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I worked on ... improving the flow of financial information to the factory floor.

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Vincent

Before starting my current role, Ed already worked in various financial jobs at GlaxoSmithKline's plant in Cape Town, having gained a master's degree in cost and management accounting from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The factory manufactures tablets for a drug-donation programme - set to be the industry's largest to date - designed to eradicate lymphatic filariasis in two decades.

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Management accountants have moved close to the production line here over the past few years - we don't just sit in the back office hitting the numbers.

When it comes to controlling costs and meeting production needs, the exchange of information between the production and finance functions is pivotal. Any material produced by accountants needs to be timely and readily understood by non-financial managers if any cost reductions are to be realised.

In 2011 the finance team in Cape Town started a mission to simplify and improve the flow of financial and operational information throughout the organisation. Our main objective was to embed sound management accounting principles in the factory so that meaningful information could be shared and acted upon. The initiative would give management accountants a greater involvement with the operational side. In turn, that should improve the production department's ability to make effective decisions more quickly.

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The initiative has been particularly effective in the annual standard-setting process. Having clearer management information to hand has meant that the finance and...

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