1 / 19

Finance Matters

Introduction. TRANSFORMING FINANCEFrom:critical and precarious"To: strong financial management" in two years. An organisational CVThe symptoms of organisational failureOld Walsall" Anatomy of a s114 Making the changeTransitionProcesses

yule
Download Presentation

Finance Matters

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

    1. Finance Matters Lessons from an organisational journey from < poor to fair CIM - 21 July 2005

    2. Introduction TRANSFORMING FINANCE From: “critical and precarious” To: “strong financial management” in two years

    3. Organisational CV 2002: the “worst council in the country” Finances “critical and precarious” ? Performance so poor we didn’t have an overall CPA category July 2002: govt intervention; arrival of interim team November 2002: on the brink of a s 114 December 2002: use of resources scored 2 ? November 2003: overall CPA category of “weak” and “financial management is strong” December 2003: use of resources scored 3 ? December 2004: use of resources scored 4 ? Spring 2005: overall CPA category of “fair” Late Spring: special measures officially cease. ? Source: Audit Commission

    4.

    5.

    6.

    8. PERSONAL Difficult place to work Huge leap Hard work Long hours Low morale (initially) Self motivation (tarred with the “rubbish brush” Excitement v fear Wanting to do well Mixed feelings – wanting to leave v be part of the solution Winning hearts and minds and motivating others in the most difficult of times Taking risks

    11.

    12. Decision is CFO’s alone (but take advice) Gain support of own team and include them in designing and implementing the solution Take medium term view – no short cuts Understand and communicate the underlying position/reasons Go for step change and radical solutions Set a sound baseline for the future Be resolute/unambiguous/uncompromising Influence and persuade – build support & win hearts and minds

    15. Determined corporate priorities and basic pledges Evaluated the component parts of the budget against those priorities Fully funded inflation, pay awards, contracts Fully passported education/young people funding Budget updated/refreshed Set appropriate balances and contingencies; risk assessed Funded recovery Funded demand Targeted growth and investment at priorities for improvement Identified real and ongoing permanent savings from low priorities Set a council tax increase of 19.94%

    19. CORPORATE ASSESSMENT REPORT – MARCH 2004 “Walsall Council has travelled a long way from where it was described as the worst council in England … its current rate of improvement is rapid.” “Financial capacity has been systematically and robustly improved and … is able to support an organisation that is changing rapidly.” “There is robust financial management.” “The budget is based on sound risk management.” “Financial management arrangements are transparent and effective and have successfully restored the council’s financial stability.” ANNUAL AUDIT LETTER – JANUARY 2005 “The council has continued to make significant progress.” “The council’s financial position is sound ... on target to meet its spending plans.” “You can demonstrate considerable achievements in a short space of time and we expect you to continue to move forward.” CORPORATE ASSESSMENT REPORT – SPRING 2005 “Effective financial systems focussed on priorities” “There is clear resource allocation with explicit links to priorities”

    20. As a financial manager you are employed to give robust and accurate advice – not to be popular. Stick to your values and do the right thing – be resolute and tough You are only as good as your weakest link – pick and nurture a great team, invest in and optimise talent and tackle poor performance promptly and robustly. Focus on outcomes – know what it is that you want to achieve – and focus on achieving it – don’t be sidetracked. Keep yourself sharp – take personal and team development seriously Spend time on getting the foundations right – otherwise it’s all built on sand Know that things often get worse before they get better – this is helpfully internationally recognised as a post implementation performance dip – make sure people know this in advance. Take risks as that is where the opportunities lie.

More Related