Are you interested in Accountancy and the possibilities after finishing your RA track? We had the privilege to interview CFO of RTL and alumni of Tilburg University, Patrick\u00a0Olde\u00a0Scholtenhuis.\u00a0He finished his\u00a0Registered\u00a0Accountant education at Tilburg University, after which he ended up at RTL Netherlands through KPMG. In this interview we review his step from Accountancy to Business, his\u00a0studies\u00a0and his career.<\/p>\n
Can you tell us something about yourself?<\/em><\/strong> The first thing people think about when hearing the name RTL is of course the TV-channels and programs. In what extend\u00a0are you involved in\u00a0this\u00a0area?<\/em><\/strong> Can you tell us something about the company RTL Netherlands?<\/em><\/strong> How did you experience your time in Tilburg?<\/em><\/strong> Why did you choose<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>to study<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Accountancy?<\/em><\/strong> From<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>1995 until 2000, you worked at KPMG. In 2000 you decided to change over to the<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>business side by joining RTL. What was your motivation for this move?<\/em><\/strong> The path you took<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in your career, from Accountancy to<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Business. Did you have this<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>in mind<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>beforehand?<\/em><\/strong> In<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>what way does your past as a Registered Accountant help you in your current job as CFO of RTL Netherlands?<\/em><\/strong> Finally, what kind of advice would you give to students (of Tilburg University)?<\/em><\/strong> Are you interested in Accountancy and the possibilities after finishing your RA track? We had the privilege to interview CFO of RTL and alumni of Tilburg University, Patrick\u00a0Olde\u00a0Scholtenhuis.\u00a0He finished his\u00a0Registered\u00a0Accountant education at Tilburg University, after which he ended up at RTL Netherlands through KPMG. In this interview we review his step from Accountancy to Business, his\u00a0studies\u00a0and his career. Can you tell us something about yourself? I studied Business Economics at Tilburg University, with\u00a0my\u00a0master specialization in Accountancy. After this I started working as a trainee at KPMG, where I finished my RA track.\u00a0I worked at KPMG for a couple of years as controlling\u00a0leader.\u00a0At this point I was a Register Accountant.\u00a0From 2001 I work at RTL, where I fulfil the position of CFO since 2008. The first thing people think about when hearing the name RTL is of course the TV-channels and programs. In what extend\u00a0are you involved in\u00a0this\u00a0area? In my current function as CFO, I\u00a0don\u2019t have a lot to do with\u00a0the\u00a0actual content. The program managers\u00a0are responsible for the programs on\u00a0tv\u00a0and the presenters who will be contracted.\u00a0The financing of this, the program budgets, is something I am\u00a0responsible for.. Can you tell us something about the company RTL Netherlands? We have quite a number of\u00a0tv-channels. We have the original channels, RTL4, RTL5, RTL7, RTL8 and RTL Z.\u00a0 We also have three digital theme-channels, RTL Crime, RTL Lounge and RTL\u00a0Telekids. This is everything within the TV domain. Next to this we have a big digital domain as well, with for example RTL XL,\u00a0Videoland\u00a0and our own multi-channel network\u00a0(comparable to a record company, but than for online video stars). RTL also has its own live entertainment business, where for example events like \u2018Grand\u2019, \u2018Let\u2019s Dance\u2019 and \u2018Gabbers\u2019 come from. We have our own private investment division, RTL Ventures. And our internal production company Productions provides the production of different RTL programs and several commercial manifestations.\u00a0I am financially responsible\u00a0for all of this. In total we have about 900 employees, but next to this we also use the services of\u00a0many\u00a0temporary\u00a0employees , How did you experience your time in Tilburg? My time in Tilburg was great! I am originally from\u00a0Oldenzaal\u00a0in\u00a0Twente, where I was born and raised. When I was 18 I headed to Tilburg to study. I had an amazing time there. At that time (end 80\u2019s, begin 90\u2019s) students could take up to\u00a0six\u00a0years to finish their study, something most students did. This meant a good combination of studying, sports and fun was possible. Why did you choose\u00a0to study\u00a0Accountancy? I have a thing for numbers. I seriously thought about studying technical physics, science or econometrics. I found that technical physics and science where very mathematical,\u00a0because of this it was\u00a0too\u00a0far from the daily practice\u00a0for me. Business Economics is very practical, because everyone\u00a0has to do with it in real life.\u00a0It is also really mathematical and it is easy to find a job in it. After a while you have to make a decision and I thought Accountancy fitted me\u00a0best at that moment. From\u00a01995 until 2000, you worked at KPMG. In 2000 you decided to change over to the\u00a0business side by joining RTL. What was your motivation for this move? For years I have enjoyed working at KPGM. RTL\u00a0was\u00a0a customer of KPMG\u00a0in this period. I was one of the people in our team at RTL from KPMG, this way I got in touch with the media-industry. In first instance we were\u00a0hired for the audit of the Annual\u00a0figures.\u00a0But at the time there were 2 things that happened within the organisation. An IPO for\u00a0Mother Company\u00a0of RTL Netherlands, RTL Group, was being issued. RTL Group placed a part of their capital, about 4 or 5%, on the stock market (on this moment they are listed in Luxembourg, Brussel, Paris and Frankfurt for about 25 percentage). This meant that the figures of the past couple of years had to be reviewed again and had to be placed in such a way that they were\u00a0\u00a0suitable to communicate with\u00a0potential new investors. This was a huge project\u00a0where we assisted RTL. I got to learn RTL even better this way. At the same time technical facilities where being outsourced, this was a hard and complicated process. At this point I felt very comfortable with the details and matter of the company, this made me realize it would be a fantastic company to work for.\u00a0At\u00a0that time, both the former CFO and Manager Finance left, which meant two jobs became available. The current CFO of RTL Netherlands, Bert\u00a0Habets, filled in the place of CFO and I became Manger\u00a0Finance. What I really like about RTL is that everyone knows it and for that reason it is close to the people. Furthermore, it is an international brand, because of this we work with colleagues from all over the world. All these things combined make it a great company to work for. The path you took\u00a0in your career, from Accountancy to\u00a0Business. Did you have this\u00a0in mind\u00a0beforehand? No, I didn\u2019t have this step in mind. What I did have, was that I gradually found out how the Accountancy worked. You become more experienced, you see and\u00a0do\u00a0more. You navigate more and execute less. Because of this I had a few critical notes.\u00a0Accountancy became more about filing, the Audit files, which was actually right. But this made the job less interesting, I started doubting if I wanted to do this job for the rest of my life, also because it is a very specialized job. When I came in touch with RTL and was there for a longer period of time because of multiple projects, I was convinced I had to take a step outside of Accountancy.\u00a0And I do not regret that choice. In\u00a0what way does your past as a Registered Accountant help you in your current job as CFO of RTL Netherlands? Accountancy is all about the\u00a0reliability of numbers, having the correct numbers, the completeness of revenue, internal control and\u00a0administrative\u00a0organization. Of course, as a CFO I also have a lot to do with these\u00a0areas,\u00a0because everything has to be organized within the company. All processes have to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":13295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accounting","category-interview"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nI studied Business Economics at Tilburg University, with\u00a0my\u00a0master specialization in Accountancy. After this I started working as a trainee at KPMG, where I finished my RA track.\u00a0I worked at KPMG for a couple of years as controlling\u00a0leader.\u00a0At this point I was a Register Accountant.\u00a0From 2001 I work at RTL, where I fulfil the position of CFO since 2008.<\/p>\n
\nIn my current function as CFO, I\u00a0don\u2019t have a lot to do with\u00a0the\u00a0actual content. The program managers\u00a0are responsible for the programs on\u00a0tv\u00a0and the presenters who will be contracted.\u00a0The financing of this, the program budgets, is something I am\u00a0responsible for..<\/p>\n
\nWe have quite a number of\u00a0tv-channels. We have the original channels, RTL4, RTL5, RTL7, RTL8 and RTL Z.\u00a0 We also have three digital theme-channels, RTL Crime, RTL Lounge and RTL\u00a0Telekids. This is everything within the TV domain. Next to this we have a big digital domain as well, with for example RTL XL,\u00a0Videoland\u00a0and our own multi-channel network\u00a0(comparable to a record company, but than for online video stars). RTL also has its own live entertainment business, where for example events like \u2018Grand\u2019, \u2018Let\u2019s Dance\u2019 and \u2018Gabbers\u2019 come from. We have our own private investment division, RTL Ventures. And our internal production company Productions provides the production of different RTL programs and several commercial manifestations.\u00a0I am financially responsible\u00a0for all of this. In total we have about 900 employees, but next to this we also use the services of\u00a0many\u00a0temporary\u00a0employees ,<\/p>\n
\nMy time in Tilburg was great! I am originally from\u00a0Oldenzaal\u00a0in\u00a0Twente, where I was born and raised. When I was 18 I headed to Tilburg to study. I had an amazing time there. At that time (end 80\u2019s, begin 90\u2019s) students could take up to\u00a0six\u00a0years to finish their study, something most students did. This meant a good combination of studying, sports and fun was possible.<\/p>\n
\nI have a thing for numbers. I seriously thought about studying technical physics, science or econometrics. I found that technical physics and science where very mathematical,\u00a0because of this it was\u00a0too\u00a0far from the daily practice\u00a0for me. Business Economics is very practical, because everyone\u00a0has to do with it in real life.\u00a0It is also really mathematical and it is easy to find a job in it. After a while you have to make a decision and I thought Accountancy fitted me\u00a0best at that moment.<\/p>\n
\nFor years I have enjoyed working at KPGM. RTL\u00a0was\u00a0a customer of KPMG\u00a0in this period. I was one of the people in our team at RTL from KPMG, this way I got in touch with the media-industry.
\nIn first instance we were\u00a0hired for the audit of the Annual\u00a0figures.\u00a0But at the time there were 2 things that happened within the organisation. An IPO for\u00a0Mother Company\u00a0of RTL Netherlands, RTL Group, was being issued. RTL Group placed a part of their capital, about 4 or 5%, on the stock market (on this moment they are listed in Luxembourg, Brussel, Paris and Frankfurt for about 25 percentage). This meant that the figures of the past couple of years had to be reviewed again and had to be placed in such a way that they were\u00a0\u00a0suitable to communicate with\u00a0potential new investors. This was a huge project\u00a0where we assisted RTL. I got to learn RTL even better this way.
\nAt the same time technical facilities where being outsourced, this was a hard and complicated process. At this point I felt very comfortable with the details and matter of the company, this made me realize it would be a fantastic company to work for.\u00a0At\u00a0that time, both the former CFO and Manager Finance left, which meant two jobs became available. The current CFO of RTL Netherlands, Bert\u00a0Habets, filled in the place of CFO and I became Manger\u00a0Finance.
\nWhat I really like about RTL is that everyone knows it and for that reason it is close to the people. Furthermore, it is an international brand, because of this we work with colleagues from all over the world. All these things combined make it a great company to work for.<\/p>\n
\nNo, I didn\u2019t have this step in mind. What I did have, was that I gradually found out how the Accountancy worked. You become more experienced, you see and\u00a0do\u00a0more. You navigate more and execute less. Because of this I had a few critical notes.\u00a0Accountancy became more about filing, the Audit files, which was actually right. But this made the job less interesting, I started doubting if I wanted to do this job for the rest of my life, also because it is a very specialized job.
\nWhen I came in touch with RTL and was there for a longer period of time because of multiple projects, I was convinced I had to take a step outside of Accountancy.\u00a0And I do not regret that choice.<\/p>\n
\nAccountancy is all about the\u00a0reliability of numbers, having the correct numbers, the completeness of revenue, internal control and\u00a0administrative\u00a0organization. Of course, as a CFO I also have a lot to do with these\u00a0areas,\u00a0because everything has to be organized within the company. All processes have to be right and internal control has to be solid. There has to be a process which makes sure nobody can\u00a0just change prices in our system. The audit environment traditionally focusses on the past, think about Annual reports and their accountability. You always look back. The fun part of Business is, especially as CFO, that you always have to look back, but 99% of my time I spend my time on the\u00a0future. So, next to things I learned in Accountancy in areas as administrative organization, controlling\u00a0and reporting, as CFO I have to do with\u00a0forecasts, the budget, takeovers, strategies etcetera. This makes my job\u00a0more broad\u00a0than the job of an Accountant or manager at that time. As CFO I spend 40% of my time on Finance, the other 60% I spend on totally other things. Discuss with the supervisory board, fellow directors and managers at both strategic as operational level, director of pensions fund PNO, leading by for example acquisition processes and so on. These kind of processes have to be controlled, which means you need to have a clear vision. What is the impact of developments in the media industry on our company? Look at the changing viewing behaviour, in which the viewing time online grows rapidly. You have to anticipate on that and adapt and estimate your investments on that.
\nAt this point we have to decide if we want to invest in this area and how this investment will impact our traditional model.<\/p>\n
\nWhatever you decide to do, this will only go successful in one way. That is with interest and passion. If one of those elements is missing, do not start with it. Many people choose their study for the wrong reasons. Because of the money or the chances on the labour market. But if you want to shine, the most important thing is to do it with pleasure and passion. Like a soccer player who almost wants to eat the grass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"