CFO Series: Essential Cost Containment

Overview

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We all want to make the organization more profitable, but do we do it the best way? Many simply hack away at costs and then repeat the same unwieldy process every eighteen months. Do our internal and external customers truly understand our numbers?  There is a better way to communicate financial information, so they DO understand and take the proper actions. Building an effective team always results in improved performance, talent retention and reduces costs. We also discuss the ethics of creativity – is creativity good or bad or a mixed bag? We will discuss how, and specifically what, you can do to rein in costs and get the most from what the organization already has and remains ethical. These four sessions will help you become better at controlling the right costs and becoming more successful.

Highlights

Improving Profitability the Right Way: How to Cut the Right Costs
• Understanding the goal of cost-cutting: planning, objectives, and crucial considerations
• Why cost-cutting is resisted in organizations
• Ripple effects of cost reductions
• Identifying the right costs to cut and which to leave alone
• Common mistakes in cost-cutting: culture, politics, and strategy considerations
• Fourteen different perspectives to approach cost-cutting efficiently
• Over fifty uncommon cost-cutting possibilities
• Preparing for future cost-cutting exercises
• A proven process to cut the right costs in an organization

Building High Performing Teams: Cohesive Teams Get Results
• Five signals that teamwork is broken and pervasive myths about teams
• The role of conflict in effective teams
• Why trust is the foundation of winning teams
• Value of assessments and diversity in team performance
• Fifteen-step action plan to build trust and enhance teamwork
• Retaining top talent through team cohesion
• Essential leadership steps to enable effective teamwork

Do Creative Accountants Belong in Prison? True or False?
• Should accountants be creative? Pros and cons
• Problems inherent in creativity and its potential misuse
• Correlation between creativity, ethics, and dishonesty
• Interrelationship of creativity with the Code of Professional Conduct
• Impact of creative accounting on stakeholders
• Techniques to ethically harness creativity for positive results

Storytelling Your Financials for Impact: Narrative Beats Numbers
• Why storytelling is more effective than data-dumping in financial communication
• Anatomy of a great financial story: structure, characters, turning points
• Incorporating context, trends, and insights into financial messaging
• Examples of effective storytelling in organizations (e.g., Apple)
• Visual tools and techniques to support financial narratives
• Communicating with non-financial audiences: clarity without oversimplification

Prerequisites

At least six (6) months of professional financial statement analysis experience and/or at least six (6) months of professional experience in preparing or reviewing accounting processes and reports; experience working with internal clients or external clients and business leaders.

Designed For

Corporate financial leaders, financial managers, CEOs, CFOs, controllers, accountants, board members, advisors, and consultants; CPAs in public practice and CPAs in industry; business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals who are interested in learning more about how to cut costs, make reports understandable and understood, getting the most from the talent, managing creativity and ethics.

Objectives

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

• Identify the right costs to cut and develop strategic, ethical cost-containment plans
• Understand the planning process, interrelated impacts, and potential pitfalls of cost-cutting initiatives
• Apply non-traditional and innovative approaches to cost reduction while maintaining organizational effectiveness
• Recognize the signs of poor teamwork and apply proven strategies to build high-performing, cohesive teams
• Enhance trust, communication, and collaboration to retain top talent and improve team results
• Understand the ethical implications of creativity and distinguish between beneficial innovation and unethical behavior
• Integrate ethics and regulatory guidance into creative problem-solving and decision-making
• Use storytelling techniques to translate financial data into compelling narratives that drive action
• Communicate financial insights clearly and persuasively to executives, boards, and non-financial stakeholders
• Apply lessons from case studies to cost management, team building, ethics, creativity, and financial communication

Preparation

None.

Notice

Attend in-person or online