Eloisa Balmoris, chief finance officer (CFO) of Sky Cable Corporation (SKY), did not plan on being a certified public accountant.
“Accounting was my dad’s idea. I did not plan anything. I simply wanted to be able to land a job that could make me provide a comfortable life for my parents. So I just did what I had to do. I did it with my whole heart, with passion and with dedication. And when my assigned tasks and objectives got accomplished, I was given bigger roles,” she says.
Balmoris was the nominee of the Lorenzo Group, partners of the Lopez Group in provincial cable provider Pilipino Cable Corporation (PCC). By agreement, the Lorenzo Group, as minority shareholder, would nominate the head of Finance. She served as CFO of PCC from 1999 to 2005, after which on the invitation of SKY managing director Carlo L. Katigbak, she moved to SKY also to head its Finance Division.
From a staff of 50 in PCC, she now oversees the work of 100 people, including credit and collections, on a national scale.
Consolidation
In 2008, the Lopez Group bought out the Lorenzos’ stake in PCC. Balmoris was appointed as the interim managing director of PCC, concurrent with her duties as SKY CFO, to work on the consolidation of PCC operations with SKY. It took her team a year and half to complete the project.
Balmoris does not fit the stereotype of accountants as bean counters.
“I supervise the closing of the books. I understand the numbers and what the numbers tell me. But if the books are all that I will do, then I will probably be bored with my job. Accounting is not just about numbers and spreadsheets,” she says.
At her level of financial work, Balmoris is very much involved in all aspects of the business, especially the strategic part.
“I am expected to help by providing inputs as to how we can move the company in the right direction, and participate actively in the attainment of those strategies. It cannot just be about reporting performance after the fact. I cannot just be f o c u s e d on what a l r e a d y happened in the last month or quarter or year. I will not be very helpful to the company that way,” Balmoris says.
Her challenge spans the performance of the entire company.
Unique services
“I definitely want to hit our financial targets. But that goal is not just Finance’s. It’s for everybody. We are improving year on year, but we can still do better. We have unique services, such as Pay-Per-View, that still have a lot of potential and we want to speed things up a bit to make this a new revenue stream for us,” she says.
Balmoris believes that as long as the various departments go for the target and do a good job, the n u m b e r s will follow. But first, SKY needs to understand its customers better, “know what they want and how to make them happy.” Internally, they have efficiency measures to make sure resources are wisely used in aiming for the company’s objectives.
“What I can say about my colleagues here in SKY is that we are really passionate about what we do. That passion drives us to work really hard and excel.”
‘Honesto all the time’
As CFO, integrity is her most cherished value, not just at work but also on a personal level. “I have to have integrity. It is my team that faces the banks, the analysts. We have to be Honesto every time, all the time,” Balmoris says, referring to the main character in ABSCBN’s top-rating primetime program who cannot lie, say a half-truth nor embellish the truth.
Her message to LopezLink readers: “Help us take SKY to the next level. Give us your honest feedback. Let us know how we can make you happy with our services. We are here to deliver the very best experience to our customers.” (Story/Photo by Carla Paras-Sison)
