Course Overview

One of the most challenging aspects faced by a financial accountant is to close the month-end and year-end accounts and present the financial statements and get them audited as fast as possible. The resulting financial statements are used by management, shareholders, lenders and regulators for their decision making.

The accountants have to comply with the regulatory deadlines to complete the closing process and issue financial statements. However, the closing process has conventionally been a slow one.

It takes roughly 3 to 4 months to close the accounts and issue financial statements for an average company. For a company which has a substantial public interest, the timeliness is very strict. Therefore, the accountants face the challenge of closing accounts as fast as possible.

This Zoe training course will empower you in closing the accounts and issuing the accurate financial statements within the minimum possible time period.

Course Objectives

The objective of this training is to help you achieve effectiveness and accuracy in fast closing monthly and year-end accounts.

By the end of this training you will learn to:

• Move the timing of closing activities out of the core closing period
• Standardise and automate the use of journal entries in the closing process
• Standardise the chart of accounts
• Centralise the accounting functions
• Optimise the approval process for the receivables and payables
• Integrate an ongoing improvement review into the closing process

Training Methodology

Our training courses are customised to suit the training audience and their professional backgrounds and experience. Classroom sessions are presented by Subject Matter Experts.

Participants are encouraged to get involved through various activities such as group discussions, troubleshooting for questions, problem-solving, projects, etc.

Participants are also encouraged to share their experiences, issues, concerns and best practices from their respective organisations, which are discussed in detail by the course facilitator.

Zoe Talent Solution follows the Do–Review–Learn–Apply Model.

Organisational Benefits

Companies who get their employees to participate in this course can benefit in the following ways:

• Ensure that your company is running with the most streamlined processes in Closing Month-end and Year-End Accounts
• Create a system that reviews and improvises every accounting aspect involved in the closing process
• Set a standard that makes everyone comply with the best practices in financial accounting
• Save time and avoid unnecessary delays over the issue of financial statements

Personal Benefits

The partakers of this course can benefit in the following ways:

• Get equipped and empowered to centralise the accounting functions
• Learn to alter the timing of closing activities and thus having to work with ease as opposed to being stressed
• Master the technique to revise the content of financial statements
• Create, manage and maintain a financial accounting system that get you recognized for closing accounts effectively and efficiently

Who should attend?

• All accounting professionals involved in the preparation of financial statements
• Financial controllers, finance managers, financial systems analysts, senior accountants, financial accountants, management accountants, general ledger accountants, assistant accountants, accounts receivable accountants, accounts payable accountants, payroll accountants
• Management and Decision-makers who rely on timely and accurate financial information
• Operations, logistics, and procurement professionals
• Professionals who have responsibility and accountability for financial performance and the integrity of financial and information systems

Course Outline

Module 1 – Introduction to the Fast Closing Process

• Different types of a fast close
• Benefits of the fast close
• Legal issues impacting the fast close
• Steps to achieve a fast close

Module 2 – Review of the current closing process

• Traditional closing process
• Additional closing tasks for listed, multidivisional, multinational companies
• Problems with the current closing process
• The total duration of the closing process

Module 3 – Altering the timing of the closing activities

• Altering the closing mindset
• Review and correct the sub-ledger transactions
• Completing Bank reconciliations faster
• Altering the invoicing process
• Altering the accruing of expenses and income
• Reconciling asset and liability accounts
• Deferring closing activities

Module 4 – Revising the content of financial statements

• Altering the mode of report delivery
• Revising the content of financial statements
• Standardizing reports
• Eliminate the cost reporting from the reporting package
• Separate metrics from the financial reporting package

Module 4 – Optimize the use of journal entries and chart of accounts

• Eliminate immaterial journal entries
• Standardize the journal entries
• Convert to recurring journal entries
• Automate journal entry postings
• Standardize the chart of accounts
• Automate elimination of intercompany transactions

Module 5 – Fast closing process

• Closing the inventory function
• Closing the billing function
• Closing the payroll function
• Closing the payables
• Closing the cash process function

Module 6 – Standardization, centralization and automation of the closing process

• Impact of standardization of the closing process
• Impact of centralization of the closing process
• Impact of automation on the closing process
• Controls for financial reporting

Module 7 – Ongoing improvements in the closing process

• Ongoing improvement process
• Improvement measurements