Following each property commitment into a wider responsibility

Mandate

Connect leasing, asset funding and capital allocation with the cash and obligations the enterprise retains.

Outcomes

• Compared lease incentives and receipt timing before selecting a lower headline offer.
• Connected valuation sensitivity with a revised provisional acquisition budget.
• Reconciled disposal proceeds to debt, costs and subsequent capital allocation.
• Separated collected rent from payment plans and disputed balances.
• Supported a staged contribution to a minority joint development.

Decisions in context

I became CFO after six years leading portfolio finance and joined the board as an executive director in April 2019. The two dates describe different responsibilities. I lead twenty-two finance colleagues through three direct reports and work with leasing, asset management and development teams on the capital choices facing the enterprise. The portfolio's current scale provides context for that responsibility without making its entire value a personal achievement.

My recent work has focused on keeping the terms behind a financial number visible as it enters a board decision. The five cases described here cover leases, valuation sensitivity, disposal proceeds, collection and joint development. Some have completed receipts to report, while others include future commitments or unresolved balances. I expect the finance account to distinguish them. As an executive director, I also need to consider the enterprise collectively rather than treat a well-prepared financial recommendation as a substitute for the board's judgement.

Reason for the move

Current role; considering one compatible external board mandate.

Concurrent appointment

Executive directorship began April 2019 alongside the CFO role; one current board appointment.

Mandate

Present different property and development commitments within a coherent portfolio account.

Outcomes

• Introduced a common period for comparing lease offers with incentives.
• Separated disposal price from the expected cash retained after completion.
• Prepared portfolio finance material for the incoming minority investor.

Decisions in context

Portfolio finance moved my attention from funding availability to the choices that would use it. A mature property, a lease requiring an opening contribution and a development interest could each look attractive in a short summary while creating different demands on cash. I worked with operating colleagues to retain those differences in the board's capital discussion instead of forcing every asset into a single simplified measure.

The introduction of an institutional minority investor in 2016 made clear definitions particularly valuable. The founding family knew the history of individual buildings; a new investor needed an account that could be understood without that accumulated familiarity. My team helped explain the portfolio, its commitments and the basis of proposed decisions. That did not mean replacing the operating knowledge of long-serving colleagues. It meant making that knowledge available in a form that supported a wider governance discussion and prepared me for the broader CFO responsibility.

Reason for the move

Promoted to CFO as the company needed an enterprise-wide capital and investor account.

Mandate

Align funding maturities and conditions with the operating and capital requirements of the property portfolio.

Outcomes

• Connected financing calendars with planned leasing and capital expenditure.
• Made entity cash and financing conditions visible in the central forecast.
• Developed sensitivity explanations for asset value and funding discussions.

Decisions in context

Joining Kiyosane brought me closer to the relationship between the assets and their funding. I worked on liquidity schedules and financing proposals with colleagues who understood the buildings, leases and relevant agreements. An appraisal could influence a discussion without putting money in the bank, and the existence of a facility did not remove the need to understand its conditions. I learnt to explain those distinctions without reducing every question to a treasury constraint.

The team comprised seven specialists, with two reporting directly to me. I was responsible for the quality of the funding account and the coordination needed to keep it current. I did not independently determine legal permissions or approve every property investment. Over time, I became more involved in comparing the capital uses behind financing requests. That interest led to the portfolio finance role, where the question was increasingly which commitment the enterprise should make, not only how it could be funded.

Reason for the move

Moved into portfolio finance to take a broader role in selecting and comparing uses of capital.

Mandate

Explain property performance through lease terms, collection and the work required to operate the buildings.

Outcomes

• Reconciled rent incentives with the cash forecast for each reviewed property.
• Separated overdue balances by payment and dispute status.
• Connected approved building work with its expected payment sequence.

Decisions in context

The controller role gave me responsibility for a wider group of properties and my first substantial team. I led eight colleagues, including two direct reports, and worked with managers who knew the tenants and buildings in detail. I learnt that an ageing balance was a prompt for enquiry rather than a complete explanation. Similarly, occupancy could establish that space was in use without settling the timing of receipts or the cost of the landlord's commitments.

I asked the team to connect the accounting record with those operating facts and to explain differences before they became surprises in the funding plan. The work also taught me how easily a measure changes meaning when it moves between departments. I wanted a leasing colleague and a finance colleague to recognise the same underlying agreement in our report. Moving into treasury extended that discipline to the company's borrowing and liquidity decisions and gave me a new perspective on the resources required to support the assets.

Reason for the move

Accepted a treasury appointment to understand the funding choices behind property ownership.

Mandate

Maintain accurate transaction records and explain timing differences to the property accounts manager.

Outcomes

• Reconciled rent receipts against individual lease schedules.
• Improved the supporting record for landlord contributions and supplier payments.
• Progressed to senior accounting work before taking a controller appointment.

Decisions in context

I joined Hoshirane the month after completing my commerce degree and began with the records behind everyday property transactions. Matching a receipt to a lease taught me more than reading the annual rent figure alone. I needed to understand when payment began, what had been agreed and which colleague could explain an apparent difference. The work required patience with detail and respect for the knowledge held outside finance.

I had no authority to negotiate terms or approve expenditure. My contribution was to prepare accurate schedules and raise questions that helped more experienced colleagues make decisions. As I progressed to senior accounting work, I became more interested in the pattern across transactions: how incentives affected a period, why a tenant balance remained open and when capital work would need payment. Those questions formed the basis for the later controller role and for a career that has continued to connect property numbers with the commitments beneath them.

Reason for the move

Promoted after developing the technical and operating understanding needed to lead asset finance work.