Accountancy forms the core of every finance
function, and is probably the hardest service to
measure and benchmark. This is because of the
wide range of tasks involved and the difficulty
in defining and measuring them. Our approach
is based around the following framework of
activities:
Financial strategy and planningFinancial adviceBudget preparationBudget monitoringPreparation of final accountsTechnical research and major projectsSystems supportTreasury management
Each of these activity groups is defined in some
detail, and members are asked to assign their staff
time and costs to each heading, excluding any
work for other bodies, but including both central
staff and accountancy staff working in other
departments.
These are then compared in terms of the
ratio of cost per £1,000 of gross revenue
turnover. Members are also asked to divide
their accountancy cost in terms of the amount
charged to each of the main service areas such as
education, which can then be compared in relation
to the respective service budgets.
Members of this club can also make use of the
accountancy customer satisfaction survey. This
starts with a set of standard questions, to which
members can add questions of their own, plus
their own introduction, explanation etc. The
survey can then be emailed to any number of
accountancy service users, and (providing they
have the requisite Excel and email software) their
responses are automatically forwarded to us and
the collated results in due course returned to the
authority. At the end of the year, we will circulate
comparative scores.
November 2009 |