The Financial Controller and CFO's Toolkit, 3rd Edition

The Financial Controller and CFO's Toolkit, 3rd Edition

by David Parmenter
Released September 2016
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119286547

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Book description

Simplify and streamline your way to a winning legacy

Winning CFOs is a hybrid handbook and toolkit with over 100 lean practice solutions and a wealth of practical tools for senior financial managers of small, midsized and large companies. This book outlines the mindset of paradigm shifters relevant to future-ready finance teams, and contains guidelines on how to become an effective change leader. Guidance from world leading expert David Parmenter provides the insight and tools you need to reach your true leadership potential and achieve more for your organization. Packed with templates and checklists, this book helps you adhere to the best practices in reporting, forecasting, KPIs, planning, strategy, and technology. The companion website—a complete toolbox for positive, entrenched change—gives you access to additional resources that reinforce the Winning CFO strategy.

This new second edition has been updated to reflect the latest practices and technology to streamline your workflow and get more done in less time—without sacrificing quality or accuracy. As an all-in-one resource for the CFO role, this book provides a clear, practical strategy for demonstrating your value to your organization.

  • Selling and leading change effectively
  • Get more accurate information from your KPIs
  • Attracting, recruiting and retaining talented staff
  • Invest in and implement new essential tools
  • Investing wisely in 21st century technologies

Report the month-end within three days, implement quarterly rolling forecasting, complete the annual plan in two weeks or less, and bring your firm into the 21st century with key tools that get the job done. Be the CFO that your organization needs and the leader that your teams deserve. Winning CFOs gives you everything you need to achieve more by doing less.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. About the Author
  4. Testimonials
  5. Introduction
    1. The Third Version
    2. How to Use the Book
    3. The PDF Toolkit
    4. Reporting History or Making It
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Part I: Change—Why the Need and How to Lead
    1. Chapter 1: Getting Your Finance Team Future Ready
      1. A Burning Platform?
      2. Reporting History or Making It
      3. Lean Movement
      4. Importance of Abandonment
      5. The Importance of Challenging the Status Quo
      6. PDF Download
      7. Notes
    2. Chapter 2: Leading and Selling the Change
      1. Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan
      2. Harry Mills
      3. John Kotter
      4. Selling to the Senior Management Team
      5. The Power of the Focus Group
      6. PDF Download
      7. Notes
  8. Part II: To Be Completed Before the Next Month-End
    1. Chapter 3: Rapid Month-End Reporting: By Working Day Three or Less
      1. Rating Scale for Month-End Reporting
      2. Benefits of Quick Month-End Reporting
      3. Impact of a Quick Month-End on the Finance Team Workload
      4. Major Steps You Can Do Before Your Next Month-End
      5. Major Quality Assurance Tasks After Day 1
      6. PDF Download
      7. Note
  9. Part III: Technologies to Adopt
    1. Chapter 4: Future-Ready Technologies
      1. Ban Spreadsheets from Core Finance Routines
      2. Seven Technologies to Understand and Evaluate
      3. Planning and Forecasting Tools
      4. Upgrade Accounts Payable Systems
      5. Using a Reporting Tool
      6. Turbo Your G/L with a Friendly Front End
      7. Consolidation and Intercompany Software
      8. Collaborative Disclosure Management
      9. Paperless Board Meeting
      10. Maximize the Use of the Existing G/L
      11. Avoiding the Hard Sell to Upgrade Your G/L
      12. Implementing a New System
      13. PDF Download
      14. Notes
  10. Part IV: Progress You Need to Make within the Next Six Months
    1. Chapter 5: Reduce Accounts Payable Volumes by 60 Percent
      1. Removal of All Charles Dickens Processes
      2. Move to a Paperless Accounts Payable Function
      3. Get Your Electronic Ordering System to Work
      4. Get a Purchasing Card System Implemented as Soon as Possible
      5. How the Purchase Card Works at Month-End
      6. The Better Practices with Purchase Cards
      7. Cut Off Accounts Payable on the Last Working Day
      8. Mount the Last Signed Check on the CEO's Wall
      9. Perform Frequent Direct Credit Payment Runs
      10. Improve Budget Holders' Cooperation
      11. Speed Up Budget Holders' Correction of Omissions
      12. A Welcome Letter to All New Budget Holders
      13. Introduce “Shame and Name” Lists
      14. Reward Good Budget Holder Behavior
      15. Have a Closer Relationship with Your Main Suppliers
      16. Self-Generated Invoices (Buyer-Created Invoices)
      17. PDF Download
      18. Note
    2. Chapter 6: Month-End Reporting Refinements
      1. Avoid Late Timesheets
      2. Minimize Budget Holders' Month-End Reporting
      3. Avoid the Rewriting of Reports
      4. Reporting Based on 4 or 5 Weeks
      5. Delay Changing Your Accounting System
      6. Removing Spreadsheets from the Month-End Routines
      7. Day One Reporting and Virtual Closing
      8. PDF Download
      9. Notes
    3. Chapter 7: Lean Reporting—Informatively and Error Free
      1. The Foundation Stones of Reporting
      2. Concise, One-Page Formats
      3. More Emphasis on Daily and Weekly Reporting
      4. Designing Reports around Current Technology
      5. Error-Free Reporting
      6. Using Best-Practice Graphics
      7. PDF Download
      8. Notes
    4. Chapter 8: Lean Board Reporting
      1. Selling Change to the Board
      2. Scoping of the Information Requests
      3. Avoiding Rewrites of Board Reports
      4. Paperless Board Meeting
      5. Introduce a Change to the Board Meeting Scheduling
      6. Mistakes to Avoid with the Finance Report in the Board Papers
      7. Continually Purging the Board Papers
      8. Moving to Governance Information
      9. A3 (Fanfold) One-Page Board Dashboard
      10. PDF Download
    5. Chapter 9: A Lean Annual Planning Process—Ten Working Days or Less!
      1. Leading and Selling the Change
      2. Foundation Stones of a Lean Annual Planning Process
      3. Efficient Annual Planning Processes
      4. PDF Download
      5. Notes
    6. Chapter 10: Lean and Smarter Work Methods
      1. Techniques to Adopt from the Lean Movement
      2. Post-it Reengineering Workshops
      3. Adopting Scrum Stand-Up Meetings
      4. Adopt Kanban Boards
      5. Toyota's 14 Management Principles
      6. Golden Rules with Emails
      7. Three Books to Read
      8. PDF Download
      9. Notes
    7. Chapter 11: Effective Leadership, Growing and Retaining Talent
      1. Foundation Stones for Leadership That Attracts
      2. Making the Finance Team a Great Place to Work
      3. Putting the Finance Team on the Map
      4. Perform an In-House Customer Satisfaction Survey
      5. PDF Download
      6. Notes
    8. Chapter 12: Quick Annual Reporting: Within 15 Working Days Post Year-End
      1. The Five Stages for a Quick Year-End
      2. Sell the Need for Change
      3. Get Organized
      4. Use Technology to Save Time
      5. Minimize Year-End Stress
      6. Control the Last Mile and Maintaining Quality
      7. Some Case Studies
      8. PDF Download
      9. Note
    9. Chapter 13: Managing Your Accounts Receivable
      1. Operational Improvements to Accounts Receivable
      2. Reporting on Your Accounts Receivable
      3. Avoiding Accounts Receivable Month-End Bottlenecks
      4. Increasing the Use of Direct Debiting Customers' Accounts
      5. Debtors' Collection before Year-End
    10. Chapter 14: Attracting and Recruiting Talent
      1. Ever-Present Danger
      2. The Need to Up-Skill
      3. Law of Attraction
      4. The Recruiting Marathon
      5. Deliver a Good Induction
      6. PDF Download
      7. Notes
    11. Chapter 15: Lean Accounting
      1. Streamlining the Chart of Accounts
      2. Avoid Monthly Cost Apportionment
      3. Value-Stream Accounting
      4. Activity-Based Costing Is Broken
      5. PDF Download
      6. Notes
  11. Part V: How Finance Teams can Help their Organizations get Future Ready
    1. Chapter 16: Implementing Quarterly Rolling Forecasting and Planning
      1. Selling and Leading the Change
      2. Annual Planning Is a Questionable Activity
      3. Myths around Annual Planning
      4. Quarterly Rolling Forecasting and Planning
      5. The Foundation Stones of a Rolling Forecasting and Planning Process
      6. Efficient Forecasting and Planning Processes
      7. Implementing a Quarterly Rolling Forecasting and Planning Process
      8. PDF Download
      9. Notes
    2. Chapter 17: Finding Your Organization's Operational Critical Success Factors
      1. Benefits of Understanding Your Organization's Critical Success Factors
      2. Relationship Among CSFs, Strategy, and KPIs
      3. Operational Critical Success Factors versus External Outcomes
      4. Finding Your Organization's CSFs
      5. PDF Download
      6. Notes
    3. Chapter 18: Getting Your KPIs to Work
      1. KPI Research
      2. The Myths of Performance Measures
      3. The Four Types of Performance Measures
      4. The 10/80/10 Rule
      5. PDF Download
      6. Notes
    4. Chapter 19: Reporting Performance Measures
      1. Reporting the KPIs to Management and Staff
      2. Reporting Other Performance Measures to Management
      3. Reporting Progress to Staff
      4. Reporting Key Result Indicators to the Board
      5. Reporting Team Performance Measures
      6. How the Reporting of Performance Measures Fits Together
      7. PDF Download
      8. Notes
  12. Part VI: Areas where Costly Mistakes can be Made
    1. Chapter 20: Performance Bonus Schemes
      1. The Billion-Dollar Giveaway
      2. Foundation Stones of Performance Bonus Schemes
      3. PDF Download
      4. Notes
    2. Chapter 21: Takeovers and Mergers
      1. Reasons for a Takeover or Merger
      2. Some Big Failures
      3. How Takeovers or Mergers Go Wrong
      4. Alternatives to a Rotten TOM
      5. PDF Download
      6. Notes
    3. Chapter 22: The Hidden Costs of Reorganizations and Downsizing
      1. Ramifications and Associated Costs
      2. An Addiction to Reorganizations
      3. Typical Reasons for a Reorganization
      4. Alternatives to a Major Reorganization
      5. A Checklist to Put You off a Reorganization
      6. Hidden Costs of Downsizing
      7. PDF Download
      8. Notes
  13. Appendix A: Useful Letters and Memos
  14. Appendix B: Rules for a Bulletproof Presentation
  15. Appendix C: Satisfaction Survey for a Finance Team
    1. Finance Team User Satisfaction Questionnaire
  16. Index
  17. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: The Financial Controller and CFO's Toolkit, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): David Parmenter
  • Release date: September 2016
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119286547