Optimising your financial management: advice from an expert

Can you tell us about your career path and what led you to become a finance management trainer?

During my studies in quantum physics at the University of Paris-Orsay, I completed an applied internship at a major French glass manufacturing company.

A lecture by the finance director convinced me once and for all that corporate finance would become my passion.

She achieved this as the financial manager of the French subsidiary of a Swiss pharmaceutical company.

Then I set up two companies: an accountancy and auditing firm in France and a financial monitoring company in Switzerland.

In addition, I have become an associate professor of finance in MBA programmes at several business schools in France (HEC, ESCP Europe, La Sorbonne) and abroad (China, Japan, UAE, Vietnam, Lebanon).

What do you consider to be the fundamental principles of good financial management in a company?

In corporate finance, there is one fundamental principle that explains all concepts:

Maximise free cash flow and minimise idle cash.

How do you adapt your training courses to the different levels of knowledge of the participants?

Corporate finance and its accounting language (unlike market finance) does not require in-depth knowledge of mathematics, but rather a logical mind.

In general, I administer a finance and accounting knowledge test consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions in order to get an accurate picture of the participants' level.

Eliminating preconceptions is also a necessary step at the start of training.

Being a novice in finance is often an advantage for participants, as it allows them to establish a solid foundation.

What are the most common challenges your clients face in terms of financial management?

These are the challenges we tackle with the clients of our financial monitoring company.

• Detecting weak signals amid the noise of continuous information.
• Simulate the consequences of risks and be prepared if the risk materialises.
• Develop opportunities to build anti-fragile financial management.

What role does budget planning play in effective financial management?

Budget planning is important because it must be the result of a compromise between profitability and growth objectives, which are often contradictory in corporate finance.

It also facilitates dialogue between financial and operational staff.

What tools or applications do you recommend to help manage one's finances on a daily basis?

A tool is essential. Cash flow management software.

However, it is also important to build a chain of operational and financial detectors in order to build a real-time financial system that integrates both performance and cash flow. 

How do you deal with the emotional aspect of money in your training courses?

Money management is a source of stress.

It is important to keep up to date with the situation on a daily basis.

However, apart from certain day-to-day imperatives, it is advisable to never react on a case-by-case basis, but rather to let your intuition guide you towards the right decision.

It is also important to understand that failure is a learning experience and that we learn from our mistakes.  

Can you share an example of a financial transformation that one of your clients experienced after training with you?

After training, one of our clients made the following changes:

• Automated cash management
• Implementation of operational and financial alert detectors 
• Building a financial system to simulate risks
• Use of a network of financiers (traders, bankers, economists)
• Dialogue on financial imperatives with non-financial operational staff 
• Demystifying accounting, which is simply an information tool necessary for understanding finance.

How do you see the future of finance management training with the evolution of technologies and consumption patterns?

I believe that financial management training should be divided into two parts. 

The first part must be individual because participants' levels often vary greatly. This helps to prevent certain financial novices from remaining silent in the face of the supposed expertise of other participants. This phase must also include application exercises carried out individually.

The second part is done in groups with the analysis of cases carried out by the participants.