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Financial Management:Tips of the Trade

Rebeka J. Mazzone, CPA

Accounting Management Solutions, Inc.November 1, 2010



Agenda

• Overview/Introduction

• Case Study

• Common Issues

• What should you look for?

2



Rebeka J. Mazzone, CPA

Director, Rhode Island Region

Accounting Management Solutions, Inc.

3



About Us

• For more than a decade,

Accounting Management

Solutions, (AMS) has providedaccounting support and financial

management leadership at the

consulting CFO, controller and

accounting manager level to

dynamic companies throughout

the Northeast.



Why Should You Care AboutFinance?

• Finance impacts every

aspect of your organization

• To know finance is to workwell with it

• Money and mission are

directly linked

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Anatomy of a Financial OperationsReview

• Assess financial operations

• Identify issues and areas for improvement

• Prioritize best practices and next steps

• Reviews are frequently used during

organizational changes



Example: AMS RapidDiagnosticTM

Gap Analysis Best PracticesCurrent State

Operations

Systems

Process

Assessment Review OutputPolicies/Procedures

Financial Health

Best Practices

Recommendations

ROI/ Profitability

Implementation Plan

Day 1 Day 5



Case Study: $7M Not-for-profit RealEstate

8



How Can You Prevent This?

9




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Case Study: $1M Social ServiceAgency

12




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Case Study: $18M EducationalInstitution

14




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Common Themes

• Inadequate reporting

• Improper staffing

• Inadequate managementand board oversight

• Lack of strategic measures

to help detect early warningsigns

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What Should You Know AboutFinance?

• Do we have enough resources to effectively

deliver the programs we have committed to?

• What are our outstanding liabilities?

• What will our future resources look like?

• Are we effectively managing our financial

processes?• Do we have the right team in place?

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Reporting as a Roadmap

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Reporting

Question Reports

Where do we want to go? Strategic plan

How are we going to get there? Budget

Do we have enough resourcesto get there?

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Are we on track? Income Statement vs. Budget

If not, what are we going to doabout it?

Board Discussion

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Finance Department

• Bookkeeper

• Controller/Director ofFinance

• CFO

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Staffing

21

• Job description

• Expert interview• Skill set match

• Effective transition

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Policies, procedures, checklists

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Audits

• Management letter comments are very valuable

• Address issues from previous years’ audits

• Talk to auditors about adjusting entries• Audit adjustments should be recorded monthly, not

annually

• Why would you want to show your Board

numbers that are different from what you will

show the public?

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Engaged Board and Management

• Ask the “dumb” questions

• Ensure more than one member of the Board

understands finance

• Perform board member training and

orientation

• Present financial information in a meaningfulway

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Metrics – Link Money to Mission



Metrics



The Value of Metrics

• Ability to predict the future

• Convey value of organization to funders

• Help board members understand financialinformation

• Shows the relationship between program

outcomes and money

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Goal: Improve Operations

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES

P R O F I T A B I L I T Y / C A S H F L

O W

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Next Steps: Questions to Ask

• Is there financial knowledge

across the organization?

• Is your organization missingcritical functions?

• Do you have the right people in

the right role?• Can you link money to mission?

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Contact Information

Rebeka Mazzone, CPADirector – Rhode Island Region

Accounting Management Solutions, Inc.

[email protected]

To download a copy of this presentation go to:www.amsolutions.net/resources

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