Finance & Accounting Skills for Managers in the Health Sector

About

With the arrival of the new government there has been a change in priorities across the health sector.  There is a renewed focus on delivering improved services to the public, directing resources towards the front line and being able to justify all expenditure.      

Essential Finance for Managers in the Health Sector has been designed to meet these needs.  This highly practical seminar explains the structure of the health sector, the workings of the government budget cycle, organisational and Crown governance frameworks and how to control and manage organisational expenditure.  You’ll be able to use financial information to make well informed decisions and prepare credible budgets, forecasts and business cases.  This seminar will equip you with management and financial tools that you'll be able to apply as soon as you return to work. 

Previous delegates of this seminar said:

'The course was very clear, well thought out and bespoke to our needs' 

Frank Booth, Service Manager, Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing this seminar you will be able to:

• Understand the structure of the health sector and your planning and reporting obligations to the Crown
• Understand financial terminology, financial processes and financial reports of your DHB/ organisation
• Understand the rules of finance and apply them in the health sector
• Interpret cost centre reports and be able to take actions to get back on track
• Know what is expected from you from a financial perspective and how to record and manage expenditure to the approved budget in accordance with purchasing processes and approval levels
• Understand appropriations, funding sources, baseline updates and the authority for variations
• Understand the nature of costs and be able to appropriately cost new intiatives
• Prepare budgets and forecasts for your area

Who should attend:

All managers who need to better understand the financials of their organisation, and those who are responsible for a cost centre or project. 

Outline

Governance and financial management within the public sector

• The role of public sector financial management
• Identifying departments and agencies within the government reporting entity
• The structure of the health and disability sector
• Practical exercise: Defining financial terminology for your DHB/ organisation
• Governance and financial accountability within the public sector
• The role and purpose of inputs, outputs and outcomes
• Estimates, appropriations and parliamentary scrutiny
• Accountability reports
• Monitoring and advisory agencies to government
• Core public sector legislation
• An overview of the government budgeting cycle:
• Strategic phase
• Initiatives phase
• Production phase
• Key government priorities
• The role and appointment of departmental chief executives and Crown entity boards

Governance and financial management within your DHB/ organisation

• The role and structure of your financial management framework
• The budgetary control process
• Financial delegations
• The role and appointment of District Health Boards
• Obtaining approval for variations
• Practical exercise: Determining the appropriate authority for a variation
• Practical exercise: Defining DHB/ organisational financial terminology
• The planning process
• The planning timetable
• Financial reporting priorities throughout the year
• The financial responsibility shield
• The seven golden rules for public sector budget holding managers

Examining the financial systems of your organisation

• How does the budget link into the other aspects of finance?
• Long term planning
• Monthly reporting
• Daily transactions
• Examining the key components of your organisation's financial systems
• Practical exercise: Determining the major components of financial systems
• Accounts payable and accounts receivable
• Examining the functions of the treasury
• Fixed asset register
• Understanding the difference between Capex and Opex
• What is depreciation and what methods are used to calculate it?
• Practical exercise: Determining whether purchases are Capex or Opex
• Funding mechanisms for Capex in the health sector
• The capital expenditure approval process
• Payroll and petty cash
• General ledger

An overview of financial audit and taxation

• The role of internal and external auditors
• Understanding IRD record keeping requirements
• An overview of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
• An overview of Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT)
• Practical exercise: Determining whether FBT applies to specific purchases

Understanding different types of cost

• Identifying costs
• Fixed vs variable
• Controllable vs non controllable
• Shared and allocated costs
• The importance of organisational cost structure
• Practical exercise: Determining whether costs are fixed or variable
• Practical exercise: Identifying the full cost of a decision and how costs build up

How to manage budgets for cost centres and projects

• The role of cost centre and project reporting
• Why are there accounting rules and why should you follow them?
• Practical exercise: Determining whether the accounting rules have been followed
• The advantages of variance reporting
• How to interpret and act on the variances within your cost centre statements
• Common reasons for incorrect variances
• Practical exercise: Using cost benefit analysis to determine what action to take

How to prepare accurate and meaningful budgets

• What is the purpose of budgeting?
• Understanding the budgetary control process
• The interrelation between different budgets
• What are the methods for preparing cost centre budgets?
• Practical exercise: Preparing a budget using zero based and incremental methods
• How to correctly phase/ seasonalise your budget across the year
• Practical exercise: Determining how to spread the budget
• Tips for effective budgeting
• Examining how finance people can help you prepare a budget

Facilitator

Kevin Lee, Director, Business Skills Training

Kevin Lee BA (Hons), Pg Dip, MBA, ACMA runs a consultancy for business skills development.  He is a Chartered Management Accountant with 20 years experience of Government Agencies, Corporates and SME’s.  Kevin is a member of the New Zealand Association for Training and Development, the Human Resources Institute for New Zealand and accredited as a Belbin Team Role facilitator.  His post-graduate qualifications include a post-graduate diploma in business administration with distinction and an MBA in which he majored in finance.  

Kevin specialises in helping managers and staff to develop practical financial skills and knowledge.  He is passionate about making finance relevant, understandable and fun.  He enables people to develop their business acumen and to apply financial management practices that suit their organisation’s needs and circumstances. 

Kevin’s clients include: Ministry of Justice, Department of Internal Affairs, ANZ National Bank, Meridian Energy, Auckland District Health Board and Auckland City Council.   

Kevin’s approach is highly practical, using only the financial theory that people need to know, and then building skills and knowledge through case studies, examples and small group work.  He is able to provide “real life” advice based on his experience in CFO roles and his experience of managing major Capex projects, implementing financial systems, improving financial processes and procedures and achieving ongoing efficiency savings.   

Kevin’s passion, enthusiasm and commitment result in excellent feedback from participants at all levels: Directors, General Managers, Accountants, Senior Managers, Middle Managers, Supervisors and Support Staff.     

Kevin's passion, enthusiasm and commitment result in excellent feedback from participants. Feedback from past courses includes:
'Excellent facilitator who was able to successfully mix talking and teaching with active listening and responding to audience. Very perceptive about people - didn't miss a trick.'
- Maria Triandafilidis, Executive Officer, MAF

'I liked the way things were used to relate to finance, e.g. pyramid/temple /softball. Excellent course - glad I came!'
- Maria Sialava'a, Executive Assistant, AMP

'All aspects of the course were very valuable. I particularly liked the group discussions and clarification and backing up of topics by giving real examples.'
- Trisha Donovan, EA, Ministry of Health

'Everything was explained clearly and thoroughly.'
- Loree Jellick, PA, Quotable Value

'Excellent gained many tips.'
- Sharyn O' Regan, EA to CFO, Hort Research

'Thank you for a very informative course. I have enjoyed it immensely and do like your teaching style.'
- Dawn Varga, PA, ANZ Business Banking

'I appreciated the clear descriptions of accounting terms and practices. You have a great speaking voice. Everything was relevant - a very good overview."
- Elaine Richmond, PA, Salvation Army

'Excellent presentation by Kevin. Kept a boring topic very interesting.'
- Kerrie Chudleigh, PA/Office Systems Coordinator, NZ Fire Service

Kevin Lee is also facilitating:

• Cash Flow and Liquidity Management for improved performance
• Effectively Managing & Organising Accounts Payable
• Effectively Managing and Organising Accounts Payable
• Essential Finance Skills for EAs, PAs & Administrators
• Managing Credit, Accounts Receivable and Debt Recovery
• Managing the Numbers: The Financial Skills for Non Financial Managers
• Practical Budgeting and Forecasting for Managers
• The Effective Accounts Assistant

In-house Training

Prices and Registration

Sorry, this event currently has no dates scheduled.