Finance Function Dysfunction: Assessing & Improving Your Financial Operations

Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Time: 11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT / 09:00 AM MT / 08:00 AM PT [Prevailing Time]
Presenter: Kelsey Vatsaas, CPA, MBA, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen
Moderator: Bill Erlenbush, CPA, Director of Education, NSAC
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to identify key symptoms of a faltering finance function, understand the framework for a Finance Department Assessment, discuss how to shape conversations to achieve support for conducting a Finance Department Assessment, and learn how this approach helped an organization increase its efficiency and effectiveness.
Field of Study: Accounting
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 1 Credit Hour
Delivery Method: Group Internet-based
Prerequisite(s): No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
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Course Description

Having a strong and healthy finance function is important to every effective organization. But there are many challenges that can weaken an organization's finance function at its core including turnover in key positions, too few internal controls, doubtful data, too many time-consuming manual processes, having your best thinking depend on complicated Excel schedules, and finding it impossible to get financial statements done on time. Do any of these sound familiar? These pain points are often symptoms of deeper challenges within an organization's finance function. In this case study-based 60-minute session, participants will learn about a holistic approach they can take to assess the processes, controls, systems, and structure that their finance function uses to operate, and how to develop a road map to get them from today's challenges to the high-performing finance function of the future.

Presenter and Moderator Bios

Presenter: Kelsey Vatsaas, CPA, MBA, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen

Presenter: Kelsey Vatsaas, CPA, MBA, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen Kelsey Vatsaas is a Principal in CliftonLarsonAllen's consulting practice and leads the firm's national finance department assessment services. Kelsey works with organizations and companies across the country to evaluate their finance and accounting functions, and identify opportunities for improvement in team structures, systems, and processes. Kelsey also helps clients with strategic and business planning, organizational assessments, operational efficiency, financial reporting, and governance evaluations. Kelsey's experience includes planning, project management and executing projects including: conducting assessments of organizations and identifying opportunities to redesign future strategies and/or operations; reorganizing finance and operational departments for increased productivity, autonomy, and efficiency; improving clarity and accuracy of financial reporting to better inform board and managerial decisions; helping organizations think about and plan for their strategic and financial futures; providing market research and proven practices to challenge the status quo and revitalize operations; and performing financial analysis and benchmarking to highlight or support key issues and trending concerns. Moderator: Bill Erlenbush, CPA, NSAC Director of Education Bill spent his entire career working in cooperative accounting at GROWMARK. His work experience includes all aspects of order control and billing, accounts receivable/payable, financial accounting and tax. As compliance officer, he had responsibility for the administration of the compliance and ethics program at GROWMARK and its subsidiaries and retail divisions. In addition, he was been involved in negotiating major acquisitions for GROWMARK. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Illinois State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant. Bill is an active member in many industry, professional, and community organizations. He is past president of the Mclean County United Way Board of Directors as well as the past president of the Heartland Community College Foundation Board of Directors.

Moderator: Bill Erlenbush, CPA, Director of Education, NSAC

Cost
Free for NSAC Members / $56.00 for Non-Members

Delivery System

• All programs are delivered using the Zoom platform.
• Confirmations will include log-in instructions.
• Participants are able to participate using any device with an Internet connect (if the device does not have speakers, the participant can also dial-in) or they can participate with audio only by dialing in.
• All registrants will receive a link to the CLN’s recording by email within 48 business hours of event’s conclusion.
• There will be assistance available to help with technical and connectivity issues up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the presentation.

Registration

All registration is done on-line and each guest must provide their name and email address to participate. All NSAC members may register for free. Non-members may register for a nominal fee.

Refund Policy

NSAC will not issue refunds for CLNs. If a registrant is unable to participate in the CLN and provides notification to info@nsacoop.org 48 hours prior to the session, a credit will be provided for a future CLN. Alert the NSAC staff member monitoring the CLN if technical difficulties are encountered and technical support will be provided to eliminate problems with future CLNs.

Additional Information

Live participation is required for CPE credit and polling questions must be answered to document your active participation. All registrants will receive an email following the session with links to the slides and/or handouts, and a link to the CLN recording (unless otherwise stated). If you are unable to participate in the live session, you can still watch the recorded session, but you will not be eligible for CPE credits. Those eligible for credits will receive their certificate by email with 7 business days.

For more information regarding NSAC CLNs or administrative policies such as complaint and refund, contact the NSAC Headquarters, 7946 Clyo Road, Suite A, Centerville, OH 45459, 937-222-6707, or info@nsacoop.org.