How AAT Essentials is helping Global Lingo achieve their five-year growth strategy

As we return to the office, it has become clear that many people need to upskill or add to their existing skill set to respond to the new demands of the working world.

In the post-pandemic world financial acumen is even more crucial, and this is the case both for the financial team as well as members of staff in other departments of an organisation.

“In normal times, financial-planning teams generally use a range of driver-based models for budgeting, forecasting, and root-cause analysis. Over the years, they have likely cultivated their own standard reports and preferred views of information. Few have probably encountered the degrees of uncertainty they’re experiencing now or been asked to conjure up a crystal ball in a matter of days to make the most important decisions their companies have ever faced,” says the McKinsey & Company report Planning for uncertainty: Performance management under COVID-19.

Fine-tuning financial skills

Businesses that are looking to harness opportunities and create growth also need to have fine-tuned their financial skills.

In addition, companies are not fully back to office-based, with many staff still working from home and organisations having a hybrid model in place.

This makes training a challenge unless some part of it can be done remotely, so that all staff are able to join in. One way to do this in a convenient, cost-effective package is to use AAT Essentials training courses. These are designed to help you quickly learn crucial finance skills. They’re ideal for non-finance staff looking for a better understanding of key financial processes, as well as finance and accounting professionals looking to keep their skills fresh.

Courses are currently delivered online, and face-to-face courses will resume once local coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions allow.

How can AAT Essentials help your business and your employees?

Karl Eastwood, 33, is COO of Global Lingo, a leading translation and language company. He was promoted into that role in 2019, having previously held the position of Group Finance and Operations Director at Global Lingo. He oversees the operational activities of the company and is based in Chicago although previously lived and worked in Romania for five years. He is working on a five-year strategy for the company and describes his role as COO of the company where he started 11 years ago as a bookkeeper after qualifying at AAT Level 4.

He recently used the AAT Essentials course to help upskill his global team. For practical reasons it would not have been possible to try to assemble everyone in the same location. Instead, the online interactive nature of the AAT Essentials course was ideal for the senior management team who were located in offices around the world and in different time zones.

A high standard of training

“As an AAT Alumni I have always kept engaged with what AAT can offer in terms of training and CPD,” he says. “I saw the AAT Essentials course online and thought it would be relevant. Additionally, as I have trained with AAT, I knew that the standard of training was high”.

“We specifically booked the Finance for Non-Finance Managers to assist staff with the annual budgeting procedure. They learned about the allocation of expenses and assets to either the income statement or the statement of financial position as well as other financial ratios that they can apply in their day to day roles,” he says.

Those staff taking part in the training were three Sales Directors, three Regional Operations Managers and an Employee Experience Manager.

“All were non-finance roles and the AAT Essentials training was in place to assist them with financial analysis through using ratios and for the budgeting process,” Karl says.

“My initial AAT studies have always helped me through my career through financial planning, understanding of principal accounting concepts as well as the application in real world environments. Remote training was important as our team is globally distributed.

“AAT has given me a deep and fundamental understanding of finance and business. It has enabled me to take what I have learned and apply it to technology, information security and any other problem or challenge. It teaches you to think logically and solve problems. AAT is globally recognised as a qualification and that has been important to me.”

The senior management team at Global Lingo around the globe attended the AAT Essentials Finance for Non-Financial Managers course across two days. As a direct result Karl has seen more decisions being looked at from a financial perspective as well as a business use perspective. Additionally in 2021 the team has taken more responsibility for budget ownership and the training has given them more knowledge about how to read these financial documents including the SoI (Statement of Liability) and SoFP (Statement of financial position).

“Overall, smarter decisions are being made incorporating not only business requirement but impact on business financial performance,” he says.

The AAT Essentials course was delivered online which reduced the need for travel. As the team was globally distributed team this meant that all team members could attend and therefore receive the same consistent training.

“As an employer, since the training I have more trust in the team’s ability to make decisions and create strategy incorporating financial impact in to their thought process,” he says. “The courses were delivered online across multiple time zones including Chicago, Romania, Singapore and London.

“The training was easy to get in place and the team felt the sessions were well organised and well delivered. The content was a refresher for some individuals but new concepts for others.”

What you can expect from AAT Essentials training?

AAT Essentials training is trusted, quality, convenient and cost-effective. AAT Essentials courses have been specifically designed to help you and your employees gain practical skills that can be applied immediately. Each course is delivered by an expert AAT trainer. The courses are packed with practical case studies and exercises, with interactive sessions throughout the day to test understanding. Attendees will receive a certificate of attendance on completion of the course and course materials to support them through the training and as a reference for the future.

Find out more about our booking an AAT Essentials course

We run open AAT Essentials courses on a regular basis which anyone can attend, as well as corporate training for groups of staff.

The skills on offer via the AAT Essentials courses are:

Bookkeeping: A grounding in accounting systems for those in finance departments but with limited bookkeeping experience.

Budgeting: Budgeting skills for business professionals without an accountancy or finance background.

Capital expenditure: Learn the tools for strategic decision making: capital costs, lifetime returns and presenting and comparing diverse finance projects.

Finance for non-finance managers: Understand basic financial documents and how to interpret them.

Financial accounting: Learn double-entry bookkeeping principles and common transactions.

Fundamentals of financial accounting: Ideal for those with no or limited bookkeeping experience, and those in a role where they code purchase orders.

Managing cash: keeping your business healthy: Learn to record receipts and payments, reconcile bank statements and receipts and protect financial security.

Understanding accounting systems and controls: Learn to use accounting system controls to protect your organisation from theft and errors before they take place.

Understanding and processing financial documents: Understand financial documents and processes and record keeping to work effectively and stay compliant.

Understanding profitability: Learn how to study selling prices and make sure costs are covered and goods and services are sold at the right price.

Marianne Curphey is an award-winning financial writer and columnist, and author of the book How Money Works. She worked as City Editor at The Guardian, deputy editor of Guardian online, and has worked for The Times, Telegraph and BBC.