Core experience
You will need a minimum of 18 months 'hands-on' experience in this area.
Examples of suitable experience include:
2a Preparation of management accounts
- preparation, presentation and interpretation of regular management accounts and related reports
- comparison of actual performance with budget and/or forecast; analysis and interpretation of variances
- preparation of regular reports on capital expenditure, outstanding debtors/creditors, inventory
2b Planning, budgeting and forecasting
- preparation, in conjunction with line management, of annual budgets and forecasts
- preparation of departmental budgets and forecasts
- working with other departments to develop corporate budgets and forecasts
- preparation of business plans, balanced scorecards, capital expenditure budgets and forecasts, and ‘zero-based’ budgets
2c Management reporting for decision-making
- preparation of non-routine reports that analyse and interpret financial/numerical data
- evaluating alternative courses of action and making specific recommendations; following up results of reports
- preparation of briefing papers for management
- oral presentation of reports using visual aids
- assisting with the drafting of expert witness reports
2d Product and service costing
- application of appropriate principles and techniques, such as overhead allocation, marginal costing, break-even analysis and ABC, in order to establish the current and future costs of the organisation’s products, services and activities
- identification of costs and revenues relating to specific business decisions, such as the introduction, amendment or deletion of a product or service, pricing, make-or-buy comparisons
2e Information management
- defining the information requirements of the organisation
- identifying and evaluating appropriate information systems
- managing the process of information gathering, processing, storage and retrieval
2f Project appraisal
- using investment appraisal techniques for the evaluation of capital expenditure and other projects
- evaluating other investments or acquisitions using appropriate techniques
- post-completion audit of projects and investments
2g Project management
- management of a project or working as part of a project team: for example, the introduction of a new system or procedures to the organisation, business process re-engineering or quality improvement, capital expenditure projects or any other non-routine activity with a defined output, such as the launch of a new product or an office move
- internal or external consultancy assignments
2h Working capital control
- debt collection, inventory control, recording and forecasting foreign currency transactions, payment of creditors and expenses, cash-flow forecasting and monitoring
- periodic stock-takes, the identification of slow-moving and redundant stock, negotiation of credit terms with customers, suppliers and bankers
- supply chain management
Please see the Practical Experience Requirements brochure (PDF 318KB) for more information.
