MFCMasterclass in Financial ControlCertificate in Accounting and Financial Control
Course Overview
The MFC program is designed to extend the knowledge of people attending about recent developments in finance and accounting. Many organizations limited their finance reporting to the requirements of the IFRS standards, however, these corporate reporting requirements can be more broad and complete in order to deliver accurate and useful information for a wider range of stakeholders.
In this regard, MFC program looks to the best practices, both from the traditional and nontraditional approaches, that can be used to improve financial and cash flow analysis. Capital expenditure can result in a company thriving or surviving yet many organizations do not approach the capex decision in the most fundamental way.
This program looks at the discounted cash flows technique which is most fundamentally sound when companies wish to extend their business through the process of acquisition, so, we analyze the pitfalls that occur in the M & A scene and the likelihood that M & A will fail.
This program also considers some of the recent changes in financial accounting as a result of changes to the IFRS standards. It also looks at the standards which are due to be implemented in 2017 and the impact they will have on the reporting process.
Key Takeaways
Course Outline
» Introduction and course overview
» Overview and objective of financial reporting, management accounting and tax accounting
» Background of IFRS
» IFRS global adoption
» Success factors for management accounting to be impactful
» Success factors for tax accounting
» Gathering information
» Purpose, amount, repayment, terms and security
- Assets – key questions
- Liabilities – key questions
» Other key factors
- International competition / low cost imports
- Sensitivity to input prices
» Way out analysis
- Cash flow / liquidation of assets
» Core concepts in the budgeting cycle
» Critical success factors – using them as a planning tool
» Framework of master budgets and detailed budgets
» Advantages of budgeting
» Drawbacks of the budgeting process
» Identifying, implementing and monitoring corrective action
» Cost behavior - fixed, variable, stepped and semi-variable costs
» Full absorption vs. marginal costing – pros and cons
» Use of the overhead absorption rate
» Using fixed and flexible budgeting with standard costing
» Fundamental concepts of relevant costs for decision making
» How to tackle fixed and committed costs in decision making
» Controllable & uncontrollable Costs
» Opportunity costs and sunk costs
» Approaches to fixed budget preparation – zero-based, incremental, top-down, bottom up
» Cost estimation techniques
» Checking, sensitizing and challenging budget assumptions
» Gathering cost inputs
- Staff & Overhead budgets
» Gathering revenue inputs
-Historical data & setting targets
» Calculating core variances
» Price and volume variances – what they mean
» How to interpret favorable and adverse variances
» Using variance analysis to optimize financial performance
» Activity based budgeting – core concepts, principles and application
» Analysis of variances in a manufacturing industry
» Analysis of variances in a service industry
» Inter-department recharges and corporate overheads
- Transfer pricing options
-Impact of transfer pricing on management decisions
» Core principles and concepts of beyond budgeting
» Benefits and drawbacks of traditional budgeting
» Setting targets in a beyond budgeting environment
» ‘KPI’ –improve business performance
» Benchmarking
» Core concepts and principles of target costing
»The meaning of ‘balanced scorecard’ and ‘KPI’ – and how they improve business performance
»Getting the mix right – balancing financial and non-financial measures
»KPIs relevant to delegates’
»Communicating and using the balanced scorecard within a business unit
» Getting colleagues to buy in to a remedial action plan when KPIs are off track
» Using influence and persuasion
» Different influencing strategies - and when to use them
» The working capital cycle
» Liquidity management
» Receivables management
- Cash vs credit options
- Credit policies
» Inventory management
» Discounted cash flow techniques
- Net present value
- Internal rate of return
- Modified internal rate of return
» Core principles of WACC
» Adjusted present value and impact of debt on investment decisions
» Review of core concepts of cash flow appraisal techniques
» Free cash flow
» Principles of WACC and how it is calculated
» Asset beta and equity beta and how they are used
» Adjusted present value and impact of debt on investment decisions
» Core concepts and practicalities of internal control
» A comprehensive approach addressing the design and implementation of risk management systems
- Developing risk management strategies and policies
- Creating a corporate risk register
- Key risk indicators (KRIs)
- Embedding risk management processes
- Developing the internal audit function and sound internal controls
» The COSO framework - a detailed examination of the COSO framework, including
- Framework objectives – Operations; Reporting; Compliance
- Framework components
- Control environment
- Risk assessment
- Control activities
- Information and communication
- Monitoring
» Spreadsheet risk
- Benefits of a formalized process
- Methods for improving spreadsheet models
» The Global Reporting Initiative
» Triple bottom line reporting
- Social
- Environmental
- Financial
REVENUE RECOGNITION
»Detailed review of the new five step model
» Identification of the performance obligation
»Determining and allocation the transaction prices
» Implementation issues and challenges
LEASES
»Challenges with the current standard
»Revised single model
»US GAAP dual model approach and key differences
» Impact on financial statements and debt covenants
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
»Challenges in distinguishing debt and equity
»Recent changes in the categories of financial instruments
» Incurred loss model compared to new expected loss model for bad and doubtful debts provisioning
Who Should Attend?
•Chief Accountants
•Group Finance Directors
•Heads of Finance
•Finance Managers
•Financial Controllers
•Accountants
•Management Accountants
•Any staff member that aspires to the accounting or finance functions