WC CFO TheStrategicCFO#44 Online NZ Final - Flipbook - Page 1
Leanne Smith
Leanne Smith is a Non Executive, Chair, Company Secretary, Director and CFO with
over twenty years of executive and board level experience across the public, commercial &
not for profit sectors with particular experience in the education industry. At board level
highlights include being the Director and Chair of the National Professional Development
Committee with the Association of School Business Administrators and the President of
the Victorian Association of School Bursars & Administrators. Leanne also has experience
as a Director and Chair of the Finance & Risk Committee with The Australian Ballet
School. Leanne has an MBA, completed the AICD’s Company Directors Course,
is a CPA and Member of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.
The BUSINESS of
EDUCATION
– How the bursar became the CFO
WHEN corporations talk about workplace culture, they could learn a thing or two
from the education world. After all, students’ progress is a benchmark of success
every bit as critical as a share price.
With 140 years of history, Ruyton
Girls’ School has been around longer
than many companies, and Director of
Business Leanne Smith appreciates her
job is about more than just the financial
side of things.
First and foremost, if
you are thinking about
working in a school you
need to really want to
be involved in the school
community,
she says.
”
“It’s not just about sitting in your
office doing your job.
“You need to get involved in school events
and understand what’s going on at the
grass roots of the school, understand why
teachers want to work here, why parents
want to send their children here and
what the culture of the school is.”
www.CFOMagazine.com.au
In another era Leanne’s role would
have defined as ‘school bursar’, but the
change reflects how business-minded
schools are now.
“Bursar is the old-fashioned term that
existed when I started in schools for the
holder of the purse strings,” Leanne says.
“They were typically male and often
ex-army, but it’s quite different now.
You’ve got to be very strategic and work
alongside the board, the principal and
the executive on the development of a
strategic plan.”
Leanne is part of the leadership group
at the school in Kew, in Melbourne’s
east, and works closely with principal
Linda Douglas, adding “she’s essentially
the CEO”.
“She might bounce issues off me before
resolving them herself, and she needs
complete confidence in my financial
management of the school,” Leanne says.
Leanne’s move into school finance came
about 20 years ago when, as a young
parent, she was feeling the strain of
combining professional and parental
duties.
“I was working in the corporate sector
and it was really difficult; it really wasn’t
a family-friendly environment back
then,” she says. “I felt like I wasn’t doing
either job well – my job as a parent or
my job in the corporate sector.”
But after meeting a school business
manager at a function (“the most
relaxed executive I’d ever met”),
Leanne’s epiphany took shape. “When
you work in an environment that cares
about people you immediately feel
looked after yourself, so it’s natural to
look after others and make them feel
valued,” she says.
Leanne still maintains a healthy worklife balance – she walked the Inca trail
to Machu Picchu this year, and enjoys
working on her golfing average – but
clearly relishes work challenges.
As Secretary to the Board, Leanne has
a major focus on strong governance.
