The built-in reports of today's accounting information systems rarely provide all of the information needed to manage business operations, but modern business performance measurement tools can make planning, measurement, reporting, and control processes much more effective. During this session, your instructor will review some of the top third-party tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the budgeting and forecasting process – Microsoft Forecaster, Budget Maestro, PROPHIX, OutlookSoft, and CCH Pro System fx Profit Driver – along with some of the top business performance measurement and information reporting solutions – Microsoft FRx, BizExcelerator, Crystal Reports, F9, PROPHIX, Business Objects, Cognos, and Hyperion. Important concepts, such as data warehouses, data mining, and business intelligence, EVA analysis, and balanced scorecards will be discussed to enhance your understanding. Your instructor will also show you how to enhance and supplement analysis and reporting using Microsoft Excel and how to speed up and improve information retrieval processes using open database connectivity (ODBC). Using PivotTables, charts, and PivotCharts, coupled with ODBC, may be all that is necessary to get the information that you need from your financial and operational systems. By the end of the day, you will be familiar with the tools and processes necessary to provide your organization or your clients with the information retrieval, analysis, reporting, and planning capabilities required to manage business more effectively.
Course Information:
CPE Credit: Recommended 4 hours Specialized Knowledge and Applications and 4 hours Accounting
Instructional delivery method: Group-live demo and discussion using color computer projection - NOT a hands-on course
Prerequisites: Basic Windows and Excel understanding
Program level: Intermediate
Advanced preparation: None
Designed for: Accountants who want to obtain more relevant financial information from their existing systems
Who should attend: Users who want to understand how to get more information out of their current systems as well as those who are seeking new information retrieval and analysis solutions
Course Highlights:
- Understand the concepts of data warehouses, data mining, and business intelligence
- Use ODBC to connect to and extract data from financial systems
- Use PivotTables to quickly summarize and report data
- Understand features of charts and PivotCharts that are useful for information analysis and reporting
- Review some of the industry leading products for analysis and reporting (Microsoft FRx, BizExcelerator, Crystal Reports, F9, PROPHIX, Cognos, Hyperion)
- Review some of the leading budgeting and forecasting applications (Microsoft Forecaster, Budget Maestro, PROPHIX, OutlookSoft, and CCH Pro System fx Profit Driver)
- Publish and control reports internally and via the Web
Dates & Locations:
| Event Date: |
Location: |
Sponsor Name: |
| 5/21/2008 |
Malvern, PA |
Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs Foundation |
| 6/17/2008 |
Tulsa, OK |
Oklahoma Society of CPAs |
| 6/23/2008 |
Rocky Hill, CT |
Education&Research Foundation of the CT Society of CPAs |
| 7/18/2008 |
Harrisburg, PA |
Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs Foundation |
| 8/27/2008 |
Indianapolis, IN |
Indiana CPA Society |
| 9/30/2008 |
Strongsville, OH |
Ohio Society of CPAs |
| 10/17/2008 |
Greensboro, NC |
North Carolina Association of CPAs |
| 10/27/2008 |
Louisville, KY |
Kentucky Society of CPAs |
| 11/4/2008 |
Nashville, TN |
Tennessee Society of CPAs |
| 11/6/2008 |
Bellevue, WA |
Washington Society of CPAs |
| 11/21/2008 |
Mars, PA |
Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs Foundation |