Episode 14: Abhishek Singla (CFO – Toshiba Australia)

Abhishek Singla moved from India to Australia as a student, completed his Master of Accounting and his CPA, before working his way up through multinationals and landing his first CFO role at Toshiba Australia.In Episode 14 of The CFO Track, Abhishek shares how he stepped into a Japanese business after a career built inside American multinationals. Which meant navigating a deeply hierarchical culture where long-tenured staff had to be brought on a journey of change rather than pushed through it.He goes through the cultural and leadership adjustments required to manage functions well outside his finance background. While also focusing on why communication is the only thing that makes managing up across international borders actually work. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS· Starting out with no clear plan: following his brother's lead into accounting in India before migrating to Australia as a student, landing his first role as an accounts payable officer at Nestle, and using that multinational brand name as the foundation to build from regardless of how junior the entry point was.· First management role at Valeant Pharmaceuticals: stepping into a finance manager position inside a business that grew its share price from $25 to $350 in two years through an acquisition-a-year strategy. · Six and a half years at Leica as Financial Controller: taking on warehousing, customer care, and service alongside finance in a lean Australian operation, then stepping in as acting GM for six months and learning to lead sales and service teams by relying on strong functional leaders rather than pretending to be the subject matter expert. · Navigating Japanese corporate culture at Toshiba: shifting from the open, cutthroat pace of American multinationals to a hierarchical environment where staff of 30-plus years needed to be taken on the change journey.· Building a broader CFO remit: managing supply chain, warehousing, logistics, IT, and property across a 300-person business while building AI capability within each of those teams.If you're navigating an international career path or stepping into your first CFO role, this episode is full of practical value.Stream the full episode now on Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcasts.