Organisation: Department of Environment and Primary Industries
Job Title: Senior Finance Officer
Word Limit: 3 pages max
Location: Melbourne
Financial expertise and business planning
I have worked within financial services for nearly 10 years, and as a Senior Finance Officer in the Department of Human Services since January 2010. I also have a Master of Professional Accounting, and am a Member of Certified Practicing Accountants. My professional experience and academic achievements have combined to provide me with extensive financial and business planning expertise within the public and private sectors.
In my current position I work with the Finance Manager to oversee all aspects of the budget, financial management processes and reporting for the Procurement and Contract Management and Executive Services Branches.
My professional ethos is that budgeting is the process that transforms information into decisions, and the quality of these decisions depends on the data available, and the analytic tools used to process the information. My role is to provide information and analysis to support informed business management and planning. I manage a range of review, analysis and commentary, comparison, reconciliation, forecasting and reporting functions, as well the provision of advice relating to budget effectiveness and delivering improved outcomes. This includes balance sheet management to provide financial snapshots, and to ensure that work areas have adequate resources for current operations and for future growth.
I also monitor the budget (approximately $700M) for the Concessions to Pensioners and Beneficiaries (CP&B) Output Group, which provides assistance to low income households to meet utility costs. I developed and manage the costing model for this output, an extremely complex analytic tool that takes into account the individual pricing structure of all the providers that offer these utilities, as well as wide range of other variable factors.
Leadership
As mentioned previously, I have a strong personal conviction that the budgeting service my team provides should enable the Branches and Group we support to make informed and strategic financial decisions. Sound financial management of public resources, consistency and accountability are part of the organisational strategy of these business areas. My role is to plan and structure the work that my team does, to help them achieve this.
I have a proven record in both leading and contributing effectively to teams, including fostering cooperative relationships with my colleagues, encouraging them and sharing knowledge and information. I currently work in a small group that provides financial services across a number of areas within the Department. As I developed the models and processes for managing the budgets across these areas, I liaise constantly with my team, keeping them informed of any changes and coaching them in the use of the system. The team meets monthly to share information, discuss any issues that have arisen, and to work together to improve the service we provide to our clients.
It is my responsibility to keep staff engaged and focused on providing a quality service to our clients. The team has a broad range of internal and external clients, and I always focus on ensuring we provide them with a timely, responsive service that supports their business functions. However, when I adapt the work the team does to better service the needs of clients, I also ensure that the changes are beneficial to the team. For example, this may include more timely processes, a new procedure that reduces the possibility of errors, or changes in the costing model that reduces the workload for team members.
I meet regularly with my clients, listening to their requirements, getting to know their business drivers and ensuring that the service I provide is responsive to those priorities, and the organisational strategy of the business areas. To further support my clients to achieve quality organisational outcomes for their Branch or Group, I tailor reports and data presentation to suit their preferences and specific areas of concern, ensuring the information is clear and succinct, with concise, relevant commentary.
Conceptual and analytical ability
As discussed in a previous criterion, I manage the budget (approximately $700M) for the CP&B Output Group, which provides assistance to low income households to meet utility costs, including electricity, gas, water and property rates. This has required the development of an innovative and complex model to provide effective financial management of this output.
There are a range of reasons for this complexity. There are 11 retailers (companies that provide the service to householders) for gas, 22 for electricity, and 20 for water. There are also a number of separate programs under each retailer. Also, each retailer has a different, variable pricing structure that can be increased according to commercial variables within the market. Finally, the consumption level (and therefore concession expenditure amount) of the services may increase and decrease based on seasonable variables. In particular, electricity consumption rises significantly during extremely hot or cold weather. There are also 79 councils that manage property rates within Victoria, all with different payment systems and varying approaches to determining property rates. Furthermore, rate levels can vary significantly based on the average property values within particular areas. The other consideration is the politically sensitive nature of concessions to pensioners. The scope of the output, or who is eligible for what concessions, can vary depending on changes to government policy in this area.
I had to create a financial model and tool that could take into account all of these variables (separate retailers, commercial considerations, consumption level, seasonal variations, council practices, property values, policy changes and impacting taxes). The model also has to be flexible enough to allow the constant changes that occur in relation to all of these variables. Finally, it has to support the basic requirement of any good budgeting process, that is, the ability to provide detailed, accurate and useful information to support sound financial and resource allocation decisions.
I created a complex system of integrated spreadsheets to account for all these variables, and to allow this data to be used for budget management processes. I use these spreadsheets to generate information to run the monthly budget accrual processes for the Group, provide analysis and commentary, undertake budget forecasts, and examine trends and risks associated with this. I also compile and provide monthly reports to the Director and Senior Managers, which involves a detailed analysis between actual and YTD budget and forecast for every activity and account.
Influence and Negotiation
Another important component of my role is to provide clear and authoritative financial advice to a wide range of clients. In my current position I deliver advice in a number of different formats to a wide range of stakeholders. I prepare financial reports that need to be read and understood by a number of staff, often with varying levels of financial knowledge and experience. I strive to ensure that the reports are clear and succinct, with enough relevant commentary to ensure that they are useful to my clients, and provide the information they need to operate effectively. I always ensure that I know my clients well and that I understand their issues and concerns as well as their knowledge base. I want them to see me as a partner to their business, and that they can trust and respect the information I provide them with. This partnership approach enables me to build cooperative relationships with my clients, which in turn allows me to influence and guide them.
A large component of my role is adjusting budgeting and costing models to meet either changes in policy, or to enhance the information and analytics available to my clients. To achieve this I often have to request either additional information from clients, or changes to their work practices to align with the adjustments. This requires the highest level of negotiation and influencing skills as the required changes may encompass additional work for those business areas. Whenever possible I try and develop a win/win approach to these negotiations, drawing out and convincing my colleagues and management of the benefits of the changes. This may include benefits such as improved predictive financial information and analysis, a more timely and efficient process, or a reduction in workload in the long term. I am able to influence my clients because I have spent the time to build strong relationships with them and they trust the information and advice I give them. As with my own team, I need to engage my clients in the process of change and work with them to imbed those adjustments in their work practices.
People Management
I currently supervise two finance officers, managing their performance and providing them with coaching, mentoring and feedback as required. I have a strong commitment to providing accurate, value-adding financial information and analysis to my clients and I ensure that my team has the capabilities to deliver on this commitment. Furthermore, I structure the work practices of the team to align with this focus and provide the ongoing training and guidance they need to undertake their work effectively. I meet regularly with the team to clearly define responsibilities, deliver specific and honest feedback, and provide encouragement and support. My goal is to foster a culture of ongoing development and improvement to ensure the delivery of excellent customer service outcomes.
As mentioned previously, I developed the models and processes for managing the budgets, reporting and costing across the Branches and CP&B Output Group. Because of the complexity of these systems they can never be completely automated and whenever changes are made I need to work with my team to keep them informed of the adjustments. I also need to constantly coach and train them, ensuring they have the knowledge and skill needed to deliver an accurate and timely service to our clients. Another method I use to align the work of my team to organisational goals is to develop clear, well-structured procedures and processes. This enables staff to deliver the required outcomes and enhances the consistency of approach and information that we provide. I have also been involved in the selection process for staff within my team. I used this opportunity to ensure that the people selected had the right capability profile needed for these positions.
Finally, I always endeavour to motivate and encourage staff in their work by trying to improve the procedures that structure their work and involving them in this improvement process. This includes making tasks clearer, procedures easier to follow, minimising the possibility of error, and ensuring an equitable division of work. I also try to be as flexible as possible, liaising with staff to help them achieve a good work/ life balance, while ensuring that excellent client service is maintained.
Organisational Awareness
I have extensive experience in providing a quality financial service to clients within the public service and understand both the business drivers of my clients and the required structure of effective financial management across the sector. With regard to my clients, a significant consideration in the work that I do for the CP&B Output Group is the politically sensitive nature of concessions to pensioners. The scope of the output, or who is eligible for what concessions, often varies in response to government policy changes in this area. Similarly, the cost of utilities can change depending on other taxes related to the output, for example the carbon tax. With recent budget cuts to state governments, I also have run projections across the Output Group to see how changes in specific variables (such as reducing the scope of eligibility for concessions, or stopping retrospective claims) would affect costings and projected expenditure. I work collaboratively with the Policy Division and the Output Group to provide them with the information they need to plan for, respond effectively to various politically driven changes.
In my role I also need to have a strong understanding of the Financial Management Compliance Framework, which is aimed at establishing and maintaining effective financial management across the public sector. It also gives the government a way of monitoring the standard of financial management within departments and agencies. The Framework includes a number of Standing Directions that set out in detail the appropriate financial management practices that must be adhered to within departments and agencies. They also aim to achieve consistency of practice and improved disclosure in financial reporting, by minimising across sector differences in accounting practices. I am also aware that the public sector has obligations under external standards, for example, financial reports are prepared in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations as issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board.
The service that I provide to my clients, needs to be both responsive to their requirements and pressures, and takes into account the context, and of public sector financial management. Part of my responsibilities is to ensure that my clients are aware of, and comply with, their obligations as managers of public monies. At the same time I need to help them achieve this in a way that supports their business and enables them to make informed, strategic decisions.
