The Effective Financial Controller – Managing Financial Functions and Improvement Opportunities

• Understand the extent of change in the role of the Financial Controller and to focus on the areas of their organisation where change is required
• Use the information sources within their organisation to assist the management process
• Prepare for the introduction of advanced methods of information management
• Critically assess the planning process in their organisation
• Participate fully in strategic planning
• Understand the role of advanced budgeting and where it might fit into their organisation
• Integrate new developments in strategic management accounting, information management and support for decision making
• Implement methods of change management in their organization

COURSE CONTENT

Introductions – The Controller’s Position

• The Controller’s status in the business
• Controllership functions
• Organisational relationships
• The controller’s role in management
• The changing nature of the controllership role: “Finance of the Future”
• Working capital and cash flow management
  • Debtors
  • Creditors
  • Stocks/Inventory
  • Releasing cash from the balance sheet
  • Optimising cash balances

Cost and Management Accounting

• Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting
• Materials costs, Labour costs and Overhead costs
• Courses cost determination
• Activity Based Costing (ABC)
• Activity Based Management (ABM)
• Courses profitability and the cost of quality
• Theory of constraints
• Benchmarking

Planning, Forecasting and Budgeting

• Long term and short term planning
• Strategic planning with risk
• Budgeting and risk
• Traditional budgeting and Budgetary control
• Operational forecasting risk
• The Balanced Scorecard, Strategy Maps, Alignment
• Sources of competitive advantage
• Capital forecasting, capital budgeting and risk

Advanced Budgeting

• Objectives of Advanced Budgeting CAM-I and the Beyond
• Budgeting Round Table
• Target Cost Management
  • Requirements
  • Understanding target cost
  • Implementation
• Value engineering
  • Challenges
  • Rewards

Management Decision Strategies

• Economic Value Added (EVA)
• Electronic Data Interchange
• Value Chain Analysis
• Total life cycle costing
• Managing in a time of change
• Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)
• Motivation

TRAINING METHODOLOGY

The training methodology combines lectures, discussions, group exercises and illustrations. Participants will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of the topics. The emphasis is on the practical application of the topics and as a result participant will go back to the workplace with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned to their duties.