portfolio professional Candyce Thieken Candyce Thieken
bio
I am Candyce Thieken, a leader with bold vision and contagious energy Over the past 20 years, my career has evolved with my interests moving from accounting, to management, to entrepreneurship and now, data and analytics.
Today I lead Nutrien’s Finance Business Intelligence (FBI) team with responsibilities spanning Reporting & Automation, Master Data, Global Risk & Compliance (GRC), and Central Finance
I am known for my passion for people and interest in studying what makes a world class team Wherever I go, I create a customer-centric culture delivering white glove service to stakeholders (And, I'm known for making sure the team has fun doing it)
Before joining Nutrien, I flexed my entrepreneurial muscle founding two successful businesses still in operation today:
Novus Ag, one of the 100 largest ag input retailers in the United States.
Third & Sycamore, a vertically integrated luxury personal care retailer with brick and mortar locations and a corporate gifting program serving multiple Fortune 500 companies
I hold a BSBA in Accounting from the University of South Dakota and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
20yearstying andtechnolog
AccountingrolesfromAnalyst toControllerwithinautomotive andmanufacturingindustries
2004
Firstsenior leadershiproleas GeneralManagerofa$30M businesswith75employees
2012
2009
Enteredagriculturebusiness andfirstpurefinancerole Responsibilitiesincluded servingasthefinancial businesspartner Asamidtwentieswomanadvisingfifty+ yearoldleadersIlearnedthe importanceofpersistence, andprovingvalueasa businesspartner.
2013
Co-foundedNovusAg Responsibleforthebackoffice, andatechnologyjourney beganincludingautomation, ERPimplementation,master datamanagementanddata security.
business gytogether.
Tomakethebusinessattractive forsale,threeretailerswere purchasedwithinsixmonths.Iled duediligence,ERP implementations,andnew employeerelations Igotagreat dealofpracticehavingdifficult conversations,obtainingbuy-in andmanagingemotional personnelsituationsduringthis time
2018
EnteredtheAIspacelearningbestin classdataandanalyticspractices. Establishedthefirstoffshoreteamof mycareer,wasrecognizedforthe executivetalkingpointsIpreparedfor InvestorDaysandmytechnology valuationmodelwasselectedtobe implementedfirm-wide.
2021
2020
Saleofbusinessnegotiations began.Iwasresponsibleforthe QualityOfEarnings(QOE) exercise,requiringa5-year lookback Thisincluded navigatingtheERPsofacquired locations Uponclosing,IledERP implementationforthebuyer’s 56legacylocations.Thiswas completedinlessthanoneyear.
2022
Returnedtoagricultureleading award-winningteamswithin reporting,automation,master dataandcontrols.Introduced bestpracticesincludingdata owners,Agile,useofJiraand establishedtheautomation team.
teamsurvey
results
“yes
Twiceeachyear,Iconductan anonymoussurveywithmyorganization tomeasureengagementandjob satisfaction Thisisanexcerptofresults fromtheMarch2025teamsurvey.
- no” question responses
I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day
My opinions seem to count at work
My supervisor cares about me as a person
My teammates are committed to doing quality work
Responses to the question:
*Representsthe%of“yes”responses
“What do you like about being part of this team?”
-Our team culture as that is what separates us from the other groups as we encourage our members to flourish
-Recognition for good work done and feedback.
-I love this team!!!!
-We have support, flexibility, respect and can be ourselves.
-Our Candyce :D
-Cohesiveness, strong team dynamics, concern from FBI leaders & ongoing support.
-Concerns are quickly addressed & resolved
-Though I am a contractor, I have never been made to feel it. I have always felt included and equal.
-Leadership style & transparency
-I appreciate the fact this team emphasizes doing your job and getting the work done rather than being caught up in the office politics.
projecttoreplicatedata betweenincompatiblesystems
1.5 contingentresourceswhichhadbeen manuallyenteringdatabetweenthe twosystemswereeliminated. TheFBIteambuiltadashboardtoharmonizeall supplierdataeliminatingaproject investment
2 Nutrien-wide Data Hall of Fame winners for data stewardship and best dashboard
01. Budgeting App
Overview study case
AsaglobalorganizationtoutingmultipleERPs,languages andFXrates;thebudgetingprocessisfarfromsimple. OriginallyinanExcelspreadsheet,tradingrevisedfilesled toleaderscompletingincorrectversions.Tostreamline theprocess,ascalablebudgetingapplicationwas developed.
Challenges
Technology-withtheuseofspreadsheets, formulaswerecommonlyoverwritteninerror creatingunnecessaryreconciliation.Using emailtodistributeandsubmitfilesmade completionofthewrongversioncommon
HistoricalData-withasingletemplate, historicaldataincludedwiththebudgeting filewaslimited Leadershadtomanuallylook uppriorperiodtotalsforreference
TheSolution
Modification-asdraftsofthebudgetare reviewed,assumptionssuchasFXrates, inflationandheadcountmaychange.This requiredanewversionofthebudgetfilefor eachchange
Consolidation-budgetfilesweremanually consolidatedcausingtheFP&Ateamto spendmoretimeonmanualexercisesand lesstimeinreview
Ascalable,real-timeappwasdeveloped Withthisapplication:
Budgetcreationissimplifiedwithhistoricaldataforreference
Submittingbudgetchangesisaseasyasclickingabutton,eliminatingversioningorformulaerrors
Submissionsareconsolidatedinreal-timeforFP&Areview
FinalizedbudgetscanbeexportedintheapplicablefileuploadformatforeachERP
02. 1099 Automation case studies
Overview
Theannual1099preparationprocessblockedavailabilityofkeysupervisorsduetothetime involved.Complexityfromspanning4ERPsand13legalentities,causedtheprocessof categorizingsupplierstobepredominantlymanual.
Challenges
Complexity-asaglobalorganization, creatingthecorrectdatasetinvolved separating13legalentitiesspanning4ERPs Additionally,numeroussuppliersare providersofgoodsandservices,requiring transactionsforgoodstobeexcluded Finally, UStaxcodehasvariousexceptions,suchas C-Corpentitieswhichalsorequireexclusion
TheSolution
Anautomationwas developedtodothe following:
Retrieve-alltransactional paymentdata
Eliminate-exempt transactionsfromtheupload file
Prepare-the1099software uploadtemplate
Populate-asearchable dashboardforinquiries
CandyceThieken CandyceThieken
TheResult:
OngoingSupport-questionsfromvendors receivinga1099formarecommon.A spreadsheetwastheresourceusedto respondtoinquiries
Time-preparationofthedatatoissuethe 1099formsused≈700FTEhours With31days topreparetheuploadfile,someteam memberswereworking80+hourweeks
1099preparationisreducedfrom700+hoursto16
03. Document Retrieval Bot
Overview
Auditsrequiresourcedocumentationtoverify transactions.Consequently,financeprofessionalsacross theorganizationarespendingtimemanuallylookingup, downloading,savingandsubmittinghundredsof invoices.
Challenges
Time-leaderestimatesconcludeindividual financeteamsarespending1,000+hours eachyearmanuallyretrievingdocuments fromsourcesystems Additionally,audit testingrequireslargevolumesofdocuments withinacondensedtimeperiodcausing delaysincompletionofdailyresponsibilities
TheSolution
Expense-professionalstaffoftenendup retrievingthedocumentsasopposedto moreeconomicalresourcesmaking documentretrievalcostly
ResourceAllocation-valueaddedtasksare deferredduringauditsbecauseresources aredivertedtodocumentretrieval
RPAwasusedtodesignabotwhichcompletesthefollowingtasks:
Retrievesdocumentnumbersfromanuploadedlist1. LogsintothecorrectERP2. Downloadsandsaveseachdocumentinthedesignatedlocation3 Deliversastatusreporttotheuserindicatinganyerrorsduringtheoperation4
Results
Thisisthemostwidely-usedautomationwithinthefinanceorganization. Eachteamusingthisautomationsaves≈1,000FTEhoursannually
04. Generative AI Dashboard Reader
Overview
Thevolumeofmanagementreportingavailablemakes comprehensivereviewimpractical Leadershipisinneed ofaresourcetohighlightanybusinessconditions requiringattention
Challenges
Volume-itisnotfeasiblefordecisionmakerstoviewallofthemanagement reportingavailabletothem.
case studies
StableKPIs-incircumstanceswhereKPIsare remainingstable,thereisnoneedfor frequentreview.
Time-whenreviewingmanagementreporting,itdoestaketimetointerpretthevisualization
TheSolution
Managementreportingcanbesummarizedwiththehelpofgenerative(gen)AI
PhaseI:Whenviewingreporting,anexecutivesummaryispreparedondemand AnyKPIswarranting reviewarespecificallynoted
PhaseII:GenAIwillbeusedtosummarizeallmanagementreportingavailabletoadecisionmaker OnlyvisualizationswithKPIsrecommendedforreviewwillbedisplayedintheexecutivesummary savingleadershiptimeinreviewandinterpretationofreporting
Results
ThePhaseI readerisready forproduction.
Theembeddedvideo showsnavigationofthe visualization
05. Daily Sales Commentary Update
Overview
Managershadtomanuallydownloaddailysalesreports,analyzemarginsoutoftoleranceand documentcommentaryinmultiplespreadsheets Whentravelingtheywouldcallintorespondto anyvariances Thiscommentarywasthenmanuallycollatedforleadershipreview
Challenges
ManualProcess- reportsarerunand downloadedindividuallyonadailybasis.
MultipleSpreadsheets-marginsand commentaryareinseveralspreadsheets creatingtheneedforconsolidation.
Consolidation-theconsolidationprocessistoemailspreadsheetscompletewithcommentaryto acentrallocation.
SolutionsImplemented
AutomatedSystem-Managers viewtheinvoicemarginreport everymorningintheDailySales Commentaryapplication
WorkflowEmails-Approval requestsandnotificationsof transactionsneedingrevieware automaticallysentbythe application
ComprehensiveIntegration-In realtime,commentaryentries populatethePowerBI dashboard.
EfficiencyandStandardization
-Becausetheapplicationfeeds allreporting,thereisnoneedto consolidateorformat information
06. Global Credit Dashboard
Overview
study case
Inadepressedglobalmarketdecreasesinnetfarmincomeimpactedfarmers’abilitytopay. Consequently,closelymonitoringreceivablesbecameanecessityfordecision-makersfromlocal CreditManagersallthewayuptotheCFO Becauseaglobaldatasetforreceivablesdidnotexist, harmonizeddatacreationforthevisualizationwasnecessary
Challenges
Languages-theSouthAmericandataisin Portuguese DatawasconvertedviaAItools Outliers(suchasabbreviations)were convertedviahumantranslator.
Reconciliation- reconcilingcalculationsto existingreportsprovedtobecomplex. Reportsinproductiondidnotreconciletothe sourcedata,requiringcorrection
Solutions Implemented
Developedaglobalharmonized datasetforreceivablesdata.
Reconciledthefollowingfour
Currency- thisglobalreportrepresents,≈5 differentcurrenciesandneededtobe: convertedtoUSDollars(USD) flexibleforuserstoselectvariousForeign Exchange(FX)ratesandtimeperiods.
Data-adatasetneededtobebuiltbefore analysiscouldbegin.Todothis,itwas necessarytoharmonizedatafrom≈10ERPs
Creditrequirements
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ADP
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Microsoft 365 Azure Bookings
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