20-Minute Tales From the Frontlines of Finance

Procure-to-pay process: Vendor evaluation

When the finance team is charged with handling RFPs for all departments, it needs to build an end-user mindset and a process that evaluates beyond price. Learn tips and tricks on the right questions to ask, and how to work cross-functionally in an organization when a product will be relied on by several departments.

About this webinar.

Gil Adler is the Corporate Controller at BLADE, a technology-powered global urban air mobility platform, committed to reducing travel friction, by enabling cost-effective air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested routes in the US and abroad. BLADE is in the process of going public via a SPAC with Experience Investment Corp. Join us as he shares his tales about the procure-to-pay process, especially for companies growing from early stage to middle market. When the finance team is charged with handling RFPs for all departments, it needs to build an end-user mindset and a process that evaluates beyond price. Gil will discuss how he has found ways to shore up product knowledge and assess vendors without relying solely on Gartner or other third-party rating sites. He will share tips and tricks on the right questions to ask, and how to work cross-functionally in an organization when a product will be relied on by several departments. Our fun and informative 20-minute conversation will be followed by 10 minutes of your questions.

Three tips and tricks.

What should the RFP process look like?
What sources of information are available to make comparisons?
How to map out cross-functional needs to ensure that all stakeholders are happy.

About the speakers.

Gil Adler

Financial Controller at BLADE

Gil Adler is the Financial Controller at BLADE, a technology-powered air transportation platform, where he focuses on making both the historical financial statements and forecasted financial data meaningful to the C-Suite, Board of Directors, and Investors. Gil is a Special Forces veteran of the IDF, a Top 40 Young CPA, and has served as a financial director in multiple industries: real estate development, financial services, food & beverage, seafood processing, software development and aviation.

Darcie Lamond

Director of Brand at Airbase

Darcie Lamond is Director of Brand at Airbase, responsible for content creation and messaging, and has 25 years of experience in finance and marketing. She began her career in the Treasury Department at Bank of America, focused on capital markets transactions. Her time in banking included a Senior VP role heading the marketing and trading of currency and interest rate derivative products globally for First Chicago (now Chase). She served as Partner, CSO, and CFO for a marketing agency, giving her hands-on experience in day-to-day operations and managing the company’s finance and accounting.