Episode 08
The role of accounting in a company's exit strategy with Clari's Karen Wu
Episode summary
In this episode of Controllers Classified, Erik Zhou sits down with Karen Wu, the Chief Accounting Officer at Clari, to discuss the role of accounting in a company’s exit strategy. The conversation starts with an overview of Karen’s time in Transaction Services at PWC, where she helped a myriad of companies prepare for IPO - including Alibaba, the largest IPO in US history. Drawing on those experiences, Karen covers the reasons why a company may look for an exit, the types of exit strategies, and the role of the accounting team in those strategies.
Specifically, Karen speaks to some ‘musts’ that accounting teams have to get right no matter the exit strategy - things like closing the books on time, ensuring precision and reliability in financial statements, and being able to comply with public company requirements. She speaks to the IPO readiness timeline, and how companies should approach it not just through the lens of accounting and finance, but across all functions.
The conversation then pivots to Karen’s time at Clari. She shares her priorities as well as her POV on global accounting processes given the company’s international operations. Her number one piece of advice? Don’t be hesitant to outsource pieces of work to consultants who may have a better handle on local tax policies.
The episode closes with a funny story from Karen’s PWC days involving an inventory count of Hairy Crabs. Have you ever wondered how baby crabs should be classified on a balance sheet? Then you must tune in!
Show notes
Karen’s professional journey [00:33]
Understanding transaction services [01:35]
IPO readiness [11:46]
Acquisition readiness [23:41]
Accounting considerations for international operations [28:00]
Controllers are fun too: the accounting classifications of hairy crabs [39:00]
Guest bio
Karen Wu, Chief Accounting Officer, Clari
Karen is the CAO of Clari. Prior to that she was the Director of Technical Accounting and Financial Reporting at DoorDash. She spent the first 12 years of her career at PWC in both Audit and Transaction Services.