How should my finance team be performing?
Many accountants who qualified doing audits are inadequately prepared for the transition into corporate accounting. I had spent five years with Arthur Andersen &co and one year with Price Waterhouse before I moved to my first corporate accounting job. While seeing many different organisations was a great start I had never worked on a month-end, completed an annual plan, managed a team of accounting staff or presented to the Board. I thus did not know how a good finance team should perform or how to get my team to that place.
Imagine your Finance team making history rather than just reporting on it. Imagine your month-end reporting being completed within 3 working days or less, your annual planning process being replaced by quarterly rolling planning, a year-end when you have the end of audit party within 3 weeks of your year-end, a happy and well function team. This website will offer you methodologies to fix the common problems in the finance team that will have a profound impact on your organisation and on your career.
We can make this a reality. I’m David Parmenter. I am the author of The Financial Controllers and CFO’s Toolkit 3 rd Edition. It is a follow-on from winning CFOs and Pareto’s 80/20 for corporate accountants.
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I teach how to develop winning KPIs, replace the annual planning process with quarterly rolling planning, speed up accounting processes and winning leadership. I’ve delivered workshops and key note addresses in 32 countries. Companies where I have delivered in-house workshops include European Space Agency, Australian Post, Lloyds of London, Open University, and the Singapore government (Peoples Association) and more.
Health crisis leaves David Parmenter land locked for the forseeable future
My wife is undergoing Chemo, with a positive outcome forecast. However, I have ceased travel for the forseeable future and am focusing on helping interested parties through the following:
David Parmenter’s Toolkits with E-Templates
If you want to access the latest thoughts of David Parmenter, buy his toolkits which are constantly updated and are a comprehensive (100 page) guide to get you to make change in the areas covered. each toolkit comes with accompanying electronic templates to get your implementation started. On time of acquisition David reviews and updates the tookit as appropriate. These toolkits are printed, signed and posted to the purchaser.
David Parmenter’s Working Guides
For areas which are not covered by a toolkit David Parmenter has written a shorter (20- 30 pages) working guide to help you make progress. They can be read and absorbed in an hour. All you need to do is puchase them via the paypal link and I will send you the working guides are emailed with accompanying useful E-templates with 48 hours. To buy multiple guides access the special deal.
David Parmenter’s Pay-To-View Webinars
You can purchase a wide variety of David’s webinars recorded by leading accounting professional bodies. Each webinar is 90 minutes long and includes electronic templates. You purchase directly from the relevant professional body and follow instructions, at the end of the webinar, to download the templates from my website using the disclosed password.
E-Templates From David Parmenter’s Financial Controllers and CFO’s Toolkit
You can purchase all the electronic versions of the book templates. Once the paypal notification has been received the templates are emailed with 48 hours..
David Parmenter’s Performance Measures Database (known as a KPI database)
The database, developed over the last twenty years, and regularly updated, is sent in both Access and Excel.
David Parmenter’s Presentation Packs
In all the focus areas where I focus on I am happy to sell my latest presentation packs that will be suitable for consultants, in-house project teams and senior management who have a key note address to deliver. These are sold for US$100-200. I also offer a GoToMeeting where I can coach the interested party, as required.
Switching from a big 4 audit into corporate finance
Whilst working in audit provides a marvellous overview of industry, government and not for profit agencies it does not prepare us for running a finance team. In the big 4 your management skills are seldom tested, staff underneath you are compliant as they know they will only have to put up with you on this audit, and in any case, they can easily avoid you when at the client. In order to make a successful switch it is important to work in a finance team which is well run and uses a number of better practices. If you are planning your first, or next 100 days with a finance team here is what I would do:
- Fully understand my knowledge gap, remembering that audit does not show us how to manage a G/L, close a month-end or orchestrate an efficient annual planning process.
- Plan your approach to speeding up your month-end reporting. Then cut down your reporting pack replacing it with concise A3 page dashboards. With the time saving from these changes, then streamline your accounts payable processes with a view to reducing transactions. The benefit you will get from these three initiatives will pave the way to tackling annual planning and performance measures. You can achieve these three changes by purchasing and reading my toolkits and the articles on this web page.
- Access some of my pay-to-view recorded webinars with ACCA, CAANZ, & ICAEW. Also access my Serving leader toolkit that will lift your leadership.
- Consider getting me to deliver an in -house webcast, or book a one-to-one gotomeeting with David Parmenter.
- Access my Four books.
Common problems in the finance team
Are your month-ends one drama after another Read more. Is your organisation succeeding in spite of the annual planning process rather than because of it? Read more Is the finance team a collection of individuals rather than a cohesive team? Read more Is the year-end a process that carries on months into the new year? Read more Does the finance team have a history of late and/ or failed projects? Read more Do you have too many KPIs, many of which are leading to dysfunctional behavior? Read more. Are the accountants spending too much time reporting history rather than making it? Read more.David Parmenter Winning CFOs Series
Some of the Published Articles & Chapter Extracts
Mastering the traits of a winning CFO
Never before has the role of the CFO been more complex, multi-faceted and rewarding. The CFO is now juggling more balls in the air than ever before, in front of an audience that is more demanding and knowledgeable.
What makes the difference from average to good and from good to great performance?
In this article I will attempt to shed some light on why you may not be scoring the goals you should, save training drills and suggestions. Please note that I am not writing this from personal success. I have never been a CFO, nor was I a good corporate accountant. I am basing this article on countless years of benchmarking CFO’s from all sectors and whose success varied from poor to great.
The CFO is now juggling more balls in the air than ever before, in front of an audience that is more demanding and knowledgeable. What makes the difference from average to good and from good to great CFO performance? I believe I have the answer. The model I have developed is based on countless years of bench marking CFO’s from all sectors and whose success varied from poor to great.
Once the foundation stones in place, you can now use them as a platform from which to juggle the areas of focus, see Exhibit 1, that make up being a winning CFO. Many of the focus areas have a soft skills component, an area which is often not on the CFOs radar screen. These have been marked with an ‘S’.
Exhibit 1 A winning CFO model
I have developed much material to help revolutionize the CFO performance: