Financial Essentials for IT Leaders

Master the Commercial Acumen essential for IT leadership: Gain the commercial (financial and legal) acumen to lead IT procurement, contracting, and outsourcing decisions.

OPTIMISE IT INVESTMENT: Understand accounting standards, legal frameworks, and risk mitigation strategies to maximise the ROI of IT initiatives.

Course Description

This intensive one-day workshop equips IT leaders with the commercial acumen needed to undertake executive strategic planning, make informed business decisions, optimise IT investments and ensure financial and legal compliance. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the financial management, accounting standards, and tax implications essential for IT Leaders to know. They will learn how to prepare and manage IT budgets, communicate confidently and influence the business leadership on the financial requirements and management of the IT domain, and negotiate for value with and manage IT vendors.

Key Learning Areas

Financial Governance, Controls and Risk Management: Implement effective financial governance, controls and probity measures, and ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards. Effectively present and communicate financial information to stakeholders, including executives, board members, and investors. Identify and mitigate financial risks associated with IT projects and operations.
Financial Statements and Analysis: Understand and interpret financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) to assess the financial health of the IT organisation.
Return on Investment (ROI) Analysis: Understand and use project financial decision evaluation tools including calculating Net Present Value (NPV) and analysing ROI for strategic IT proposals and projects to demonstrate their value and justify investments.
Budgeting, Forecasting and Cost Management Optimisation: Develop and manage IT budgets, including forecasting expenses, revenue, and capital expenditures. Understand strategies to manage and optimise IT costs, including cloud computing, services outsourcing, software licensing, and hardware procurement.

Accounting for IT Development and Expenditure (AASB/IFRS):
Software Development: Differentiate between research phase expenses (AASB 138), and development phase capitalisation (AASB 138). Understanding capitalisation criteria for internally developed software.
Website Development: Apply AASB 138 principles to website development costs, and distinguish between expenses (content creation) and capitalisable development costs (platform development).
Hardware Infrastructure: Accounting for hardware purchases as Property, Plant, and Equipment (PPE) under AASB 116. Determining depreciation methods and useful life for IT infrastructure.
Tax Implications of IT Investments: Understand tax deductions and incentives available for IT investments in Australia.
Vendor Management and Contract Negotiation: Overcome the unique power imbalance, commercial complexity and security challenges; negotiate and manage complex IT contracts from a position of confidence. Understand the intricacies of software licencing and infrastructure and hardware warranties and identify and mitigate legal risks. Understand financial negotiation tactics, learn how to unpack pricing models and interpret and negotiate Service Level Agreements, and negotiate for value creation.