CFO Nexus Melbourne

The Westin Melbourne

9:30 AM - 2:00 PM | 19 August 2026

Join Us

Our past Speakers & Panellists

Basil Penkar

CEO & Founder,
MakeSense

Dave Keys

Founder & CEO,
aify

Cole Cornford

Founder,
Galah Cyber

Your seat. Your conversation. Your insight report.

Seats at CFO Nexus are limited, because the quality of conversation depends on the right people being in the room.

Please register to confirm your seat, access the full agenda, and receive the post-event insight report, a confidential summary of the day’s key themes and peer perspectives, delivered exclusively to attendees.

This is the room where mid-market finance leaders speak frankly. Come ready to do so.

The Westin Melbourne

Who should attend?

Chief Financial Officers

Finance Directors

Heads of Finance

Financial Controllers

Senior Finance Managers

FP&A Leaders

ERP and Finance Transformation Leaders

NDIS & Aged Care Key Topics

Scaling Care
Through
Technology


Exploring how innovation and digital tools can enable more efficient, ethical, and personalised service delivery.

Building Resilient Provider
Organisations


Strategies for navigating financial, operational, and workforce challenges in a changing care landscape.

Streamlining Governance & Compliance

Balancing regulation with agility by embedding systems that support accountability without adding burden.

Cross-Sector Collaboration for
Better Outcomes


Shaping solutions that span service boundaries, bringing together organisations to co-design impactful models of care.

Why Attend?

You have sat through enough vendor pitches and monologues that had little relevance to your actual challenges.

CFO Nexus is built for something different … a room where mid-market CFOs and finance leaders benchmark themselves against peers, pressure-test their hardest decisions, and have the frank, senior-level conversations that simply don’t happen anywhere else.

No presentations dressed as insights. No theory disconnected from your Monday morning.

Just the dialogue your role demands.

Event Overview

10:00 AM - 10:10 AM

Welcome Note: RK, CEO, Nexus42
A short welcome to set the tone for the morning. Why this room, why now, and what everyone walks out with.

10:10 AM - 10:40 AM

Opening Keynote:
The FY2027 Mandate for the Finance Leader. 7 Forces. 21 Moves. 10 Months to go in this FY.
RK, CEO, Nexus42

Enterprise problems, and a fraction of the resources. The cyber loss was IT’s; the AI spend someone else’s budget. Now the board asks finance for the numbers on both, and on the cash, the hurdle rate, the supplier that might not last the year. Bigger remit, same team, money that costs more. Not a showcase, not a tour of headlines … a room doing your job, against your deadlines, comparing what works. You leave with moves, not random notes.

Scorekeeper to architect. The same FY2027 agenda as the ASX 200, on a fraction of the resources. Speed is the advantage. Seven forces, three moves each: the role, AI, data, cyber, volatility, capital, talent. 21 moves. 10 months. Not headlines. What 107 mid-market finance leaders told us, January to July 2026. Everything this morning maps to these forces.

10:40 AM - 11:20 PM

Solution Partner Panel: The Connected, AI-Ready, Defensible Finance Function
The keynote hands you the mandate. This panel is the build side that makes it real; the AI that acts on your numbers, the security that defends them, the data that connects them, the systems they run on. Four partners. One stack. No pitches. Each takes the room through the questions a mid-market CFO is actually carrying.

AI

  • Proving a defensible return when the value is time saved and errors avoided, not revenue.
  • The minimum controls an agent needs before it touches a number that reaches the board.
  • Where AI earns its place in the close and the forecast and where it stays a liability.
  • Why most finance AI dies in the pilot, and what gets it into production.
  • Operationalising the AI you already pay for, before buying any more of it.

Cybersecurity

  • Modelling a credible breach number across your three most likely scenarios.
  • Splitting the cyber dollar between prevention and response and defending it to the board.
  • Finance’s job in the incident room, from the ransom call to the remediation bill.
  • Whether cyber insurance is still worth buying as cover narrows and premiums climb.
  • Your supplier’s breach is your exposure, often your data, in a tier you can barely see.

Data & Integration

  • Tracing your five board numbers back to one trusted source, and what the disagreement costs.
  • Sequencing the rebuild when Payday Super, AASB S2, and a faster close all collide.
  • What a mid-market team actually connects to and what it leaves well enough alone.
  • Holding the line that no AI gets funded until its data foundation is connected.
  • The hidden cost of staying disconnected: in re-keying, close delays and errors.

Systems & Technology

  • Knowing when you have genuinely outgrown the ERP and how to fund the move.
  • The real cost of a platform beyond the licence, in implementation, change, and people.
  • Replacing the stack or extending it, and avoiding a rebuild every two years.
  • Building systems that still fit when the business is twice the size.
  • The stack as operational risk, from single points of failure to the cost of a day down.

11:20 AM - 11:40 AM

Morning Tea

11:40 AM - 12:20 PM

Panel 1: What Actually Worked. The transformation. Told straight.
The solution partner panel told you what is possible. This one tells you what is real.

Finance leaders who rebuilt the function, on what worked, what stalled, and what they would do differently.

  • The AI rollout that delivered, and the one that quietly stalled, in their own words.
  • Moving from pilot to everyday use, and the change no one put in the budget.
  • What they connected first, and the data mess they underestimated.
  • The close they compressed, and the hours it actually gave back.
  • The one investment they would make again, and the one they would skip.

12:20 PM - 1:00 PM

Panel 2. Steering the Storm. Capital and cash in a high-rate, high-failure year, high uncertainty year.
Rates up, inflation back, insolvencies at record highs. This panel is finance leaders on protecting the business now that money costs real money again.

  • Re-testing the investment book at a 4.35% hurdle, and the projects that no longer survived it.
  • Funding growth from working capital before going anywhere near the bank.
  • Running the business on live scenarios instead of a single annual budget.
  • Spotting the customer or supplier who won’t make it, before they take a chunk of you with them.
  • Holding a real cash buffer without starving the business of investment.

1:00 PM - 1:30 PM

The NeXchange
Every other session has someone at the front who came prepared. This one does not.

The questions go up on screen, one at a time, and the answers come live from the floor. The hard ones. The questions finance leaders turn over on the drive home and never say out loud in public. Where are you really with AI? What aren’t you telling the board? Where are you behind?

You hear how a room of your peers actually answers, and you learn, fast, where you sit against them. No theory, no vendor, no safe answer. The room, talking to the room. The most honest thirty minutes of the year, and the reason most people come back.

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Lunch and Networking

Partners Selected for Relevance. Not Budget.

Every solution provider at CFO Nexus is here because they passed our curation process, not merely because they paid for a slot.

We select partners whose expertise maps directly to the functional challenges mid-market finance leaders are navigating right now: FP&A, ERP transformation, tax complexity, cash flow visibility and GRC. If it’s not relevant to you, it doesn’t make the room.

By involving partners in our agenda design from the start, not as sponsors but as subject matter contributors, we ensure their knowledge addresses real problems rather than manufactured ones.

They are here to build relationships and help you make better technology and advisory decisions. Not to close a deal on the day.

Our Strategic Partner

ShiftCare

ShiftCare is the leading care management platform supporting NDIS, aged care, and disability providers to deliver quality care and scale effectively. With a blend of intuitive tech, automation, and industry expertise, ShiftCare helps teams streamline rostering, admin, invoicing and client management, all while reducing paperwork and compliance headaches. The ShiftCare platform empowers providers to scale efficiently, enhance communication, and deliver more personalised support, all without losing the human touch that care depends on.

Watch our introduction
Press play above

Our Solution Partners

Leanne Avery

Your dedicated partner at Peninsula, Leanne Avery supports NDIS providers across Australia with trusted Employment Relations and Workplace Health and Safety expertise. Backed by Peninsula’s deep experience in the disability services sector, Leanne delivers end-to-end support including HR and WHS advisory, workforce obligations, unlimited tailored documentation, and unlimited 24-hour support.

NDIS providers benefit from tailored guidance on interpreting the SCHADS award, managing employee relations, contracts, policies, and Fair Work obligations, ensuring service continuity and reduced legal risk. Through Peninsula’s 24/7 dedicated Health Care Providers advice line and proactive approach, Leanne helps providers focus on care delivery while safeguarding their teams and operations. As the NDIS landscape evolves, Leanne offers clarity, confidence, and consistency for providers navigating complex employment obligations.

Unison Technology

Unison Technology is a trusted IT and cybersecurity partner that supports NDIS providers in building resilient, compliant, and high-performing digital environments. Headquartered in Victoria, Unison delivers managed IT services, helpdesk support, cloud solutions, and cybersecurity tailored to the operational needs of disability services organisations.

Acting as an outsourced IT department, Unison ensures that NDIS providers can operate smoothly, meet privacy and security obligations, and stay focused on participant care. Their high touch service model, plain-language approach, and deep understanding of SME needs make them a valuable partner in improving IT reliability, safeguarding sensitive data, and enabling sustainable growth.

Announcing our Strategic Partner

Quantum Certification Services

Quantum Certification Services specialises in auditing organisations within the disability, health and human services sector. They are a Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JASANZ) accredited Certification Assessment Body (CAB) and NDIS Approved Quality Auditor (AQA) providing services across Australia.

Quantum clients enjoy the benefits of their client-centred and ethical audit services that can be trusted. They prioritise building and maintaining strong relationships with their clients. With qualified, sector-experienced auditors and established systems, they ensure easy access to their team by phone or email. Using their combined expertise, they work with clients to help maintain compliance requirements.

Sassy Marketing

Sassy Marketing and Communications, is a strategy partner for NDIS providers who want to grow with focus and integrity. Sassy is known for helping providers move from busy to strategic, building sustainable, values‑driven organisations that deliver quality without the chaos.

Founder and Director Sue Mills has more than 20 years in the disability sector and lived experience as a parent of a child with disability. Sue helps leaders cut through the noise, define who they serve, and make smarter business decisions.

Announcing our Strategic Partner

Sassy Marketing

Sassy Marketing and Communications, is a strategy partner for NDIS providers who want to grow with focus and integrity. Sassy is known for helping providers move from busy to strategic, building sustainable, values‑driven organisations that deliver quality without the chaos.

Founder and Director Sue Mills has more than 20 years in the disability sector and lived experience as a parent of a child with disability. Sue helps leaders cut through the noise, define who they serve, and make smarter business decisions.

Introducing our Featured Event Partner

Tracable

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Introducing our Event Partner

OpenText

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Highlights from our last event

FAQs

No, and that’s the founding principle of CFO Nexus. Every partner in the room has been selected for functional relevance to mid-market finance challenges, not for their marketing budget. Partners contribute to the agenda as subject matter experts, not as presenters buying airtime. The peer roundtable and keynote sessions are entirely independent of partner involvement. If a session doesn’t serve the finance leaders in the room, it doesn’t make the agenda.

Attendees are mid-market CFOs, Finance Directors, Financial Controllers and Senior Finance Managers from Australian-based businesses, typically operating between $50M and $500M in revenue. Numbers are strictly capped to protect the seniority and quality of conversation. This is not a 150 person conference. Every registration is reviewed to ensure the right composition of the room.

The sessions are built around the decisions mid-market finance leaders are navigating right now … margin compression, automation investment, ERP complexity, cash flow visibility and board-level reporting. Speakers bring real cases and honest numbers from their own organisations. You won’t receive a slide deck of frameworks you already know. You will leave with peer-validated perspectives you can apply immediately.

Because the challenges facing a CFO running a $50M business are fundamentally different from those facing a Big 4 enterprise or an early-stage startup, and most finance events are built for one of those two extremes. Mid-market finance leaders deal with enterprise-level complexity without enterprise-level resources. This event is built specifically for that reality, which is why the conversation in the room is more relevant and more actionable than at a general finance conference.

Yes. Every attendee receives the post-event insight report within the week following the event. It’s a confidential summary of the day’s key themes, peer perspectives and emerging priorities, compiled from the Peer Roundtable session. No individual comments are attributed. The report is one of the most valued outputs of the day and is distributed exclusively to people who attended.

The agenda is built around the issues mid-market finance leaders are dealing with in 2026; AI acceleration and what it actually means for finance teams, margin compression and how peers are responding, ERP and systems transformation, automation and productivity, and the evolving role of finance in board-level strategy. Sessions are practitioner-led, not vendor-driven, and the peer roundtable gives attendees the ability to shape the conversation in the room.

CFO Nexus is designed for mid-market CFOs, Finance Directors, Heads of Finance, Financial Controllers and Senior Finance Managers. If you own or influence financial strategy, budgets or transformation in a business operating between roughly $50M and $500M in revenue, this event is built for you. If you’re from a large enterprise or a vendor organisation, this event is not the right fit, and we would rather be honest about that upfront.

Please complete the registration form on this page with your name, company and job title. Places are subject to approval to ensure the right composition of attendees. You’ll receive a confirmation email within 24 hours along with the full agenda and event details. If you have any questions before registering, contact us directly.

Yes. Morning tea and lunch are provided. The day runs from 9:30 AM through to approximately 1:30 PM, giving you the afternoon back.

Please note your requirements in the registration form or contact us directly after registering. We’ll confirm all arrangements with you ahead of the event. Our venue is fully accessible.

CFO Nexus is complimentary for qualified finance leaders. Places are limited and subject to registration approval to ensure the right mix of seniority and function in the room. If your registration is approved, you’ll receive confirmation within 24 hours.

CFO Nexus Location

Wed, 19 August 2026
9:30 AM – 2:00 PM
The Westin Melbourne
205 Collins St,
Melbourne VIC 3000