Strategic initiatives

  • The top twenty mistakes corporate accountants make each year

As a failed corporate accountant, by that I mean I had to organise my own ‘leaving do’, I feel particularly well qualified to write this article. I have however discovered many better practices, from accountants across the world, as that is what I do for a living. The twenty major blunders since Paciolo sent us on our way are randomly listed. For more information, please click here.

  • 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. For more information, please click here.

  • Creating a lean finance team

The annual planning process and the long, drawn-out annual reporting cycle are both perfect examples of catch-22s. To break out of them, finance teams need to attack the onerous processes that are hangovers from the past and that they have mistakenly stuck with. Read More

Planning and forecasting

  • Annual planning will always be wrong

The one sure thing about annual planning is that it will be wrong – its underlying assumptions have been flawed since LucaPacioli invented double entry bookkeeping in 1494.This article completes my look at the foundation stones of rolling planning, a more useful alternative. Read More

  • Timely Annual Planning Process – 10 Working Days or Less!

Extract from “Pareto’s 80/20 Rule for the Corporate Accountant” published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. For more information, please click here

  • Throw out the budget process, or at least radically alter it

Companies in Asia, Europe, America and some in New Zealand are recognising that the existing budget process cannot continue. It has been with us, some say, since the Roman calendar was adopted by the western world. It is now seen by many that the budget process is a hindrance to management rather than a help. An international survey found that nearly 90% of chief financial officers (CFOs) were dissatisfied with their budget process and that there was often no link from the annual budget to strategy. For more information, please click here

  • Is your budgeting process adding value to your company?

Vast amounts of management and accountants’ time are invested right across the country in this exercise. Yet, within months the whole exercise is revisited, and then forecasts are performed. For more information, please click here.

  • Nine foundation stones when Implementing a Quarterly Rolling Forecast on a Planning Tool
  1. Abandoning processes that do not work……………………………………… 12
  2. Ownership of project is in-house………………………………………………. 13
  3. Forecasting at category level rather than account code level…………… 13
  4. Fast light touch…………………………………………………………………….. 14
  5. Using a planning tool……………………………………………………………… 18
  6. Linking to current and future strategic issues and drivers………………. 22
  7. Separating targets and realistic forecasts……………………………………. 22
  8. A bottom-up process that is done quarterly………………………………… 23
  9. Designing the planning tool with months of 4 or 5 weeks……………….. 24

To read more purchase the planning tool whitepaper

  • How to implement quarterly rolling planning – and get it right first time

“Quarterly rolling planning (QRP) is the most important management tool of this decade and is a process that will revolutionise any public or private sector organisation!”. For more information, please click here.

  • Barriers to implementing a quarterly rolling forecast

In earlier articles I promoted the use of quarterly rolling forecast forecasts, explained what they are and set out the lessons that organisation have learnt, the painful way. Now I wish to look at the implementation issues. For more information,please click here.

  • How to implement a quarterly rolling forecasting on a planning tool – the lessons to learn

“Many have had to rebuild the planning model within 18 months of its commissioning, as a better understanding of the planning tool and its capabilities comes to light”. For more information, please click here.

Accounts payable

  • The free accounts payable system

The average cost of a whole purchasing cycle is estimated at £15 to £20 per transaction. This cost is horrific when you realise that a high portion of your transactions are for minor amounts. The diagram to the right shows a typical profile of accounts payable(AP) invoices. Read More

  • Accounts payable are the centre of the accounting team

An accounts payable team is the centre of an accounting function for without its smooth operation: monthly accounts cannot be prepared promptly; suppliers are forever on the phone querying payments; and expense claims are a nightmare. I recently was asked to talk about “50+ ways to improve accounts payable” at a seminar… Download Full Text Article

  • Moving accounts payable out of the dark ages

The accounts payable team is one of the most important in the accounting function. However, many AP teams are stuck in the dark ages, which means:  monthly accounts cannot be prepared promptly, as AP is buried under a tsunami of invoices,  budget holders are unnecessarily tied up in authorising and approving all transactions– no matter how small, suppliers are forever on the phone querying payments, the management accountants’ analysis is undermined. Read More

Re-engineering processes

  • How to re-engineer your month-end with $5 of ‘post-it’ stickers

How to re-engineer a process with $5 of post it stickers instead of $50,000 of consultantcy fees. David Parmenter’s quick month-end reporting workshop preview. For more information, please click here.

  • Convert your monthly reporting to a decision based tool

Many management reports are not a management tool, they are merely memorandums of information. Management reports as a management tool help with the alignment of behaviour in that the reports encourage action to take place, on a timely basis and in the correct direction. In other words, you need to measure and report on those activities the Board, management and staff need to focus on – “what gets measured gets done. For more information, please click here.

  • How to implement month-end reporting in day 3 or less – Part two

In my article “How much time are you wasting on month-end reporting”  July 2005 I talked about the irrelevance of late reporting and about some case studies. This article will look the lessons and guidelines for implementing quick month-end reporting(QMR). For more information, please click here.

  • Is too much time going in to your month end reporting process?

Much valuable management and accounting function time is invested across the country in this exercise. Does the impact of the reporting process in your organisation warrant the investment you make? For more information, please click here.

  • Is your board reporting process out of control?

 

Board papers can reach mammoth proportions, tying up vast amounts of management time in preparation. The result of these excesses, are often late board meetings with the papers often being sent to the directors only a day or two before the meeting. The board meetings themselves can then be side tracked by the detail with the strategic overview inadequately addressed. For more information, please click here.