Day One: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Master the mechanics of flawless financial management
As a controller, you're among the most trusted professionals in America-but you can't take this credibility and respect for granted. Slips, errors and omissions from the person a company looks to for financial leadership are simply unacceptable. Learn the extra steps and precautions necessary to ensure your performance is without question.
Financial reporting pitfalls
The trouble with budgets
Valuing projects ... where NPV falls short
How to tap into the undeniable benefits of preparing accurate forecasts
How to build a team equipped to generate the reliable data you need
What's wrong with trying to do it all on a database, spreadsheet or checkbook program?
Efficiency check: How to wipe out redundancy, costly errors and omissions and time-consuming double-checks
Bulletproof your company from any trouble with the "rule makers": IRS, SEC, FASB
How to speed up the monthly closing cycle for fresh, meaningful information
Using plans and budgets as milestones to measure progress
How to prepare your staff to take on a broader range of financial issues within your company
Why traditional balance sheets, income statements and cash flow reports aren't enough
Company leaders don't usually care as much about yesterday's financial statement as they do about tomorrow's excess inventory, cash flow crisis or drop in sales. Learn how to move beyond historical reporting and start generating innovative breakdowns, one-time-only reports and other data not routinely run to give leaders a true picture of your company's health.
New, non-financial measures to be concerned with, including quality and productivity
How to overcome the limitations of GAAP
The difference between accurate and useful data
Do you know the unique key indicators of success for your company?
Where traditional financial accounting fails
3 types of reports any CEO would be thrilled to get every Monday morning
Your reports may be properly prepared but still misleading ... here's how to make sure they're correctly understood
Are you unknowingly distorting the perception of your business by using facts and figures that are misinterpreted?
Specific actions you can take to protect your organization's dollars and assets
A recent survey indicates that 60 - 80% of business failures can be attributed to poor financial management, including weaknesses in cash flow and inventory. In this important session, you'll learn how to tighten controls in all operating areas, monitor spending and reinforce the message throughout the company that the dollars do matter.
How to establish an ironclad system of internal controls
Beyond mere accounting ... key financial operating areas that deserve constant monitoring
How to spot not-so-obvious opportunities to boost the bottom line
How technology can help you meet all your company's information demands
How to work with management to eliminate excess inventory problems
How to turn your job into a profit center
Strategies for speeding up your receivables and inventory turnaround
How to handle customers who stretch payments ... without aggravating them
Your role as cash flow "watchdog"
How to build relationships that lead to great results
Do other managers see you as a scorekeeper, a tight-fisted parent monitoring their expenditures or the eternal pessimist? Maybe you need an image make-over! Learn how to communicate with managers who are not "numbers people."
Reality check: How do you deal with managers whose results fall short of their goals ... or whose spending exceeds their budgets?
Why you can never know too much about what's going on in your company
Project evaluation: How to spot potential pitfalls
How to become a confidant others trust
Asking tough questions about past performance
Day Two: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Getting beyond the numbers: Becoming a planning partner
Companies are hungry for strong financial leadership-in a recent survey, entrepreneurs named financial expertise as the #1 skill they needed to succeed. Learn how to break out of traditional accounting boundaries and become a dynamic, proactive force in your company.
Do they see you as just a "bean counter"? Here's how to redefine your image
Growing into your new role ... your toughest obstacles may not be the ones you think
The expanded job description of the "new" future-oriented controller
The distinction between "doing the accounting" and being a controller
What CEOs really need from their financial managers (Hint: It's not more reports)
Be a powerful controller
Too often, finance people focus on past results-when the real impact they can make is on the future. In this session, discover how to develop a more "global" view, one that will help you look at issues with more breadth, and a perspective that is both historical and future-oriented.
The hard-to-ignore role personality plays in financial leadership
Got too much to do? Here's how to get more time for the important things
4 keys to effective controllership
Reporting after the fact is what accountants do ... learn where controllers should focus
How the very nature of accounting often conflicts with top management's information needs
The big shoes a controller has to fill when working with the management team ... how to make sure you're up to the challenge
How obsessing about precision and accuracy can work against you
Gain top management's ear
Unfortunately, controllers often get involved after plans and decisions are set in concrete ... and it's nearly impossible to make changes then if a problem is found. In this session, you'll find out the best ways to get included up front in planning discussions-both at the water cooler and in the boardroom-and how to apply your valuable financial input as ideas develop.
Great controllers don't simply hand over reports ... take the next step with insightful interpretation and feedback
How to respectfully put the brakes on a plan without creating enemies or hurt feelings
How to avoid the trap of "sounding like an accountant"
How to anticipate executives' needs and generate the data they'll want-before they ask
You may not have all the answers, but you can ask the right questions
The numbers look good, but are they right? Hard-won advice on winning and keeping others' confidence
Running the company by the numbers or with the numbers-which is best for your company?
Beware! These 5 financial accounting areas are loaded with interpretation "traps" just waiting to hurt your credibility
How to be a devil's advocate without threatening or accusing
If you present it clearly, they'll appreciate and value your input
You've delivered the analysis they requested ... but if all you get in return are blank stares, you may have a communication problem. Here's where you can make sure you're getting the message across clearly and learn new tricks of the trade that savvy controllers rely on to produce user-friendly, clear and concise reports that work for you ... not against you.
The "new" rules for getting your story across to time-pressed executives
Give them what they need: Simple ways to consolidate and organize data
Avoid the mistakes controllers sometimes make when reporting information to shareholders, investors and other outsiders
Why many financial reports are difficult for others to interpret
Closing the language gap between financial people and management
How to present information "by exception" and avoid the sin of too many details