What are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and why should your Finance team track them? A KPI is a critical measure of progress towards a target, goal or core business objective. KPIs are quantifiable measures over time that focus on strategic and operational performance and create a centre of attention for achieving the desired result.
In this article, we will discuss the top 11 KPIs your finance team should track and why.
- Topic:
- Finance
Whether you’re an experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Finance Director or relatively new to a finance leadership role, the CFO skills needed for success are the same.
You are already likely to have strong mathematical and analytical abilities. You’ll be familiar with critical CFO and Finance Director responsibilities such as ensuring business sustainability, optimising cost controls and cash flow, and increasing profitability.
From the start, becoming a successful chief finance officer can be challenging, especially in times of economic or business uncertainty when the business's financial health is in jeopardy. In this article, we look at the seven essential leadership skills to make a positive and lasting impact in your organisation and ensure success within the business.
- Topic:
- Finance
Not all Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are created equal – some are more effective than others at determining and leading the strategic direction of a business. CFO duties and responsibilities vary; everyone is different, and everyone brings their unique blend of skills and experience to the role. So, what makes a CFO successful?
In this article, we examine the common personality traits shared by successful CFOs and the key elements and skills that will add to CFO effectiveness.
- Topic:
- Finance
In busy project-based firms, everyone is in a race to the finish to meet a client’s deadline. As long as clients pay on time and the work is profitable, project managers may not have the time nor insights to drive more revenue.
Sometimes, however, there are warning signs that the business is heading for trouble. Projects that over-run, or use more resources than were originally costed for, undermine profitability, and could lead to cashflow problems – making it difficult (or impossible) to pay staff wages and suppliers.
So how do you get ahead of this situation so you can manage potential cash flow issues, and ensure your projects stay on time and within budget? Read on to find out more.
- Topic:
- Finance
The financial year end is almost upon us in Australia and New Zealand. Right now, Finance Directors and Chief Financial Officers across every sector are looking to their teams to complete an error-free and laser-focused close to the year.
There is plenty to do within a relatively short space of time, so keeping on top of the seemingly endless list of year-end tasks can be a challenge. Creating a plan of attack and breaking down what needs to be done and assigning tasks to specific team members will help you achieve that successful year-end.
Read on to learn how you can prepare your finance team for success come June 30.
- Topic:
- Finance
When the end of a financial year is approaching, finance teams will be hoping to enjoy a seamless and stress-free process. More importantly, they want to avoid complications or potential penalties.
Whether it’s the end of the tax year, accounting year, or both, it can understandably be a challenging time for finance teams and the wider business. To make things a little easier, we have prepared an ‘End of Financial Year Checklist’ to simplify the year-end financial close process and make sure your team has everything covered well in advance.
Read on to find out how you can prepare for your most stress-free year-end yet.
- Topic:
- Finance
Digital transformation is enabling businesses to do more with less. From impacting operational capabilities, to surfacing new opportunities, the digitisation of products and processes delivers on the promise to increase the accuracy of decision-making, boost productivity, and, ultimately, drive better performance for many different types of businesses.
This is already happening as business leaders refine how they blend data, analytics, and good old fashioned gut instinct and intuition to make more informed decisions for growth.
So, what is the impact of these trends for finance and accounting teams in 2023?
- Topic:
- Finance
Writing an expense policy is walking a fine line between setting clear boundaries and sounding like the 10 commandments. The best expense policies are followed by staff because they are regarded as fair, while empowering them to carry out their work without worry of not being reimbursed.
Employees often dislike incurring expenses, even if they know definitively that they are going to be reimbursed. Paying for company expenses not only makes personal budgeting difficult but results in the claimant usually chasing finance teams or checking bank statements for confirmation of payment.
Submitting expense claims can be a time-consuming and complicated process, becoming off-putting to employees. An expense policy should reflect this, entitling employees to quick and fair reimbursement for spending personal money on company work. Employees do not want to feel as though the business is begrudgingly paying them back, but rather thanking them for their hard work.
It’s always worth remembering that for staff to incur an expense, they are usually going out of their way for the company.
- Topic:
- Finance
If you are currently in the process of choosing a cloud provider, you’re not alone. Many businesses are now actively addressing the challenges of moving to the cloud, not least because it offers greater flexibility, security, competitive advantage and scalability for the future.
Use this article to gain deeper insight into the various factors to consider – because choosing the right cloud provider is crucial to your future success.
You can also download our whitepaper, 'How to make a successful move to the cloud' for more insight and advice.
- Topic:
- Finance
Milner’s Brands have been Attaché customers for a number of years, but are early in their journey with three other integrated Access solutions – Access Financials, Unleashed and Mintsoft. Here, Managing Director Paul Ruane explains the experience so far, and his optimism for how these products will revolutionise a brand that has been around for half a century.
- Topic:
- Finance
