Nareit’s REITwise: 2022 Law, Accounting & Finance Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida on March 23-25. Attendees will have the opportunity to earn CPE/CLE credits, network with peers, and learn about the latest operational and technical issues impacting REITs. This year’s program covers topics ranging from ESG disclosures and reporting to SEC developments impacting the real estate industry.
Toni Sanzone, CFO of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC), is one of four program directors for this year’s conference and will be moderating the “PCAOB and SEC Non-Legal Accounting Updates” session at REITwise. Sanzone provides a preview of the session and discusses the most important finance and accounting issues she’s watching in 2022 below.
What are the most important finance or accounting issues you’re watching in 2022?
ESG has become a heightened area of focus for the finance and accounting teams. There has been a lot of great momentum over the last few years in evaluating and developing our programs around environmental, social and governance commitments. We are now seeing that permeating the entire organization.
As we await the release of SEC, SASB and other regulatory disclosure requirements on ESG, sustainability and climate change, the finance and accounting teams are working proactively to design and implement the appropriate processes, systems and controls to ensure we have a reliable framework supporting our disclosures. I believe we are in the early stages of what is probably a long-term, permanent inclusion of ESG into every part of the business.
You’ll be moderating the ‘PCAOB and SEC Non-Legal Updates’ session at REITwise. Can you give us a preview of what attendees will learn?
The focus of the session will be on recent SEC reporting and disclosure hot topics and PCAOB matters most relevant to REITs. We will be summarizing comment letter trends, the impacts of recent disclosure updates and other reporting requirements from across the industry.
We’re hoping to have an interactive discussion where the financial statement preparers and reviewers can gather helpful data and get answers to questions that are impacting all of us. For some, it will be an opportunity to benchmark what they are seeing in practice with what peers are doing. It should be a great way to share a wealth of information in a condensed and digestible format.
What are you looking forward to most this year at REITwise?
I am really excited to be in-person and getting back to the energy that comes from talking with your colleagues across the industry.
I am also looking forward to the “Building Out the Finance Function in ESG Reporting” session on March 25. Validating data and building controls and processes have historically resided within the accounting function, and I expect that will incorporate ESG going forward. Finance can end up taking a leadership role in ESG, so I’m very interested in hearing hear how peers are managing this process.
What advice do you have for young professionals or job seekers looking to work in the REIT finance or legal field?
The most important advice I would offer to younger professionals in any field is to always accept the challenges that come your way—especially the ones that pull you outside of your comfort zone and give you exposure to learn from different people or understand something new about how the company operates.
The most successful people that I've worked with have great working relationships with people across all functions. I think that's the key to success for every business, and also for anyone who's looking to grow their role in any field within a REIT.