14th Annual
Conference11-12 March 2014, Rydges, Auckland
Manoeuvre changeDevelop efficiencyCommunicate compellingly
Master skills• Faster month-end reports• Efficient IT solutions• Clearer presentations• Updated budgeting methodology• New insights in performance measurement
Separately bookable half-day workshopsDeveloping a time-saving reporting process Communicating data so people pay attention
Featuring insights fromSean Kelly, CFO, Hubbard FoodsJason Fullerton-Smith, CFO, Kordia NZNigel Toms, Corporate Risk Manager, Watercare ServicesMijo Katavic, Improvement Programme Director, Rotorua District CouncilKirsten Binge, Change Manager, FonterraShyama Mahasivam, Mgmt & Treasury Reporting Accountant, Genesis EnergyPeter Mills CA, Finance Information Manager, Landcorp Farming
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Supporting organisation
8.30 Registration and coffee
9.00 Opening remarks from the Chair Rod Oram, Business Journalist
9.10 Essential skill sets of the modern management accountant
The in-demand skill set of the management accountant and their role within the company is shifting. Sean will discuss these changes, with a focus on the qualities that both business managers and the job market value. Understanding this can assist in realising the full potential of a management accountant within any organisation and within their personal career path.• Business acumen to act as a value-adding partner in decisions • Leading the way, relationships and influence • Communication skills to make numbers come alive
Sean Kelly, CFO, Hubbard Foods
10.00 Maximising the value of your budgeting process If you haven’t recently reassessed the way you budget, it may be
time for a change. Understanding the varying budgeting techniques and being clear about what you want from the budget can help maximise the benefit of budgets. • Leading trends and developments in budgeting• Non-financial budgeting • Integrating budgeting with planning and business management
10.50 Morning break & refreshments
11.10 Making forecasting an integral part of the business plan Management accounting differs from many other finance professions
in that it necessitates looking not just towards the past but also towards the future. Developing a consistent and thorough system of forecasting is a valuable step to reaching well-thought-out decisions.• Choosing among forecasting methodologies• Developing a rolling forecast matched to your business cycle• Applying the information gathered to the overall strategic planning
process Mel Jenkin, Business Advisory Manager, Bellingham Wallace
12.00 Speeding up the month-end reporting process While month-end reports are a core part of the management
accounting role, they can consume sufficient time and resources to become a burden. However, there are ways to streamline the process:• What to avoid near the month’s end• What work should be done on the report each day• Using technology to your advantage
Shyama Mahasivam, Management & Treasury Reporting Accountant, Genesis Energy
12.50 Lunch break
1.50 Excel masterclass: Hidden value within the programme you think you know
Whether you use Microsoft Excel every so often or every day, there are likely tools and tricks within it you still don’t know about or are under-utilising, including:• Creating dashboard reports • Catching errors using the auditing tool • Mastering and troubleshooting the pivot table • Analysing trends within tables using the Sparkline feature • Ways that conditional formatting can be used to analyse data • Creating graphs with two Y axes• Using Sumifs function to show where items have been coded
improperly James Thomson, Director, Cloud Connect
2:40 Creating and responding to dashboard reports Perhaps you already incorporate dashboard reporting into your
financial management, or perhaps you have yet to use it at all. This presentation will provide advice from choosing whether to set up a dashboard to making decisions based on the most current information.
Ram Narasimhan, Manager - Advisory, KPMG
3.30 Afternoon break & refreshments
3.50 Cutting inefficiency through control of the self and surroundings
Today’s management accountant juggles many duties. This presentation will help you develop the skills and thought processes necessary to manage a large and variable workload through personal time management and identify and eliminate inefficiencies on a wider scale. The session will challenge your current approach, look at areas of resistance and provide a shift towards greater personal effectiveness.
Ola Roberts, Director, Refine Business and Professional Development
4.40 Facilitated networking roundtable: Share and discover IT solutions that work
Finding new systems and software can provide better efficiency, accuracy and analysis. Please come prepared to briefly share and discuss over drinks at least one new computer programme or system that you have found helps in any area of the management accounting role and leave with a better understanding of the IT solutions available.
Rod Oram, Business Journalist
5.10 Networking drinks
14th Annual
Conference11-12 March 2014, Rydges, Auckland
Communicating data so people pay attention
The wrong report can end up discarded, and an ineffective presentation can have no impact. In such a case, the business is not getting the most from the information and resources at hand. This workshop will guide you through the unique challenges and common principals of communication to ensure that your written and verbal presentations are both heard and understood, and can be of benefit to your audience.
• Understanding what information your CFO and other members of your business team need from you • Cutting out the fluff from any mode of communication • Building emotional intelligence to allow you to interpret and respond to different communication styles • Developing personal confidence in communication and leadership capabilities
Ola Roberts, Director, Refine Business and Professional Development
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9.00 Welcome back from the Chair Rod Oram, Business Journalist
9.05 How management accountants can help drive company performance
As the role of the management accountant shifts, finding one’s place within the company structure can be a challenge. Jason will provide a CFO’s perspective on the business input and finance team leadership that they hope to receive from the exceptional management accountant.
Jason Fullerton-Smith, CFO, Kordia NZ
9.45 Guiding projects through option selection and development using risk management
Risk management is a discipline through which the information prepared by management accountants can have a meaningful impact upon major investment decisions and project delivery.• Commencing the project risk process and developing information
to compare options• Methods of reflecting risk in investment appraisals• Developing and managing the risk budget for the project
Nigel Toms, Corporate Risk Manager, Watercare Services
10.25 Morning break & refreshments
10.45 Performance is not just the bottom line: a balanced scorecard approach to managing performance
KPIs and bottom line performance are complementary, KPIs providing a long-term foundation to measure productivity improvement and the bottom line a real-time reflection of achievement. Experiences from New Zealand’s largest corporate farmer.• Methods of determining KPIs - some interesting challenges• Linking individual managers’ KPIs to corporate targets• Reporting progress against targets in a distributed environment• Combining financial and non-financial measures
Peter Mills CA, Finance Information Manager, Landcorp Farming
11.30 Applying lean thinking in a tight economy In the wake of the global financial crisis, lean thinking can be a useful
tool to do more with less without compromising the quality of the end product. The case study at hand will take lean thinking beyond the theoretical realm and even the realm of manufacturing to provide real-life examples of its potential.• What lean thinking is and how it is being used in service sectors • How to create and implement a lean transformation plan and the
secrets to success • Applications and advantages to service
Mijo Katavic, Improvement Programme Director, Rotorua District Council
12.10 Lunch break
1.00 Breakout session workshop: Applying skills to determine the financial viability of a market shift
The decision of whether to move into a new market is one many organisations will make sooner or later. In this session, delegates will take lessons from the prior presentation, the day as a whole, and their own experience to work through a problem within small groups, followed by a discussion among groups to compare the solutions they each developed and the process they followed. They will come out with a better understanding of the differing ways companies assess a business move and the methods that can be used to improve the quality of decisions.• Forecasting the effects of a change on an organisation• Forming a strategic plan based on a forecast• Determining the performance indicators associated with a specific
change Davood Askarany, Senior Lecturer, University of Auckland
2.30 Afternoon break & refreshments
2.50 Presenting to deliver clarity and persuasion You may know the solutions to your organisation’s problems, but
that means little without the ability to convince others that your advice is worth following. This presentation will focus on developing leadership abilities as well as framing a business case in a way that appeals to the big picture.• Persuasive speaking techniques• Understanding differing communication styles• Presenting numerical data clearly• Giving a confident and knowledgeable appearance
Craig McFadyen, Director, Rapid Results
3.30 Key approaches which drive effective organisational change, including the role of management accountants
Organisational change is an ongoing imperative in the fast-changing economic and business world we all live in. The role and value of management accountants is critical in this process and is increasingly being recognised, particularly in terms of decision support and analytics. This session will be led by an internal change manager and an external management Consultant and will draw on their knowledge and experiences in driving effective organisational change.
Christine Bear, Managing Director, CBA Group Kirsten Binge, Change Manager, Fonterra
4.10 Closing remarks from the Chair and end of conference Rod Oram, Business Journalist
Manoeuvre changeDevelop efficiencyCommunicate compellingly
Developing a time-saving reporting process
If you are spending more than a few days on your monthly report, you are not at your most efficient. This workshop looks at how this process can be refined through careful forethought and execution. It is possible to leave more time for other priorities while still providing accurate and complete information, and this workshop will show you how.
• Planning ahead for greater control of the reporting process• Identifying and eliminating unnecessary elements• Identifying and responding to user requirements• Use of technology• Creating a long-term plan for faster future reports
Bill Butler, Director, Academy of Training
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Copyright © 2013 Conferenz Ltd
Update your skills by learning from experts in the field and case studies from a wide variety of New Zealand organisations. Each session has been developed from management accountants’ feedback of what they struggle with and want to master - whether it be faster month-end reporting, mastering IT, giving compelling presentations, or accurately measuring performance. Refine the essentials and move beyond the basics of accounting to achieve a value-adding role in your organisation.
