Financial Operations Management Training Course

Participants can map finance workflows and identify handoff failures, rework and control gaps.

• SIPOC diagrams define suppliers, inputs, process steps, outputs and customers
• Swimlane maps expose handoffs between finance, procurement, sales and treasury
• Value-stream analysis separates processing time, waiting time and rework
• Identify approval bottlenecks, duplicate data entry and undocumented workarounds
• Exception paths distinguish authorised overrides from informal process bypasses
• Handoff standards specify required documents, data fields and response deadlines

Participants can design finance controls that address operational, reporting and fraud risks.

• COSO Internal Control Framework connects objectives, risks, controls and monitoring
• Preventive controls stop invalid transactions before accounting records are created
• Detective controls identify errors through review, reconciliation and exception reporting
• Segregation-of-duties matrices separate initiation, approval, posting and payment responsibilities
• Control matrices document risk statements, activities, evidence, owners and frequency
• Management review controls require evidence of challenge, follow-up and resolution

Participants can establish governance for supplier, customer, chart-of-accounts and bank master data.

• Master-data governance assigns creation, amendment, approval and periodic review responsibilities
• Supplier onboarding verifies legal identity, tax status, bank details and sanctions
• Customer master records support credit decisions, invoicing accuracy and collections
• Chart-of-accounts design supports reporting, reconciliations and management analysis
• Duplicate detection rules compare names, tax identifiers, addresses and bank accounts
• Change logs retain evidence for sensitive master-data amendments and overrides

Participants can manage procure-to-pay workflows, controls and supplier-payment performance.

• Three-way matching compares purchase orders, receipts and supplier invoices
• Invoice workflow routes coding, approval, exception handling and posting
• Payment-run controls validate due dates, bank files and authorisation limits
• Duplicate-payment analysis tests invoice numbers, amounts, suppliers and payment references
• Supplier statement reconciliations identify missing invoices, credits and disputed balances
• Early-payment discounts assessed against cash availability and procurement policy

Participants can monitor accounts payable quality, ageing, exceptions and payment risk.

• Invoice ageing distinguishes unprocessed, approved, disputed and overdue supplier invoices
• Exception dashboards classify missing purchase orders, receipts and coding errors
• Payment terms analysis identifies premature payments and late-payment exposure
• Vendor account reconciliations resolve statement differences before payment disputes escalate
• Spend analysis groups suppliers by category, frequency, value and concentration
• AP KPIs track first-pass match rate, cycle time and exception backlog

Participants can manage order-to-cash processes from customer setup through cash application.

• Credit-control policies establish limits, review triggers and approval authorities
• Sales order controls verify pricing, customer status, tax and delivery terms
• Accurate invoicing depends on approved orders, dispatch evidence and contract terms
• Cash application matches receipts using remittance advice, references and customer accounts
• Dispute workflows assign ownership, root cause, resolution date and collection impact
• Order-to-cash KPIs track billing accuracy, collection effectiveness and unapplied cash

Participants can use receivables data to improve collections and manage credit exposure.

• Receivables ageing segments balances by due date, risk and collection status
• Collection strategies prioritise accounts by value, delinquency, dispute and credit risk
• Days sales outstanding analysed with sales trends, credit terms and seasonality
• Expected credit loss indicators identify deterioration requiring provision assessment
• Promise-to-pay logs record commitments, follow-up dates and collection outcomes
• Write-off governance requires documented recovery actions, approval and accounting treatment

Participants can organise record-to-report activities for accurate and timely financial reporting.

• Record-to-report scope covers journals, accruals, reconciliations, consolidation and reporting
• Journal-entry policies define supporting evidence, approval thresholds and posting deadlines
• Standard journal templates reduce coding errors and improve audit trail quality
• Close checklists sequence dependencies across subledgers, treasury and corporate accounting
• Materiality thresholds focus review effort on significant balances and movements
• Reporting timetables align statutory, management, regulatory and tax reporting requirements

Participants can build and manage a disciplined month-end close calendar.

• Close calendars assign tasks, owners, dependencies, deadlines and escalation contacts
• Soft close procedures identify likely adjustments before the reporting deadline
• Flash reporting uses preliminary data with documented assumptions and caveats
• Daily close meetings track completion, blockers, late inputs and decision requirements
• Post-close reviews analyse delays, adjustments, control failures and recurring issues
• Close-duration metrics compare actual completion times against agreed reporting schedules

Participants can establish reconciliation standards that support reliable balance-sheet reporting.

• Reconciliation policies define preparer, reviewer, evidence, timing and certification requirements
• Balance-sheet account categories determine reconciliation method, frequency and risk rating
• Ageing schedules separate current differences from overdue reconciling items
• Bank reconciliations investigate timing differences, unidentified receipts and unusual payments
• Intercompany reconciliations resolve currency, timing, pricing and coding differences
• Certification dashboards report completion status, aged exceptions and unresolved risks

Participants can manage period-end estimates, accruals and supporting evidence with appropriate control.

• Accrual schedules capture received goods, services, payroll and professional fees
• Reversing journals prevent duplicate expense recognition in subsequent reporting periods
• Materiality assessments distinguish routine estimates from significant management judgement
• Provision support documents obligations, probability, measurement basis and approval evidence
• Variance analysis compares actual invoices against prior accruals and forecast assumptions
• IFRS-informed cut-off procedures test transactions recorded near period-end dates

Participants can coordinate intercompany processing, reconciliations and settlement across legal entities.

• Intercompany agreements define services, pricing, settlement terms and documentation requirements
• Counterparty coding ensures reciprocal entries post to matching entity accounts
• Intercompany matching reports identify differences before consolidation and close deadlines
• Transfer-pricing invoices require approved calculations, supporting schedules and tax documentation
• Foreign-currency remeasurement separates transactional balances from translation adjustments
• Netting arrangements reduce settlement volumes while preserving approved payment controls

Participants can connect daily cash management with working-capital and accounting information.

• Daily cash positioning combines bank balances, receipts, payments and funding movements
• Thirteen-week cash forecasts use receivables, payroll, supplier and debt data
• Cash conversion cycle links inventory, receivables days and payables days
• Bank account controls govern signatories, access rights, confirmations and reviews
• Liquidity triggers define escalation thresholds, funding actions and executive reporting
• Working-capital dashboards compare actual performance against targets and prior periods

Participants can assess data quality, workflow automation and system controls within finance operations.

• ERP workflow controls enforce approvals, tolerances, posting periods and user permissions
• Interface reconciliations verify completeness between source systems and general ledgers
• Data-quality rules test mandatory fields, valid codes and duplicate records
• Exception reports prioritise failed interfaces, blocked invoices and unusual journal entries
• Robotic process automation candidates require stable rules, volumes and control evidence
• User-access reviews compare assigned roles with approved job responsibilities

Participants can design performance reporting that drives accountable finance operations improvement.

• KPI trees connect strategic outcomes with process measures and control indicators
• Balanced scorecards combine service, cost, quality, cash and risk measures
• First-pass yield measures transactions completed without rework or exception handling
• Root-cause analysis uses five whys, Pareto charts and cause-and-effect diagrams
• Control self-assessments test whether documented activities operate as designed
• Monthly performance reviews assign corrective actions, owners, dates and evidence

Participants can prioritise finance process improvements and plan controlled implementation.

• Lean waste categories identify defects, waiting, overprocessing and unnecessary movement
• Kaizen priorities rank improvement ideas by benefit, effort, risk and urgency
• Standard operating procedures document steps, controls, exceptions and evidence requirements
• Pilot plans specify scope, success measures, training and rollback actions
• Change-impact assessments identify affected roles, systems, policies and reporting
• Benefits registers track expected savings, cash effects, quality gains and owners

Participants can manage outsourced finance services through defined controls, metrics and reviews.

• Service-level agreements define volumes, turnaround, accuracy and reporting commitments
• Third-party control requirements specify evidence, access rights and incident notification
• Governance meetings review KPIs, breaches, root causes and corrective actions
• Transition plans protect process knowledge, master data and open-item ownership
• Quality-assurance sampling tests processed transactions against documented service standards
• Exit plans address data return, continuity, records retention and replacement arrangements

Participants can build, review and present a complete finance operations improvement plan for a defined operational problem.

• Process diagnosis combines SIPOC mapping, data analysis and stakeholder evidence
• Risk-and-control matrix addresses identified failure points and ownership gaps
• Close calendar and reconciliation plan establish reporting discipline and accountability
• KPI dashboard specification measures service, quality, cash, cost and control
• Implementation roadmap sequences quick wins, dependencies, resources and governance reviews
• Executive presentation communicates findings, recommendations, benefits, risks and decision requests