Masterclass in Financial Control

The MFC program is the “controlling” module of the masters series in administering business organizations. It focuses on the tools to management in directing and controlling the activities of a business to determine whether targets are being met within acceptable risk parameters.
This is a “nuts and bolts” course which begins with an examination of (short-term) working capital management covering how to right size and monitor working capital and tackling credit controls. We review the process of “managing the numbers”, that is, the more traditional approach using the analysis of financial results and the use of ratios as a control tool.
The program then pushes into more pro-active managerial tools reflecting cutting edge organizations that are results orientated: standard costing, relevant costing and cost behavior are examined with a view to achieving the most effective budgetary planning and variance analysis processes. Activity-based costing and Beyond Budgeting are compelling examples of the more pragmatic and practical approach to planning and controlling.
A key part of the course is the focus on how successful companies focus on EVA (economic value added) and how to use EVA to practically assess the value that a business is creating of their business and how they design and implement appropriate KPI (key performance indicators) and OKR systems (objectives and key results). The course incorporates how to consider and implement more recent trends in the applications of using blockchain as an effective control tool.
The program concludes with an interactive case study and discussion of sound internal controls and the COSO framework.
All of the above are key areas that a controller must be familiar with in order to effectively perform the controlling function, thereby safeguarding company assets and the bottom line from uncontrolled risks.
The course is case study driven and not an academic course. It is crucial for financial managers responsible for making sure that a company’s resources are used correctly – the controlling aspects of sound financial management is the cornerstone of this program.
The course develops key skill competencies through the application of sound theoretical content within a practical, real-life inspired case-study based environment.