Overview

With today's increasing focus on corporate earnings and internal costs, support center managers are required to balance customer satisfaction with cash flow, profitability and other financial goals. To survive and excel in this ever changing and sometimes constrained environment, call center and help desk managers must know how finance and accounting practices work and how they can reflect and guide real and perceived performance.

This course is delivered via the Internet through state-of-the-art audio and video lectures. The course explores the concepts of revenue, total cost, budgets, costs-to-date, open commitment, and estimates to complete, not just from a reporting point of view, but as input for evaluation and decision making by call center managers and operations engineers.

After attending this course, participants will be able to compute ROI for call center purchases, projects, and improvements.  They will also learn to report the financial status of operations and special projects.

Participants have 30 days to complete the course once they receive their login information.

What You Will Learn

Participants will learn:

• Understand basic accounting.
• Read and understand the company's profit and loss statement.
• Read and understand the company's balance sheet.
• Read and understand the company's cash flow statement.
• Understand project accounting.
• Communicate effectively with management, accounting and financial personnel.
• Minimize the financial risk to your project.
• Control and predict cost and estimates

Certification

Financial Management for Call Center Professionals is a core course within the following Service Engineering training tracks:

• Call Center Six Sigma Black Belt

Who Should Participate

• Financial analysts
• Contact center managers, directors, and vice presidents
• Managers and executives with call center oversight
• Leaders charged with forming a call center department or business

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this introductory course.

Agenda

Section 1 - Fundamentals of Finance

This section presents an overview of call centers, call center costs, call center finance and various aspects of corporate accounting.

• Types of call centers
• The goal
• The difference between effective and efficient
• Queuing science to maximize effectiveness in a call center
• Financial terminology
• The product and process life cycle
• The double-entry accounting system

Section 2 - Financial Decision-making

Having a clear understanding of how call center costs fit into the management arena is crucial. In this section, you will learn which costs are critical to a managing a call center. Organizational structure and its impact on costs will also be explained.

• Division of Labor
  • Business roles
  • Decision-making (Policy, Strategy, Tactics)
  • Financial violation of division of labor
• Business
  • Knowledge as an asset
  • Operational base camp
  • Operational philosophy
• Process principles
• Call center processes & variability

Section 3 - Financial Reporting

This section will review aspects of finance including the balance sheet, profit and loss statements, fixed versus variable cost concepts, and more. You will have a clear understanding of the difference between raw data and information, and will learn how to prepare reports that will get used. You will learn how to read accounting data and convert it into information that supports better decision-making.

• Financial concepts and their practical use
  • Depreciation, accrual and cash methods,  and inventory
  • Closing the books
• Financial reporting
  • Income statements, balance sheets, and financial testing

Section 4 - Operations & Tactical Reporting

Establishing a method for call center cost management requires an intimate understanding of the factors that create costs and cause costs to fluctuate. This section will present methods for establishing the a cost basis for each transaction and type of call. You will also learn the purpose and use of operating budgets, and why operating budgets are not always the best tool to measure the financial effectiveness of your center. Unit cost, favorable and unfavorable variances, standard cost, and accounting "buzzwords" will be explained.

• Financial tactical standard cost vs. operational budget
• Standard costing methodology and where to use it
  • Standard cost buildup
  • Earned value report
• Operating budget and where to use it

Section 5 - Capital Budgets

Many call center projects require capital funding. This section will explain the time value of money, project acceptance decision making rules, how to track actual results, and more.

• Future value, present value, payment annuities
• Capital project planning
  • Basic project decision
• Return on investment
• Payback period
  • Advanced project acceptance rules
• Net Present Value
• Internal Rate of Return
  • Tracking capital budget results

Section 6 - Financial Analysis

In this section, you'll learn how to manage costs without jeopardizing performance and wait time. You'll explore the use of cost analysis tools for a call center, help desk, or support center.

• Value analysis
• Breakeven and its use in a call center
• Forecasting and its use in a call center

Registration Fees

The per student registration fee for this online self study is $1,295. Participants have 30 days to complete the course once they receive their login information.

Register securely online with confidence or please call (708) 246-0320.

Seminar Schedule

Financial Management for Call Center Professionals

Self-Study

Online

For more training course options, see the entire Contact Center Training Calendar of dates and locations.

For more IT, technical and field support training course options, see the Help Desk, ITIL, and Support Center Calendar.