The Financial Controller and CFOs Toolkit: Lean Practices to Transform Your Finance Team

THE MOST TRANSFORMATIVE GUIDEBOOK IN CORPORATE ACCOUNTING REVISED FOR QUICKER EXECUTION

The Financial Controller and CFO′s Toolkit is the updated version of Pareto′s 80/20 Rule for Corporate Accountants and Winning CFOs. It is the result of years of research into finance teams′ best practices. The book is designed for senior financial managers who want to radically modernize their departments, make higher–value contributions to the organization, and develop a reputation as an innovative leader of efficiency. This book is targeted at finance teams from small to multinational organizations and is designed to walk you through seamless implementations. This updated edition enables you to:

Reduce workload by over 30% by moving the finance team from being a processing center locked in the past to one helping manage the future Gain agility and encourage higher performance by switching to quarterly rolling forecasts Establish the proper metrics to reveal the insights you need for meaningful business improvement Make the best strategic investments in the latest technologies

As well as providing the most well–regarded practice solutions used today, this hands–on guide includes a companion PDF toolkit filled with templates and checklists to kick–start the implementation process. Leave a profound legacy in your organization by implementing the 21st century practices featured in The Financial Controller and CFO′s Toolkit, Third Edition.

About the Author ix

Testimonials xi

Introduction xiii

Acknowledgments xxi

PART I: CHANGE WHY THE NEED AND HOW TO LEAD

Chapter 1: Getting Your Finance Team Future Ready 3

Chapter 2: Leading and Selling the Change 17

PART II: TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE THE NEXT MONTH–END

Chapter 3: Rapid Month–End Reporting: By Working Day Three or Less 29

PART III: TECHNOLOGIES TO ADOPT

Chapter 4: Future–Ready Technologies 49

PART IV: PROGRESS YOU NEED TO MAKE WITHIN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS

Chapter 5: Reduce Accounts Payable Volumes by 60 Percent 77

Chapter 6: Month–End Reporting Refinements 91

Chapter 7: Lean Reporting Informatively and Error Free 101

Chapter 8: Lean Board Reporting 135

Chapter 9: A Lean Annual Planning Process Ten Working Days or Less! 149

Chapter 10: Lean and Smarter Work Methods 177

Chapter 11: Effective Leadership, Growing and Retaining Talent 199

Chapter 12: Quick Annual Reporting: Within 15 Working Days Post Year–End 225

Chapter 13: Managing Your Accounts Receivable 245

Chapter 14: Attracting and Recruiting Talent 249

Chapter 15: Lean Accounting 265

PART V: HOW FINANCE TEAMS CAN HELP THEIR ORGANIZATIONS GET FUTURE READY

Chapter 16: Implementing Quarterly Rolling Forecasting and Planning 281

Chapter 17: Finding Your Organization s Operational Critical Success Factors 315

Chapter 18: Getting Your KPIs to Work 327

Chapter 19: Reporting Performance Measures 351

PART VI: AREAS WHERE COSTLY MISTAKES CAN BE MADE

Chapter 20: Performance Bonus Schemes 371

Chapter 21: Takeovers and Mergers 387

Chapter 22: The Hidden Costs of Reorganizations and Downsizing 399

Appendix A: Useful Letters and Memos 409

Appendix B: Rules for a Bulletproof Presentation 419

Appendix C: Satisfaction Survey for a Finance Team 427

Index 435

DAVID PARMENTER is an international presenter who is known for his thought–provoking and lively sessions resulting in substantial change in many organizations.

David is a leading expert on lean finance team practices, rolling forecasting and planning, and the development of winning KPIs. His work on KPIs is recognized internationally as a breakthrough in understanding how to make performance measures work. He has delivered interactive workshops in 31 countries over the last 20 years. Parmenter has worked for Ernst & Young, BP Oil Ltd., Arthur Andersen, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is a regular writer for professional and business journals.

He is also the author of Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs; Key Performance Indicators for Government and Non Profit Agencies: Implementing Winning KPIs; and The Leading–Edge Manager′s Guide to Success (all published by Wiley).

David Parmenter can be contacted via parmenter@waymark.co.nz or +64 4 499 0007. His website www.davidparmenter.com contains many white papers, articles, and the electronic version of all the templates in this book.