Certificate in Accounting Operations

Day 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

Day 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

Day 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

Day 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

Day 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