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?

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Rebeka J. Mazzone, CPA

Director, Rhode Island Region

Accounting Management Solutions, Inc.
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About Us

• For more than a decade,

Accounting Management
Solutions, (AMS) has provided
accounting support and financial
management leadership at the
consulting CFO, controller and
accounting manager level to
dynamic companies throughout
the Northeast.
Why Should You Care About
Finance?

• Finance impacts every

aspect of your organization
• To know finance is to work
well with it
• Money and mission are
directly linked

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Anatomy of a Financial Operations
Review

• Assess financial operations

• Identify issues and areas for improvement
• Prioritize best practices and next steps
• Reviews are frequently used during
organizational changes
 Example: AMS Rapid
DiagnosticTM

Current State Gap Analysis Best Practices

Day 1 Day 5

Assessment Review Output

Operations Policies/Procedures Recommendations
Systems Financial Health ROI/ Profitability
Process Best Practices Implementation Plan
Case Study: $7M Not-for-profit Real
Estate

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How Can You Prevent This?

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Case Study: $18M Healthcare
Organization

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How Can You Prevent This?

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Case Study: $1M Social Service
Agency

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How Can You Prevent This?

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Case Study: $18M Educational
Institution

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How Can You Prevent This?

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Common Themes

• Inadequate reporting
• Improper staffing
• Inadequate management
and board oversight
• Lack of strategic measures
to help detect early warning
signs

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What Should You Know About
Finance?

• 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 resources Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

to get there?
Are we on track? Income Statement vs. Budget

If not, what are we going to do Board Discussion

about it?

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Finance Department

• Bookkeeper
• Controller/Director of
Finance
• CFO

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Staffing

• 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 meaningful
way

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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 financial
information
• Shows the relationship between program
outcomes and money

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Goal: Improve Operations

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES
PROFITABILITY/CASH FLOW

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Next Steps: Questions to Ask

• Is there financial knowledge

across the organization?
• Is your organization missing
critical 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, CPA

Director – Rhode Island Region
Accounting Management Solutions, Inc.
rmazzone@amsolutions.net

To download a copy of this presentation go to:

www.amsolutions.net/resources

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