Certificate in Accounting Operations

Course overview

Course outline

1. 1Day 1: Finance and Accounting Best Practices and Operational Effectiveness

   • The importance of best practices
   • Effectiveness versus efficiency
   • Functions of management
   • Finance and accounting vision and mission
   • Purposes and processes of finance and accounting
   • Customer service survey
   • The new set of skills for Finance and Accounting
   • Clean desk policy
   • Peak performance time
   • Successful meetings
   • Communication skills
   • Reviewing and authorization matrix
   • Cross-training and backup strategies
2. 2Day 2: Financial Statements and Accounts Payable Management

   • Income Statement
   • Balance Sheet
   • Cash Flow Statement
   • Understanding the relationship between financial statements
   • Accounts payable lifecycle
   • Common AP inefficiencies and areas for improvement
   • Centralized versus decentralized AP
   • AP and supplier portals
   • Electronic expense reporting
   • Online purchasing catalogues
   • Document management systems
3. 3Day 3: Accounts Receivable, Inventory and Cash Management

   • Accounts receivable lifecycle
   • Accounting for the allowance for doubtful accounts
   • Four dimensions of managing AR
   • Credit policy
   • Billing
   • Collection
   • AR segmentation
   • Inventory lifecycle
   • Inventory costing methods
   • Valuation and presentation of inventory
   • Best practices in inventory management
   • Best practices in cash management
4. 4Day 4: Fixed Assets and Budgeting Management

   • Fixed assets lifecycle
   • Capitalizing versus expensing
   • Tracking and controlling fixed assets
   • Fixed asset records and reconciliation
   • Best practices in fixed asset management
   • Budgeting approaches
   • Selecting the appropriate budgeting method
   • Improving coordination during the budgeting process
   • Tips for creating efficiencies in the budgeting process
5. 5Day 5: Financial Reporting and Analysis Using Microsoft Excel

   • Consolidating data from multiple sources
   • Validating data for accuracy
   • Structuring data for efficient financial reporting
   • Creating and managing PivotTables
   • Preparing periodic reports efficiently
   • Performing efficient and accurate reconciliations
   • Bank statement reconciliation
   • Payroll reporting and analysis
   • Accounts payable reporting and analysis
   • General ledger reporting, reconciliation and analysis
   • Budget reporting and analysis
   • Invoice analysis and reporting
   • Creating flash management reports