Description

Part of one’s duty as a CPA working in industry is to safeguard the assets of the organization. Cost cutting is one way to preserve assets and maintain a company’s competitive position in the industry. However, what keeps us from ridding our organizations of unnecessary costs? In this course, we will look at the factors that prevent our companies from being as streamlined as they could be. By using statistics and survey data, we will attempt to show how to better negotiate and navigate budgeting and contracting decisions. We will also discuss financial statement analysis techniques, benchmarking, and cash flow management in an effort to better cut costs and maintain the long-run viability of an organization.

Instructor: Dave Peters, CPA, CFP, CLU, CPCU, MST, MBA

Target Audience

CPAs, CFOs, and Controllers looking to improve profitability by streamlining expenses for their own organization or for their clients

Course Objectives

List behavioral biases that prevent companies from being streamlined

Identify techniques that may be used to make cost cutting a part of the company’s culture and business strategy

Describe techniques that may be used to discern whether additional headcount is necessary

Demonstrate vertical and horizontal financial statement analysis

List key considerations when benchmarking against competitors

Describe contracting and negotiation techniques

Discuss the business cycle and how cash flow management changes during each stage

Subjects

What keeps companies from becoming streamlined? 

Behavioral biases

Information processing biases

Emotional biases

How to deal with behavioral biases 

Connecting behavioral biases to cost cutting

Creating a culture of cost cutting

Rules of thumb for cost cutting 

Managing headcount

Post-COVID common areas of excess cost

Budgeting techniques

Budget variances

Benchmarking

Common size financial statements

Horizontal analysis

Negotiation and contracting techniques

Cash flow and the business cycle

Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of budgeting