Planning
and
Prioritisation
Finance apprentice :
Line manager :
• Monitoring plans and managing
problems
• Identify the task, prioritise, schedule, monitor and
review it
• Maintaining checks and controls over my work
• Use of checklist- to monitor what has been done
and what is not
• Regular review of the plan’s progress and make
sure the work is on track
• Notify other who rely on my work
• Might need more resource and support of others
• Ask for deadline extension if needed
I have needed a deadline extension on my
monthly tasks such as of bank reconciliation
and others recently., I had logging issues with
one of our software and with uploading some
sales invoices., I sought have got assistance
from with a colleague to get the bank rec done
as another team relied on the completion. I
completed another task that didn’t require this
software and took work off her.
Planning work loads
• Efficient and effective use of time
• Set goals and focus on completion
• Identify urgency and priorities
• Action plans – set deadliness, timescale, resources required and task
involved
• Organise and do similar tasks in batches and don’t let things pile up
The following have been my recent tasks in the order of
importance; bank rec, adding sales invoice, raise requisition for
ParentPay invoices and process them after approval, updating
direct debits, and scanning which are routine tasks.
In addition I had unexpected task of payrun and posting income
journal, most of my routine tasks were completed and I was
doing scanning which was not as urgent. So we proceed with the
journal with a few hours deadline, I completed my part and the
second important task was pay run, which was usually completed
by done with another colleague who was on holiday., I completed
that with assistance of another colleague
I played one of several roles in a carefully planned team project
to clear nominal codes. The impact on ledgers was modelled,
corresponding journals were created and tested. This required
several changes to clear all errors before being successfully
Prioritising and scheduling work
• Scheduling is necessary either for routine tasks or unexpected ones
• Prioritise based on off urgency and importance, and identify which task is
done when
• Performing tasks in the order in which they are requested when similar
urgency/importance
• Start with tasks which are nearly finished to quickly ticked off them as
completed
• Once the order of tasks are know, know when to do them – scheduling
• Know the time it takes to complete each task and plan accordingly, for
expected tasks take an educated guess of the time it takes or ask other
Monthly routine Time it takes min Start day of task Completion day deadline
tasks
Bank rec 1hr end of the month, 27th-30th End of the month, Up to 7th – 10th of next
28th-30th month
Fixed asset Journal 1hr End of the month 1st – 2nd of next Up to 7th – 10th of next
month month
School Hire Invoices 1:30hr When received/ usually end of By 3rd of next Up to 7th – 10th of next
each month month month
ParentPay Invoices 1:30hr (HHS,TGS) Reports weekly and Req. end of By 4th of next Up to 7th – 10th of next
the month month month
Remittances 30min Every other week when By 5th of next Up to 7th – 10th of next
received month month
Direct Debits 45min End of the month By 5th of next Up to 7th – 10th of next
month month
Processing Few hrs weekly Through out the month Before each payrun Before payrun
purchase invoices
for Payrun
Scanning inv. FP 3-4 hrs (HHS, TGS,SEA) After each payrun After each payrun By the end of the month
and CC all payrun scanned
PO compliance 30min End of the month By 5th of next Up to 7th – 10th of next
report month month
Meeting deadlines
• It’s vital to keep track of my work
• Planning and scheduling helps me make sure I complete my
task before the deadline, so I can look into my work for any
errors
• Deadlines are set for a reason, other might depend on our
work to proceed with theirs
• Avoid procrastinating and pile up of work, I do some bits by
bits daily and weekly
• Report problems that could have caused a delay in my work
• Completing tasks ahead of time before deadline
I don’t wait till the last minute to complete my
tasks, I give myself enough time to start ahead in
case I come across of unexpected urgent task or
face other unexpected issues, this way I can be as
flexible as possible to switch between tasks.
