Beyond The First Pencil
Beyond The First Pencil is where dealership operations meet financial reality.
Hosted by Kathi Kruse, of Kruse Control and Automotive CFO-To-Go™, this podcast is for dealers, OEMs, GMs, and controllers who want more than surface-level advice. You’ll get straight talk on financial statements, internal controls, cash flow, and the operational gaps that quietly erode profit.
From gross to net, from process to profit, each episode delivers real-world insights on how dealerships actually make money… and where they lose it.
Because selling cars is one thing. Keeping the profit is another.
Beyond The First Pencil
The CDK Cyber Attack Debacle Did Not Have to Happen
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At our core, we are car people. We are upset to witness what’s happening to our fellow car people at CDK dealerships. This fact is the driver for this week’s episode.
While the CDK cyber attack is causing major disruption to sales, service and parts, there will be even more challenging times ahead for the accounting departments at each store. They will be tasked with booking all the transactions, making them balance and collect all the monies owed.
Let this be a lesson for all the large vendors that don’t have their cybersecurity house in order. Lessons seem to repeat themselves in the car business and we hope this will be one time when actions will be strong enough to avoid anything like this happening again.
Kathi’s post she references in the pod: The CDK Cyber Attack Recovery Will Fall Squarely on The Accounting Office
Music segment:
Podcast: Three Castles Burning: Red Roses For Me with Spider Stacy and James Fearnely (from The Pogues)
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Got a question? Email either of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com