A Royal Medical College - Financial Management Review

Our Client

A registered charity concerned with postgraduate training, education and standard setting, with 5,000 members, 100 staff and an income of £5 million.

Our Brief

To review and report on the efficiency and effectiveness of the College’s Accounts Department in respect of structure and staffing, their use of IT, management information and the working relationships with user departments.

Our Approach

We initially carried out a desk review of staff job descriptions, financial reports and management information. We then held individual meetings with all members of the Accounts Department, the chairs of committees and the heads of departments (ie. the “internal customers” of the department) and external suppliers such as the College’s auditors and accounting software providers.

Our findings and conclusions from this work were presented in the form of a staff consultation report, which was amended as we received feedback. The next stage was to propose and justify a new structure, staffing and modus operandi for the department, including job descriptions and person specifications for all posts in the re-structured Accounts Department. We presented our proposals to the existing members of the Accounts Department in both group and individual meetings, and prepared a final report which dealt specifically with all the queries and concerns which were raised during the consultation process.

We were also actively involved in the implementation process, acting as expert adviser to the College Secretary.

Our Achievements

The College now has an Accounts Department that:

· Delivers accurate, consistent and timely management information
· Offers a proactive service to its “internal customers”, resulting in improved working relationships
· Uses the functionality within its accounting software to much greater effect
· Works as a team, and enjoys being a respected contributor to the management of the College
· As a by-product of our work, we were also able to help the College establish a Human Resources function.

Go back to previous page