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