Book description
Better practices that today's CFOs can employ to bring value and efficiency to the teams that report to them
Helping corporate accountants from the CFOs to the management accountant implement better practices that will make a difference to their finance team's performance, Winning CFOs shows corporate accountants how to create permanent improvements in their organization's processes.
Provides better practice solutions the author has learned from more than 4,000 finance teams worldwide
A to Z guidance on how to be an effective CFO
Includes templates, checklists and implementation programs for process improvement
Abundance of tools to ensure implementation of better practices
Tips on how to develop winning leadership traits
Winning CFOs shows corporate accountants how to radically transform their contribution to their organization, enhance their job satisfaction and profile, and leave a legacy of efficiency and effectiveness in every organization for which they work.
Table of contents
- Cover
- Halftitle page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
-
Part I: Areas to Focus on in the Next Six Months
-
CHAPTER 1 Accounts Payable in the 21st Century
- Removal of Charles Dickens’s Processes
- Move to a Paperless Accounts Payable Function
- Invest in an Electronic Ordering System (Procurement System)
- Introduce a Purchase Card
- Cut Off Accounts Payable on the Last Working Day
- Close Accruals a Day before the Accounts Payable Ledger
- Limit the Accruals
- Mount the Last Signed Check on the CEO’s Wall
- Perform Frequent Direct Credit Payment Runs
- Improve Budget Holders’ Cooperation
- Speed Up Budget Holders’ Correction of Omissions
- A Welcome Letter to All New Budget Holders
- Introduce “Shame and Name” Lists
- Reward Good Budget Holder Behavior
- Have a Closer Relationship with Your Main Suppliers
- Use Self-Generated Invoices (Buyer-Created Invoices)
-
CHAPTER 2 Timely Month-End Reporting: By Working Day 3 or Less
- Rating Scale for Month-End Reporting
- Benefits of Quick Month-End Reporting
- Impact of a Quick Month-End on the Finance Team Workload
- Major Steps You Can Do before Your Next Month-End
- Major Steps You Can Do within the Next Six Months
- History of Quick Month-End Reporting
- Research on Quick Month-Ends
- Implementing Quick Month-End Reporting
- Some Tips on Running a Post-it Reengineering Session
- Selling the Need for Quick Month-End Reporting
- Key Month-End Activities on a Day 3 Month-End
-
CHAPTER 3 Make the Monthly Reports Worth Reading
- Foundation Stones on Month-End Reporting
- Reporting a Business Unit’s Performance
- Reporting a Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
- One-Page Summary to the CEO
- Reporting the Balance Sheet
- Reporting a Quarterly Rolling Accrual Forecast
- Snapshot of All Projects Currently Started
- Reporting Progress of the Top 10 Projects
- Cash Flow Forecasting
- CAPEX Reporting
- The One-Page Investment Proposal
- Reporting the Strategic Objectives/Risks/Costs Pressures
- Designing Graphs and Dashboards
-
CHAPTER 4 Limit the Time Invested in Board Reporting
- Selling Change to the Board
- Costing the Preparation of Board Papers
- Scoping of the Information Requests
- Avoiding Rewrites of Board Reports
- Tabling Board Papers Electronically
- More Timely Board Meetings
- Board Meeting Less Frequently than Once a Month
- Continually Purging the Board Papers
- Timeliness of Board Meetings
- Reporting Key Result Indicators in a Dashboard to the Board
- Examples of Key Result Indicators for a Board Dashboard
- CHAPTER 5 Timely Annual Planning Process: Ten Working Days or Less!
-
CHAPTER 6 Managing the Accounting Team
- Hold an Off-Site Meeting for the Accounting Team at Least Twice a Year
- Set Up Monthly One-on-One Progress Meetings with Your Direct Reports
- Become Known for Giving Recognition Freely
- Attract the Best Staff to the Team
- Adopt Better Recruitment Practices
- Recognize Staff Performance
- Team Balanced Scorecards
- Better Practice Training
- Outdoor Pursuit Adventure
- Team-Building Lessons from a World-Class Coach
- CFOs and All Direct Reports Must Find a Mentor Immediately
- Become a Serving Leader
- Five Foundation Stones of a Serving-Leader
- Areas of Focus for a Serving-Leader
- A Viking with a Mother’s Heart
- Three-Month Planner
-
CHAPTER 7 Quick Annual Reporting: Within 15 Working Days Post Year-End
- Costs of a Slow Year-End
- Cost the Annual Accounts Process
- A Quick Year-End Is a Good Year-End
- Help Get the Auditors Organized
- Appoint an Audit Coordinator
- Complete the Drafting of the Annual Report before Year-End
- Limit when Changes Can Be Made
- Negotiate and Plan for a Sign-off by the Auditors within 15 Working Days
- Have a Month 10 or 11 Hard Close
- Effective Stock Takes
- Estimating Added Value in Work in Progress and Finished Goods
- Effective Fixed Asset Verification
- Importance of the Internal Auditors
- Extract More Value from the Management Letter
- Derive More Value from the Interim Audit
- Run a Workshop to Post-it Reengineer Year-End Reporting
- Restrict Access to Confidential Information to the Audit Partner
- Speeding Up the Reporting Supply Chain
- Moving Forward
- Some Case Studies
- CHAPTER 8 Managing Your Accounts Receivable
- CHAPTER 9 Marketing the Accounting Team
- CHAPTER 10 Client Management: Improving Relationships with Budget Holders
- CHAPTER 11 More Emphasis on Daily and Weekly Reporting
-
CHAPTER 12 Working Smarter, Not Harder
- Staff Debriefing at the End of the Day
- Banning Morning Meetings for the Finance Team
- Implementing “Action Meetings” Methods
- Golden Rules with Emails
- Continuous Innovation in the Finance Team
- Getting the Induction Process Right
- Creating a Service Culture in the Finance Team
- Having Fun in the Workplace
- CHAPTER 13 Limit the P & L to 50 Account Codes
-
CHAPTER 1 Accounts Payable in the 21st Century
-
Part II: Areas to Focus on Once Core Gains Have Been Achieved
- CHAPTER 14 Throw Out Annual Planning and the Associated Monthly Budget Cycle
- CHAPTER 15 Quarterly Rolling Planning: An Evolvement from Quarterly Rolling Forecasting
- CHAPTER 16 Cost Apportionment: Do Not Do It Monthly!
- CHAPTER 17 Ban Excel from Core Monthly Routines
- CHAPTER 18 Identifying the Organization’s Critical Success Factors
-
CHAPTER 19 Reporting Your Winning Key Performance Indicators
- The 10/80/10 Rule
- Key Result Indicators
- Performance and Result Indicators
- Key Performance Indicators
- Characteristics of a KPI
- Importance of Daily CEO Follow-up
- Selling KPIs through the Emotional Drivers
- Reporting KPIs 24/7 or Daily to Management
- Reporting Weekly KPIs and PIs to Management
- Reporting Monthly PIs and RIs to Management
- Reporting the Key Result Indicators in a Dashboard to the Board
- Reporting to Staff: The Team’s Progress
- Reporting to Staff: The Organization’s Progress
- 12-Step Model for Implementing Performance Measures
- How KPIs and Financial Reporting Fit Together
- CHAPTER 20 Where to Invest in Your Accounting Systems for Maximum Benefit
- CHAPTER 21 Implementing a New Accounting System
- CHAPTER 22 Better Use of the Intranet
-
Part III: Areas Where Costly Mistakes Can Be Made
- CHAPTER 23 Designing Performance Bonus Schemes
- CHAPTER 24 Avoiding a Rotten Takeover or Merger
- CHAPTER 25 Hidden Costs of Downsizing
- CHAPTER 26 A Reorganization Too Many
- CHAPTER 27 Listing on the Stock Exchange
-
CHAPTER 28 Managing the Treasury
- An Open and Honest Relationship with Your Banks Will Pay Off
- Do Not Get into Deals You Do Not Understand
- You Can Never Guess the Future, So Be Half Right and Half Wrong
- Foreign Exchange Trading Can Be a Zero-Sum Game
- Obtaining Credit Lines When You Do Not Need Them
- Staggering the Maturity of Loans
- Sources of Useful Information
- APPENDIX A Checklist of Areas to Focus on in the Next Six Months
- APPENDIX B Month-End Reporting Checklist
- APPENDIX C Month-End Bottlenecks and Techniques to Get around Them
- APPENDIX D Speeding Up the Annual Audit Process Checklist
- APPENDIX E Checklist of Strategic Focus Areas
- APPENDIX F How a Quarterly Rolling Forecast Can Be Laid Out in a Planning Tool
- APPENDIX G Implementing a Quarterly Rolling Forecast Checklist
- APPENDIX H Performing a Quarterly Rolling Forecast Checklist
- APPENDIX I Streamlining an Annual Planning Process Checklist
- APPENDIX J Useful Letters and Memos
- APPENDIX K A Satisfaction Survey for an Accounting Function
- Index
Product information
- Title: Winning CFOs: Implementing and Applying Better Practices, with Website
- Author(s):
- Release date: April 2011
- Publisher(s): Wiley
- ISBN: 9780470767504
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