Congratulations, you're controller! Now what? Getting control of the new job: a manual for the First Day, the First Week, and the First Month.In order to effectively fulfill your role as a master organizer of huge volumes of financial data, you must first organize your own time and workspace. It's not easy to set personal priorities and manage the deluge of e-mail, reports, letters, junk mail See spam and junk faxes. , and voice mail that besiege be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. you each day. Physician, heal thyself Physician, heal thyself is a proverb found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verse 23. "And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.. Accountant.... organize yourself! If organization is critical to any function, it is accounting and finance. Much of accounting is organizing and summarizing data derived from millions of transactions, and condensing con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. this into statements and reports that quickly convey the organization's financial position and results of operations. The CFO See Chief Financial Officer. , Controller, and Financial Manager must be master organizers, providing structure and clarity to a chaotic tangle of data and information. Perhaps the opening directive to any Finance Department job description should be: "Bring order to chaos." But before imposing order to the department and the data that it handles, the CFO, Controller, and Financial Manager must bring order to their own personal workdays, and the various tasks and priorities that fill them. First Day on the Job Congratulations! You have just been hired into your dream job. You are now the CFO, Controller, Financial Manager (choose your title) of a large, successful organization. Based on information you gleaned during the interview process, you believe that you have a sense of what your department needs, and you are excited about getting started. Your main objective on the first day is to let people know that you are a nice person and that you will not do anything to upset, threaten, or destabilize de·sta·bi·lize tr.v. de·sta·bi·lized, de·sta·bi·liz·ing, de·sta·bi·liz·es 1. To upset the stability or smooth functioning of: their jobs. You must be accepted before you can accomplish anything, and to be accepted, you must first put your staff, peers, and supervisors at ease on a personal level. Suppress the urge to impress people about how dynamic, aggressive, and creative you are, regardless of their position in the organization. There is no need to hit a home run on your first day. You are not even at bat yet. You do not really need to do anything. You do not even need to say anything, aside from, "Hello, how are you, nice to meet you, I look forward to working with you, etc." By all means, resist the urge to say anything insightful or intelligent. Most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , do not say anything that may commit you to some course of action in the future; you may live to regret it. The most important tip for your first day is to relax and enjoy it, because it will not last. Mark Gorman is an author, lecturer, and consultant with over twenty-five years experience as an auditor and financial executive. This is adapted from AICPA AICPA See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Infobytes, available at www.cpa2biz.com/infobytes |
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