SmartPros Executive Enterprise Institute
Proudly Presents:
Best Practices for Closing the Books and Mastering Audit Management
View the brochure and the agenda on Mastering Audit Management and Optimizing the Close Process
Click Here to Register!
Dates and Locations:
Mastering Audit Management |
Optimizing the Close Process |
| October 22, 2014 — Chicago, IL | October 23, 2014 — Chicago, IL |
| November 11, 2014 — Denver, CO | November 12, 2014 — Denver, CO |
| November 19, 2014 — Washington, DC | November 20, 2014 — Washington, DC |
| December 15, 2014 — Houston, TX | December 16, 2014 — Houston, TX |
Why You Should Attend:
Optimizing the Close Process
Are you looking for a better way to improve your close? Are you concerned that current processes often result in surprises and issues that seem to recur? Are you missing opportunities to improve because you are too busy closing the way you always did? While recognized as a crucial process, and the subject of increasing regulatory scrutiny, the close process has been remarkably resistant to the type of re-engineering efforts that have improved performance and productivity in other areas.
Period-end accounting close and financial reporting requires collaboration to analyze data, make adjustments, review changes and create reports. Even with a strong ERP and reporting software in place, most companies use multiple checklists and spreadsheets to help manage the most manual portions of this monthly process.
The constantly evolving nature of the close, along with the unique requirements each company has for close processes, limit the effectiveness of standard process re-engineering methods. Instead, a total solution approach, focusing on continuous improvement provides the best path to success.Join accounting close expert Gabe Zubizarreta in this fast paced full day session where you will gain the tools necessary to apply continuous improvement principles to your close and learn about the best practices employed by others to achieve a successful (i.e. accurate, visible, faster, predictable, etc.) result.
Mastering Audit Management
Can you improve the quality and efficiency of your external audit process and increase its speed? Who ultimately pays for a less than optimal external audit process? Do your team and external auditors work together efficiently to minimize the total effort required? Has your audit process been improving annually resulting in lower costs and effort? Can you reduce your closing, compliance, and audit costs while making your team’s work easier?
Recent experience tells us that audit costs tend to increase regardless of the economic conditions. The ultimate responsibility for financial statements AND audit efficiency lies with the Company’s management. Unless proactively managed, audit costs tend to increase over time. Based on real experiences from an auditor, corporate, and consultant perspective, Gabe has developed a course that brings together years of best practices related to managing external audits as processes and continuously improving these for more effective and efficient audits.
The external audit process has unique characteristics. As a crucial process which is in theory managed by independent auditors, the impact of an inefficient external audit process nevertheless falls disproportionately on the Company being audited. It doesn’t have to be this way.
What You Will Learn:
Optimizing the Close Process
- Why the accounting close process is fundamentally different from other processes
- Available techniques for streamlining closing processes and how to pick the right ones
- Key elements of a LEAN close optimization approach
- Current best practices for close optimization
- What technologies are available to support the process
- How to create an effective strategy and a process improvement plan while lowering overall project risk
- How to reduce close, SOX and audit efforts and costs
Mastering Audit Management
- Overall Strategy for Audit process improvement
- Leveraging the prior year experience
- Planning phase issues and working arrangements
- Effectively managing effort reductions with interim work
- Year-end strategies to avoid crunch time inefficiencies
- Issues resolution strategies – before they occur
- Financial statement preparation strategies to reduce repetitive reviews and comments
- SEC, SOX, and controls related lessons all companies can leverage
- Recent PCAOB and FASB topics affecting your audit
Teams:
Each subsequent member of your team can register at half price – $445 for one day, $745 for both days!
Bonus In-House Training Offer:
Bring back the lessons, complete with instructor! Bring this instructor-led live full day CPE program back to your office to share with up to 10 employees for a cost of $4,500.
Who Should Attend:
- Accounting and finance professionals involved with the close (CFOs, VPs of Finance, Controllers, Assistant Controllers, Accounting Managers, Managers of Financial Reporting, Consolidation Managers, Internal Auditors, Compliance Auditors)
- Project managers involved in close improvement efforts.