The Finance and Office Management Division has the responsibility of managing the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®)’s financial affairs and providing logistical and operational support to the wider organisation.

The main areas of focus of the Finance and Office Management Division are as follows:

• Accounting
• Compliance
• Management and Control
• Strategy and Risk Management
• Funding
• Property Management
• Timely and Efficient Delivery of Goods and Services
• Procurement

This is done with emphasis on adhering to generally accepted accounting standards and practices and ensuring prudence in the management of CXC’s finances. Part of the financial reporting function also includes the implementation and monitoring of internal controls, ensuring that there is adequate segregation of duties and approval for all transactions.

The Finance and Office Management Division continues to provide financial direction to the organisation to ensure that the strategic objectives are achieved. With little growth in the candidate and subject entries and decreases in some areas, the focus has been on expense management and improving processes to create greater efficiencies.

One of the areas of expense management has been cost containment which will be achieved through rigorous review of existing processes. With the various process changes which has impacted the method of doing business, there is a need to adapt existing processes to the new programs to ensure efficiencies are realised. Compliance with procurement guidelines and ensuring that the best price is obtained for items of expenditure continue to be critical along with a review of major cost drivers.

Data is critical to effective decision making and as a result the emphasis has been on utilising business intelligent tools. Greater use of ICT tools to improve operational efficiency continues to be an area of focus. The emphasis has been on utilising the online banking facility and as a result banking relationships have been established with various institutions across the region. This will need to continue to ensure that resource persons are paid timely since there are still some territories where there is no direct banking relationship.

The availability of funds is critical to ensuring that the strategic objectives of the organisation are met along with the daily financial requirements. This starts with a robust budgeting process; the actual inflow of cash is critical to managing the resource requirements of the organisation. However, the collection of outstanding receivables is critical to ensuring that there are adequate resources. This has become critical given the current economic conditions and requires frequent follow up especially where the terms of payment are not followed.

The Office Management section of the Division is responsible for all aspects relating to the plant and equipment. This includes managing the accommodation needs of CXC, provision of travel for staff and resource personnel and the management of courier services and ensuring that the plant and equipment is properly maintained. The Division also assists managers in ensuring that CXC complies with Health and Safety regulations. The delivery of services with respect to office accommodation remains critical and the ways these services have been delivered continues to be reviewed.

Continuous Improvement

As a service division, customer service is critical and has been identified as an area for improvement. The use of internal surveys to obtain feedback on the quality of service provided will be used in the future. The FOM division is currently developing a Customer Service Charter which would define the framework for delivering the Customer Service Standards.

With this the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be used to measure and monitor performance. The elimination of manual processes will also help to improve the timely delivery of services.