Advanced Public Sector Finance and Strategy

This course is for anyone needing a basic understanding of business finance and insights into operational decision-making. It will:

• Show operrational staff the financial consequences of their activities.
  demonstrate the combination of KPIs and regular management information is vital to an organization’s operational success.
• Explain how the finance function contributes to the effective use of resources.

By attending this course, non-finance staff who need to extend their understanding of finance will learn how this could make a difference to their organization’s financial management. You will understand:

• The role of finance in implementing projects.
• How an organization’s stakeholders affect its financial performance and growth.
• The activities in determining pricing objectives, policies and strategies.

You will also explore:

• The specific role that is required of strategic manager in a public sector organization.
• The complexities of the relationship between paid civil servant and elected politicians in the context of public service planning and delivery.
• How each public service contributes to the economy.

The course will wrap with a summary of the key learning points, followed by an action planning exercise with a view to apply the acquired knowledge and skills immediately upon your return to work. Post-course support is also available in relation to the implementation of your action plan, up to six (6) months following course completion.

Agenda

• Importance of Financial Management
• Measuring Financial Success
• Managing Financial Resources
• Communicating with your Accounting Colleagues
• Investment and Financial Management of Long-term Projects
• Financial Management – Stakeholder Expectations
• Pricing Decisions
• Financial Management Decision-Making
• Public Sector Strategic Management
• Politics and the Public Sector
• Aligning the Public Sector to Support the Economy
• Strategic Risk Management
• Course Review

This course is suitable for:

• Directors and Deputy Directors, and all other public sector senior officers who work directly to lead politicians and with other public services to achieve broader community outcomes (public health and well-being and economic development).
• Staff who wish to improve their understanding of how accounting and finance can help in their decision-making and how this impacts on the organization’s financial position.
• Staff who need to extend their understanding of finance to more specific operational activities.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to understand:

• The relevance of finance to operational decision-making.
• The relationship between operational and financial measures.
• Why a deeper understanding of cost and cost behaviour can help operational staff.
• The role of finance in project delivery.
• The role of stakeholders and their impact on an organization’s financial performance.
• The processes involved in deciding prices.
• How to focus on ensuring that the authority and its services are fit for purpose in the current, medium and long term.
• A strategic overview of service delivery.
• When and how to ‘intervene’ in the authority’s operations.
• How to implement an Action Plan at your workplace using the knowledge and skills acquired through the course.