đź“ť usncan Note: How CFO Rebecca Beam Is Transforming Finance At Chargeback Gurus
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For nearly four years, Rebecca Beam has served as CFO of Chargeback Gurus, a company that helps businesses protect and recover more revenue through innovative chargeback management solutions that leverage AI insights and advanced analytics. By understanding their clients’ needs and aligning with their goals, Chargeback Gurus assists them in reducing chargebacks and increasing recovery rates to maximize revenue. Their technology solutions combine strong data science with deep industry expertise to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for their clients.
Rebecca and I recently discussed her experience at the Big Four, demystifying the world of chargebacks, applying accounting and finance principles across industries, the use of AI, and more.
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Rebecca Beam, CFO of Chargeback Gurus, blends financial expertise with advanced technology to recover revenue, reduce fraud, and build high-performing, purpose-driven teams.
Chargeback Gurus
Although Rebecca Beam grew up in the small town of Concord, North Carolina, she did not have a small-town worldview. In fact, hers was quite the opposite–her mother was raised in Saudi Arabia, and her grandmother was Greek, grew up in Egypt, and had siblings in Australia, Egypt, and Canada.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she went on to earn her master’s in accounting from Kenan-Flagler Business School. It has proven to be a successful (and practical) professional combination.
“I’m a big believer of understanding the underlying principles of something, whether it’s mathematics or finance and accounting, then using those skills and applying them to real-world situations,” Beam said. “It’s served me well over the last several years.”
That education propelled her to her first full-time job at PwC, where she stayed for nearly five years.
Her Big Four experience provided her with work experience and introduced her to one of her most influential mentors, a female partner in the private company practice. The environment exposed her to several industries and varied clients, including real estate, wholesale distribution, and financial services.
Beam’s exposure to diverse industries prepared her for successive roles in real estate, energy, senior housing operations, and healthcare. At Maxwell Group, she served as controller and later as CFO. The company, which operates senior care facilities, provided her with hands-on experience in process improvement and revealed how much she enjoyed using technology to enhance efficiency in finance and support the company’s mission.
That taste of tech inspired her to change industries. Along with becoming a first-time mom around the same time, she took on the CFO role at Chargeback Gurus, seeing it as a chance to apply her background in a new way.
“Historically, there’s always been this mindset that people need to work their entire careers in one industry,” Beam explained. “I think as long as you have a true understanding of the finance profession, you can apply that elsewhere. I have a knack for implementing new platforms, process improvements, automating processes, putting controls in place, transitioning from a cash basis to accrual accounting, and driving progression for accounting and finance functions. I have also always been interested in fraud and the human behavior behind it. You learn a lot about the fraud triangle in accounting programs.”
Beam has also tapped into her interest in fraud and human behavior at Chargeback Gurus. The company’s mission is to prevent chargebacks—disputes of a credit card transaction by the cardholder that ultimately result in a reversal of the funds—and to recover that revenue.
Doing that requires leveraging powerful data science and learning models that are powered by a proprietary platform to provide the best evidence and the path forward on behalf of their clients. The banks can then make the right decision on whether or not the funds should be returned to the merchant or belong to the cardholder.
One reason Beam has enjoyed nearly four years at Chargeback Gurus is her team.
“Our team is very motivating for me,” she explained. “I look for people who have positive attitudes and a motivation for process improvement, improving their skills and wanting to make it to the next level. We are a company of honesty, integrity and transparency. That’s something that cascades from the top down.”
Although team cohesion and performance are essential to any company, challenges on the horizon in the next few years within the industry prove how critical it will be to have the right people who are focused on working together. On a global level, chargebacks are increasing—in 2023, the volume of chargebacks was between $8 and $11 billion, and it is expected to increase by approximately 50 percent by 2026.
The constantly evolving and highly competitive industry requires balancing support for growth and innovation with financial responsibility. Luckily, thanks to Chargeback Gurus’ proprietary, award-winning platform, both can coexist.
“We developed a very talented team of product engineers,” Beam said. “The platform has been the basis for our success over the last couple of years. With that, we pride ourselves on having industry-leading recovery rates and fully aligning ourselves with our customers’ goals. We are client-focused and want to give our clients expert advice and recommendations to ultimately help them improve their processes, create efficiencies, reduce the number of chargebacks and recover the most revenue possible. In my role, I’m working and collaborating with the other leaders in our company to ensure that our strategy aligns with our financial plan.”
The team regularly discusses ways to enhance the client experience. For instance, feedback from the client solutions team is crucial for increasing a client’s ROI while using the software. A focus on continuous improvement runs throughout the company. Additionally, this presents an opportunity for AI, as they integrate the tool more into financial tasks.
“We are using AI in the finance function through different platforms that we have implemented,” Beam explained. “We did implement a new financial reporting platform, so those platforms are incorporating AI in those cloud-based programs. I have also noticed that our CRM has AI insights associated with it as well. The different platforms that we use operationally for our company have those elements incorporated into them.”
The integration of finance and tech, Beam says, is a key indicator of what it means to be a CFO of the future.
“I think the role of CFOs is evolving to not be about the numbers and the financials, but we are seeing CFOs now responsible for some IT aspects, even some risk management aspects,” she saido. “It’s not about the numbers anymore, and things are starting to move to incorporate a lot more aspects of the business, which are a function of the finance role.”
With the definition and scope of a CFO constantly in flux, it is important to Beam to be clear on how she spends her time. On a personal level, she is a mom of two, and her husband also has a demanding job in healthcare.
“At this point in my life, I’m very intentional about how I spend my time,” she said. “From the moment I wake up in the morning to the time I go to sleep, I feel like my day is pretty structured. I try to be present in the moment for whatever I’m doing. I have time blocked off, and I have as little as five, ten or fifteen minute increments to pack lunches and get kids ready. I also make sure that my day is scheduled in such a way that I can get as much of it done as possible.”
Additionally, the drive Beam has to be efficient and influential across functions at work underscore the importance of mastering the basics. Doing so early in her career prepared her for the chapter of her career she is currently in, and it’s the advice that she would give to any aspiring CFO.
“Take time on the fundamentals,” she emphasized. “If you have a true, good understanding and grasp of finance and accounting principles, you can take that and you can apply that anywhere. Don’t feel like you have to get pigeonholed into one specific role or one specific industry. Enjoy the journey and embrace the stage of life that you are in now.”
She also encourages people to take a page from her own book and prioritize presence. Too often, she says, people focus on the next step rather than enjoying the present moment. That can be accomplished by utilizing wisdom from other leaders within the company, who serve as a powerful resource.
“Watch those around you—the CFOs that you are working with—and even the board of directors,” she advised. “Listen to the questions that they are asking, focus on the areas of the business that they are focused on, because you can learn so much by watching the leaders around you. I have had a lot of great mentors, and I have also tried to take a little bit from everyone that I have had experience with. Even if it’s something that I don’t want to be, those can be good lessons, too. Understanding how others have made me feel helped me to ultimately develop into the person and leader I want to be. Watching those around us can be invaluable.”
