The Effective Accountant Workshop

Introduction

The modern accountant works in an environment of continuous change. Their role has been irrevocably changed by globalization, which has created a worldwide marketplace with a new level of competitiveness for every business, and improved and cheaper technology, which has made the recording, processing, and reporting of financial information less expensive.

Today’s effective accountant communicates a story about what has happened in a business to the users of financial information, so that these users may make decisions on the efficient allocation of resources. The users may be the internal management of the business or others outside the business who have a need to understand developments within it.

Objectives

By the end of this course participants will learn:

• Understand the sources of information in the business
• Examine how this information is organized, classified, and presented
• Utilize effective analytical tools to understand the business
• Participate fully in the management of their business
• Critically review the financial and other management systems of their business
• Understand how change has impacted the role and effectiveness of the accountant in business

Target Audience

Beneficial to all employees working in a financial environment and anyone who wants to gain an insight into the role of an accountant, or who aspires to this position as part of their continuing development

Budgeting & Accounting Outline

The course will cover the following topics:

Accounting is an information system

• Sources of information
• Users of financial information
• Users requirements for information
• Information flow in a business
• Quality of information
• Differences between financial and management accounting

Financial Reporting

• Internal and external reporting
• What the Income Statement tells us about profitability
• What the Balance Sheet tells us about financial strength
• Purpose and use of the Cash Flow Statement
• Using financial ratios to enhance our understanding
• Employing other financial analysis techniques
• Interpreting results and making comparisons between businesses

Management Reporting

• The emphasis on the customer and the external environment
• Developments in Management Accounting and Reporting
• Timing and accuracy of data collection and reporting
• Benchmarking
• The balanced scorecard

Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting

• The relationship between long and short-term planning
• Strategic planning
• Use of budgets for managing resources
• Preparing a departmental budget
• Basic forecasting techniques

Product Costing

• How we classify costs and set standards
• Different costing methods used in business
  o Absorption costing
  o Standard costing
  o Activity-based costing
• Comparing actual performance with the budget