Continuous Accounting: Modernizing the Finance Department

In this in-depth interview Sonia Luna interviews Brenda Morris, on ways to modernize the accounting department. Brenda is retail financial consultant, working with teams to optimize their environments and support growth. She was most recently with Hot Topic/Torrid, an exciting leader in gift & fashion apparel retail, as a strategic partner to leadership to grow and develop the company and to spin out the Torrid brand. Prior to that Brenda was CFO for 5.11 Tactical, an international apparel and gear company, Love Culture Inc., a young women's retailer, which doubled in size during her time with them. Brenda was with Icicle Seafoods from 2009 to 2011 as CFO. Brenda was previously with Maveron start-up iFLOOR Inc., a hard surface retailing concept. She was CFO of Zumiez Inc, a specialty teen retailer. At Zumiez, she completed an IPO, 2 follow on offerings, and an acquisition of one 20 store chain. Prior to Zumiez, Brenda was at K2 Corporation as CFO. At K2, she directed all financial and ops functions. Prior to joining K2, Brenda spent 5 years as the Controller of UNIONBAY. Morris also had roles at Bowers Machine, FlowMole (aka UTILX, where she completed an IPO and two follow-ons). Brenda is the Past-Chair of Washington Business Week, a Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) Regent and Vice-Chair, past Chair Exec. Advisory Board for PLU’s School of Business; and is a guest speaker and active member of AICPA. She obtained her Undergraduate Degree in Business, Accounting from PLU, and her MBA from Seattle University focused on Organizational Behavior and Operations. She holds her CGMA, CPA and CMA. Brenda is an Advisor for Proformative.com, an online resource and professional network for senior finance, accounting and related professionals.