivated and led high-performing cross-functional, cross-cultural teams of up to 385 direct and indirect reports. 
🎯Pioneered the implementation of FP&A, accounting systems, and ERPs to streamline operations.  

LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, & Portuguese

CERTIFICATIONS & TRAINING: Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) | Export Administration Regulations (EAR) | Export Compliance | International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR)

COMPETENCIES: Corporate Finance | Strategic Planning | Financial Operations | Business Case Development | FP&A | Forecasting | Financial & Product Viability Modeling | Financial Analysis | Capital Structure | Financial Reporting | Audit, Tax, & Treasury Oversight | Risk Analysis & Management | Regulatory Compliance | GAAP | IFRS | SOX | SEC | Budgeting | Consolidated Financial Reporting | Stakeholder Relations | Investor Relations | Enterprise (ERP) Systems | Process Improvement | Diversity & Inclusion | Cross-Functional Team Leadership | Conflict Resolution   

http://www.autopayplus.com/      dretreage@autopayplus.com  tel:1-407-605-2333 X275
I'm always open to networking with fellow professionals. Let's connect to share insights and opportunities.

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