This course covers the essential skills needed for finance staff to excel in their organization. From macro level management and financial overview to personal organization and time management, various skills are put into practice to help participants become more successful at the workplace.

By the end of the program, 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

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

·         Three 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

·         Handling meetings effectively

·         The need for review and authorization procedures

·         Maintaining clean desk policy

·         Managing your in-box

·         Peak performance time

STAFFING 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

·         Delegation rules and levels

·         Delegation and micromanagement

·         Evaluating finance staff performance

·         Motivation tools, compensation and perks

KEY EXCEL FUNCTIONS AND TOOLS TO ENHANCE STAFF EFFICIENCY

·         Consolidating different set 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 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

·         Communicating financial policies

·         Staff involvement and responsibilities

·         Enhancing personal efficiency

A variety of methodologies will be used during the course that includes:

·         (30%) Based on Case Studies

·         (30%) Techniques 

·         (30%) Role Play

·         (10%) Concepts

·         Pre-test and Post-test

·         Variety of Learning Methods

·         Lectures

·         Case Studies and Self Questionaires

·         Group Work

·         Discussion

·         Presentation

This rate includes participant’s manual, Hand-Outs, buffet lunch, coffee/tea on arrival, morning & afternoon of each day.

Daily Course Timings:

    08:00 - 08:20       Morning Coffee / Tea

    08:20 - 10:00       First Session

    10:00 - 10:20       Coffee / Tea / Snacks

    10:20 - 12:20       Second Session

    12:20 - 13:30       Lunch Break & Prayer Break

    13:30 - 15:00       Last Session