New Job

diane79

I've just managed to find myself a new job YAY!! But I'm a bit nervous about what I'm taking on.

I've been working for the past 4 years in a finance department of four people. I started off processing invoices and gradually moved on to completeing the month end accounts for 2 small subsidary companies. Although most of my time is occupied with more admin tasks, keeping the companies leased car info up to date, expense claims etc. which is why I looked for another job.

My new role is to be the whole finance department for a company, purchase ledger, credit control, management accounts, vat reports.

I get the impression that the director I'll be working for will be really supportive, and I'm confident that I have the ability to do the job. I think what I'm after is maybe a bit of advice in organising myself to make sure everythings done, any suggestions for best practice/processes I should be implementing??

Any suggestions will be gratfully received

anniem

Hi Diane

That's fantastic news about your new job. Well done, you'll love it!

To help you keep organised: Have you found Task Manager in Outlook? Its fab!

You can schedule all your tasks in there and put them on a 'recurrence' cycle.

I work in a Farm Office and successfully manage; fleet of vehicles on 6 monthly servicing/annual tax discs, all personnel issues, payroll dates and pay review dates, all regular and irregular payments, all regular invoices reminders, let property management including all boiler servicing, tenancy renewals, fire alarm servicing, first aid kit maintenance, VAT return reminders, livestock and milk summary reporting.

Basically anything that needs doing on a regular or ad hoc basis can all be input into task manager and the reminder just pops up every day.

You can also copy emails into it, so you have the reference source if you need it.

Absolutely fantastic system. I've now got the Farm Manager and Partner calendar sharing to!

Nothing to lose by giving it a try!

Good luck in your new job, too.

Anna

Emrhino

This might sound a bit silly but I once went on a time management course and the most useful thing I came away with was a prioritisation matrix.

You will find that, as well as all the recurring tasks you know you have to do, people are coming to you all the time asking you to do things 'as soon as possible'.

This can get very stressful when you're trying to please everyone and meet your month end deadlines.

First of all, get as many people as possible to give you a deadline - very important.

Then, I draw out a simple grid ( + ) on a piece of paper with the heading 'Time' across the top and 'Importance' down the side, then list my 'To Do' jobs as follows:
- Jobs that don't have a deadline and are not life threatening (!) - top left quadrant
- Jobs that have a tight deadline and are not life threatening - top right quadrant
- Jobs that don't have a deadline but are very important - bottom left quadrant
- Jobs that have a tight deadline and are very important - bottom right quadrant

Obviously, anything in the bottom right corner needs doing first and you can suss out how to prioritise the others yourself but I find it really helps to see things a bit clearer when you're feeling snowed under!

I have held several Finance Manager positions and it always helps to sit back, take a breath and do this little exercise - especially at month/year end!!

Good Luck!

janwal

Hi Anna

That sounds like a really good idea, we have that function at work but never used it will have a go, as trying to remember to pay leases on the right day etc is a nightmare when some of the invoices come in months in advance.

Good luck with the job Diane, I had a lot of the same feelings when I got the job I do now, whereas now I just whiz through monthends and Vat as second nature, it does help to have a supportive network.

Jan

diane79

Thank you for the suggestions, sometimes it is the more simple things that are the most helpful.

Keeping all regular occurences on task manager (I do have this but have never used it) just seems common sense and the prioritisation matrix would really help, especially around month end when sometimes you just don't know where to start.

I think going into a new job, new systems etc, can seem quite scary, but just knowing you have a bit of a strategy in place to deal with whatever gets thrown at you makes it all a bit less daunting.

Thanks again

Paul C

This time management podcast from last summer is great & covers a lot more than just time management -

http://www.aat-interactive.org.uk/cpd/archives/390

For me personally, the key thing in a new more challenging role is to hold your nerve and believe in yourself - you are good enough! And it will gradually get easier and easier - but give yourself time for it to work out.