Certificate in Accounting and Financial Control

The main responsibilities of financial controllers

• Accounting and reporting responsibilities
• Budget reporting and analysis
• Managing finance and accounting staff
• Evolving role of financial controller

Accounting and reporting

• Overview of the main International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
• An inside look at the key financial statements
• Statement of financial position
• Statement of comprehensive income
• Statement of cash flows
• Statement of changes in owner equity
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Supporting bottom-line focus
• Month and year end close: Controller as a project manager

Financial statements interpretation and analysis

• Key tools in analysis
• Building block of ratios
• Liquidity ratios
• Solvency ratios
• Activity and investment ratios
• Profitability ratios
• Going beyond numbers reporting
• Excel techniques used in presenting analysis to management

Budget reporting and analysis

• The budget as an added value activity
• Evaluating the budget and highlighting objectives
• Presenting budget to top management
• Preparing meaningful actual versus budget reports

Control function

• Structure of internal controls
• Setting and updating policies and procedures
• Assessing internal control policies
• Internal controls on financial reporting
• System controls
• Backup and disaster recovery planning
• Ethical considerations

Boosting efficiency in your department

• It’s all about Excel
• The 10 must have Excel tips
• Working with text files
• Looking up records from a database
• Validating data and controlling data input
• Reconciliations and accounts analysis using pivot tables
• Creating management reports and dashboards
• Personal organization and time management
• Monitoring staff efficiency to support the accounting close
• Tools to increase staff productivity
• Managing staff skills and attitudes