Financial Processes within Health Workforce Queensland Ltd - Case Study Example

Customer name Grade course Professor’s name Date: Manage Budgets and Financial Plans Introduction The report has been preceded by the manager completing evidence record which indicates the candidates’ ability to meet all the requirements of the unit. The report is supposed to review, evaluate and find ways through which the financial processes within Health Workforce Queensland Ltd can be improved. Managing of budgets is a very critical aspect of every organization. To achieve the set objectives, it is necessary that the financial records of an organization are properly maintained and thus help in making the best decisions to propel the organization forward. Health Workforce Queensland is an organization which deals with recruitment of general practitioners, nurses and related professionals who are involved in the provision of health services. The professionals who are recruited by the organization are meant to serve in areas that are rural and remote and also providing medical services to the Aborigines in the whole of the state of Queensland. Some of the services that the company provides include advertisement of vacancies in its website and screening of the applicants. Due to its important roles, it is critical that the organization is able to manage its accounts properly so that it is able to continues carrying out its activities and also ensure that it meet the legal requirements as contained in various statutes which governs its operations. Discussion In any organization, there are a number of outcomes which are a necessity and hence the need to have financial management within the organization. The organizations must have specific people who deal finances by ensuring that proper monitoring and control is maintain. The financial reports so prepared also need reviewing and reevaluating so as to ensure that they are aligned with the objectives of the organization (National Institute of Accountants 71). For Health Workforce Queensland Ltd, the information was obtained making written requisitions to the chief accounting officer and ensuring that the records required are those from the I.T department. It was also necessary to access the minutes of meetings held by the relevant department and getting to know the process that was followed in arriving at the figures which are representing in the budget. This would be realized through looking at the contributions the various members of the department thought was the direction that the department should take. The financial plans were also obtained from the budgeting committee which meets and deliberates on the requirements of the organization versus the finances that are available and thus different departments are able to be allocated certain limits based on the financial projections and the availability of funds in the organization. The current budget plan indicates that the department of information technology is poised to make a good profit. The sources or income are just two which are IT & Multimedia and also consulting. There is a large list of expenses which the department expects to incur. The operating expenses include expenses on capital and equipment, IT& Internet Expenses, Telephone. There are also other expenses which relate to the personnel. The expenses which are directed to the personnel include salaries and wages and also superannuation. The income from IT and consulting remains fairly constant throughout the year and there is no significant increase in the amount which is quite small being less that $7,000 at the highest. The total income for the year from IT & Multimedia totals to a paltry $146,728. The income from consulting also appears to follow the same trend as that of the income from IT & Multimedia. The projections suggest that the highest amount is just $25,000 and the amount often falls below this figure with the final figure showing very poor indications. The expenses that the department incurs seem either to increase or stay at the same level over the whole duration of the year. This has seen the net profit projections for the year being very low and at time there are some months which have returned a negative figure indicating that the department has made a loss in such months. The plan on how money is to be spent is a great determinant as to whether the organization is to get the required finances or not. A good and balanced budget is also important when it comes to ensuring that money is used at the best activities. This means that the organization should looks at ways through which income can be maximized while the costs are kept at a minimum. It is important when making a budget that all the relevant stakeholders are consulted as this ensures an agreement and every person feels a part of the process and hence motivated towards attaining the goals of the organization. Some of the people required to be consulted while making changes to a budget include the financiers. In almost all cases, all those who provide the finances attach a number of conditions regarding how their money is supposed to be sent and it therefore important that an organization discusses with them when they decide to spend more money on a certain project and not the other. This prevents the presence of crises and financiers are never tempted to withhold their finances due to what they would consider to be misuse of funds. Financiers should thus be asked what they think the money should be put into and thus avoid many friction. Financiers could also be having their policies which dictate how their funds are supposed to be utilized (National Institute of Accountants 74). When making a budget it is very critical that those on whom the money is to be spent are consulted. It should not always be assumed that the people who are starting a given project know everything about what the beneficiaries need. With regard to provision of health care the people to benefit from such financing could be in a better position to know which problem is afflicting them the more and this would help in ensuring that more resources; material, financial and human are allocated to the right places. The beneficiaries of financing would also like to feel wanted and realize that their opinions count. Talking with those to benefit from the financing program is also a good pointer in knowing whether the money previously allocated to the programs has been achieving the required results. When it is realized that certain areas are lacking, then more resources are to be allocated. When it is realized that some areas have money than required, then budgetary allocations ought to be reduced to reflect on the reality on the ground. Loosely speaking, it can be said that it is only the shoe wearer who knows where the shoe hurts and hence the overwhelming need to ensure adequate consultation of people who are to be provided with the specific projects (Wildavsky 39). Another important group of people who should be consulted when arriving at budgetary allocations are the employees. In many cases, budgets are made by people behind closed doors so to speak. This leaves no room for input from the people who are actually on the ground and thus making it quite difficult to achieve the best results (Moose 11). The employees are the people who are most likely to be on the ground and hence have the best information regarding the position as it is prevailing currently on the ground. Such consultation can also be seen as a morale booster for the concerned employees and ensure that they deliver to their utmost. We cannot lose sight of the fact that employees interact with those people that they serve and usually have the latest information regarding the wishes and aspirations of the people who require the services offered under the program being offered. It is also important that through training and experience people tend to develop various strengths and hence it is very important that every person who can offer an insight as to how an organization can best make use of its resources should be consulted and the assumption that they are in the junior levels should not be an argument at all. Another important group of people who need to be consulted whenever there is a need to put money into a specific program are the experts in the given field. Experts are able to come up with more accurate and well reasoned results as compared to the common person who has no training whatsoever. Experts help especially when it comes to forecasting given conditions. Such information from experts ensures that people are forewarned and contingency measures are put in place and the risk of disaster is averted or the consequences that would have befallen certain people are minimized. Experts are also the brains behind technology which is usually required when conducting the various operations in the field. It therefore becomes necessary to ensure that the right pieces of equipment are acquired and that the right people are recruited to operate the machines which could be state of the art. Expert also aid in problem solving by either finding new ways of doing thing or minimizing the time which is required to accomplish a given task and hence ensure that time and the finite resources are saved and hence ensure that such resources are redirected to where they are needed most (National Institute of Accountants 71). Before coming up with a budget it is important that first data is gathered. A clearly set out plan needs to be developed as to how all the money that is available or likely to be acquired should be utilized. Such plan requires being a written and it is vital that such a plan is communicated to the organization that could be funding a certain program. When such plans are written, they should be realistic figures and it should be possible to defend and justify why and how one arrived at such figures. It is also important to have a grasp of the contents of the written plans such that it is possible to defend the proposals made without necessarily having to go back and referring to the written documents. A summary is very important which shows why a specific amount of money is needed. With regard to this it is critical that you point out that there are certain programs that would stand to suffer if the amount required for the program is not provided in full. Where the program being run is not new, it is very important that you present evidence which shows that previously acquired funds have been put into proper use (Wildavsky 57). It is therefore very important that there is evidence which should accompany the new proposals for funding. Once a budget has been made, it is critical that it is maintained in its original state as much as possible. Where changes have to be made then such changes should be very minimal. At times it becomes necessary to enter into further negotiations as regards some parts of the budgets. Making changes which are necessary or in haste seem to suggest that the people seeking funding lack sincerity. It is also very important that an organization looks at the policies which apply to funds which come from certain financiers (Moose 16). There are many financiers which are very insistent that their money can only be used after following clearly laid out procedure. If an organization fails to follows these properly laid down procedure than their proposals could be rejected and hence loss of funding. Risks are ever present and there is need that proper plans are put in place to reduce or ultimately ensure there is no risk at all though the latter is quite difficult to achieve. There are some things which are usually thought of when contingency planning is being developed. There are things that people and organizations should consider when running their day to day activities. It is possible that a major financier decides to pull out from further financing of certain programs. An organization which has a proper strategy in place should have an alternative plan or what is commonly referred to as plan B. Contingency measures could also involve the minor things that happen in the day to day running of the organization and which have the potential to ruin or paralyze the operations of the organization for a certain duration of time. The minor hitches which arise in the day to day running of the organization include an employees calling the office in a morning and saying that they are sick. Having a contingency plan would ensure that there would be someone else to take the place of the employee who calls in sick in the morning and thus ensuring that clients are not inconvenienced and hence lose confidence in an organization and trust, once broken becomes very difficult to mend if ever. Health workforce Queensland has a number of contingency measures which have been develop and which go a long way in ensuring that operations run smoothly. However, there is a need to have a review of the contingency plans which have been put in place. There is need to ensure that there is always a member of staff on standby to take the place of a colleague who is suddenly taken ill and thus cannot undertake the duties that have been allocated to them. It is also important the sources of income are diversified. Depending on the same pool of donors mean that many programs are at the mercy of the donors who could withdraw from their funding with little or no notice at all. The organization should ensure that its finances are well managed. This helps in making sure that there is no single program which gets delayed because of lack of funding. The organization should have better ways of evacuating their members of staff who could be caught up in disasters while carrying out their duties in rural areas. Collaboration with other agencies is important because such other agencies could be better in offering certain services such as search and rescue. Part of the way that the problem of absenteeism of members of staff can be dealt with is through having probably those members who have recently retired being ready to be recalled to serve for just a short stint and thus help avoid an embarrassing situation. Communication is very important in every kind of organization and many have collapsed due to poor channels of communication. It is very important that members of staff are kept up to date with regards to the financial plans that the organization has and also the budgetary decisions. Part of the process of communicating the plans of an organization about the plans that are available includes making the employees part of the processes which are part and parcel of budgeting and making financial plans (Wildavsky 59). Most organizations have company emails and this is an avenue through which the organizations can transmit any kind of information to the members. It should be possible for organizations to use their intranets to keep their employees informed on the direction that the company is taking with regard to financing. Internet would allow members to get access to information contained in the intranet after providing some details such as username and a password. Many organizations plan retreats and workshops. These provide perfect opportunities for the organizations to pass vital information to their employees. Organizations can also use common areas where certain information which is considered as important is posted and which should be accessible to the employees. Success of any organization is dependent upon many factors. One of the factors which is important in ensuring that an organization is moving in the right direction is through ensuring that members of staff have a good grasp of what is going on. Members of staff need to realize that they are central to the running of the organization and this involves their participation in the making of financial decisions. Members of staff need to be informed of this important role that they normally ignore. Training on finances and how organizations are run is a good way through which members of staff would be able to become effective in participating in the financial decisions of the organizations which they serve. The culture of the organization should be such that everybody is free to express themselves freely. What is lacking is that employees are not free to voice their opinions especially where such opinion does not tally with that of the top management and they keep quiet for fear of victimization. Ignorance is another problem. Many employees do not quite know that they are supposed to play a very central in shaping the financial destiny of their organizations. Lack of training means that many staff members do not understand the money language and hence they can hardly understand the implications of the company making or failing to make certain decisions with regards to finances. In order to undertake the plan of ensuring that employees become better at running the affairs of their organizations, there are certain resources required. The first resource that should be present is the human resources. Having skilled people who have the mandate of educating such workers is very critical in ensuring that employee get to understand more about money and how decisions on finances are made. Finance is another resource which is indispensable. All the materials which are utilized for the purposes of training have a price tag on them. Some of the resources required would be having a proper and functioning intranet whereby important decisions are posted. Time is a very important and in order to implement any plan, the issue of time needs to be taken very seriously. Organizations need to create time and have their employees trained on issues pertaining to finances and in the end such sacrifice yields a lot more for the organization. In addition to the resources which are required, it is also important that employees are sufficiently motivated that it is they who are at the centre of every organization and hence should not shy away from getting to understand what really goes on in the organizations under which they serve. Organizations are supposed to maintain records. The records so maintained should be accurate and up to date with regard to the financial position of the organization. The Australian Tax Office requires organizations to maintain certain documents and also meets certain standards. Maintaining proper records help in getting to understand the amount of tax which is required and if there is any justifiable ground for some exceptions to be enjoyed by a number of individuals and organizations. It is important that people understand about the issue of taxes since this is what the government uses to support its various programs and escaping from your tax liabilities is taken very seriously. The organization meets the requirement by Australian Tax Office. Goods and Services Tax refers to a tax which is pegged at ten percent of the value of the goods or services being considered. This is a fairly recent development having been introduced in the year 2000. The organization is also compliant with regard to the requirement of the goods and services tax. This is a tax which received criticism for being quite hard on the people who earn less money while those with higher income would be required to pay a smaller portion of their income towards this type of tax (Donovan 62). The internal control measures are quite comprehensive at the organization. There are different officers and administrative mechanisms which ensure that financial impropriety is weeded out. Having a system of internal audit is one ways through which financial impropriety is avoided. Ensuring several signatories before any money can be utilized is one good way through which the organization ensures that its resources are properly used. The disciplinary procedure is quite robust and it is able to weed out those who have no cases to answer as opposed to those who may have committed acts which are not in the interest of the organization. The monitoring plans for budget and financial plans are brought out when different people get involved in the whole process and the process is not shrouded in mystery. It becomes difficult to pick up problems which include overruns. In the end it is clear that no system is perfect and continuous development should be embraced and it is very important that an organization gets its act together in ensuring that its operations are carried out in the best way possible. Conclusion Budgeting and financial planning are very important in every organization. Budgeting and planning of finances not only ensures that an organization is able to survive turbulent times but also meet the legal requirements. Organizations rarely make time to ensure that their staff members are well versed with the financial side of the operations. It is clear that informed employees can play a very critical role in developing strategic decisions for the organization. It is only through proper structures and developing the right culture can we develop to a state whereby every organization seeks to make decisions within the law and also trains its employees on the financial side of their operations. Works Cited Donovan, Sandy. Budgeting. Sydney: Lerner Publications, 2005. Print. Moose, Christina. Budgeting. Melbourne: Rourke Publications, 1997. Print. National Institute of Accountants. Budgeting: A Practical Approach. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Prentice Hall, 2005. Print. Wildavsky, Aaron. Budgeting: A Comparative Theory of Budgetary Processes. Sydney: Transaction Publishers, 1986. Print. Read More