Course Objectives
Professional Skills for Finance and Accounting
Course Methodology
This course relies on a variety of individual and team exercises supported with role plays as well as individual and group presentations and Excel workshops.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Identify the relationship between the various financial statements
Explain the characteristics of 'delegation' and apply various personal organization management techniques
Evaluate skills and attitudes of finance staff and identify their communication personality styles
Practice some of the essential Excel skills to increase efficiency and productivity
Apply finance policies and procedures to add value and communicate effectively with other departments
Target Audience
Financial managers, financial controllers, finance department heads, chief financial officers, accounting managers, senior finance officers, accountants, finance staff and analysts.
Target Competencies
Interpreting financial statements
Delegation
Communication
Organization
Time management
Course Outline
The macro finance picture
Understanding the accounting cycle
The income statement
The balance sheet
Changes in owners’ equity statements
Cash flow statements
The relationship of financial statements
Functions of management
Elements of a vision for finance and accounting department
Effectiveness versus efficiency
Supporting the operating departments
Purpose of the finance and accounting function
Personal organization and time management
The new skills set
Delegation and priorities
Delegation characteristics
Rules of delegation
Handling meetings effectively
Maintaining clean desk policy
Managing your in-box
Peak performance time
Managing the finance function
Hiring the best people
Identifying recruitment criteria
Developing interviewing skills
Interpersonal communication
Fundamentals of communication skills
Personality communication styles
The attitude and skills matrix
Evaluating finance staff performance
Employee motivation tools
Key Excel functions and tools to enhance efficiency
Consolidating multiple sets of data
Applying control at the data entry through data validation
Reconciling accounts by using 'vlookup'
Organizing the finance function
Teamwork skills in finance and accounting
Assessing the need for team building program
Finance as a project
Organizing by function
Organizing by purpose
Staff duties and responsibilities
The need for review and authorization procedures
The authorization matrix and control of processes in organizations
Cross training and backup strategies
Scheduling the monthly accounting cycle
Policies and procedures
Purposes of the policies and procedures manual
Documenting and communicating financial policies
Staff involvement and responsibilities
The macro finance picture
Understanding the accounting cycle
The income statement
The balance sheet
Changes in owners’ equity statements
Cash flow statements
The relationship of financial statements
Functions of management
Elements of a vision for finance and accounting department
Effectiveness versus efficiency
Supporting the operating departments
Purpose of the finance and accounting function
Personal organization and time management
The new skills set
Delegation and priorities
Delegation characteristics
Rules of delegation
Handling meetings effectively
Maintaining clean desk policy
Managing your in-box
Peak performance time
Managing the finance function
Hiring the best people
Identifying recruitment criteria
Developing interviewing skills
Interpersonal communication
Fundamentals of communication skills
Personality communication styles
The attitude and skills matrix
Evaluating finance staff performance
Employee motivation tools
Key Excel functions and tools to enhance efficiency
Consolidating multiple sets of data
Applying control at the data entry through data validation
Reconciling accounts by using 'vlookup'
Organizing the finance function
Teamwork skills in finance and accounting
Assessing the need for team building program
Finance as a project
Organizing by function
Organizing by purpose
Staff duties and responsibilities
The need for review and authorization procedures
The authorization matrix and control of processes in organizations
Cross training and backup strategies
Scheduling the monthly accounting cycle
Policies and procedures
Purposes of the policies and procedures manual
Documenting and communicating financial policies
Staff involvement and responsibilities