Case Study Example of Successful Planning
[This is excerpted from Peter D’s Planning and Productivity Course.
For further information on the course, visit: https://peterdhelp.com .
To purchase the course, visit: https://peter-s-school-c9bb.thinkific.com .]
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This information is intended for education, illustration, and discussion purposes only. It is not intended to and does not in fact provide professional advice. For such advice, please consult with appropriate professionals licensed in your local jurisdiction.
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Personal Introduction
Hello, my name is Peter John Dervenis, also known as Peter D.
I am your instructor for the Planning and Productivity course.
I have worked as an auditor for many years in public accounting firms, the private sector, and for the Canadian government tax department: Canada Revenue Agency.
I have also taught accounting, auditing, and tax courses for the Canada Revenue Agency, at university, and for Canadian and US professional accounting designation programs.
When studying at university, studying for my professional certification programs, and performing various types of audits, I found that planning, budgeting, and scheduling tools and techniques helped me to succeed.
These tools and techniques can also help you to improve your own performance.
Introduction for Planning and Productivity Course
I am going to briefly outline some of the planning, budgeting, and scheduling tools and techniques that I used to conduct and manage complex professional services engagements for large corporations, some with revenues in excess of $1 billion.
These same planning, budgeting, and scheduling tools and techniques can be applied or adapted to many activities: projects, goals, or tasks – whether large or small – which will keep you more organized and possibly help you get things done more effectively.
You will still need the technical and professional expertise required for the project, goal, or task for it to be completed competently. You will need to possess this expertise personally, and/or your team members and advisors have to have it.
The purpose of good planning, budgeting, and scheduling tools is to help you to be more organized and help you to keep track of the progress that is being made. They cannot replace the expertise needed to get the job done competently.
The professional services engagements in this example were tax audits of corporations’ Canadian tax returns performed by me and tax audits performed by several other individuals in the team that I managed.
The tax audits were completed over a 10-year period. I performed audits for the first 6 years of this 10-year period and I managed an audit team and actively participated in the team’s audits for the last 4 years.
All of us, me, the team members, and the internal advisors who worked on these audits each had the professional training and the many years of relevant experience that were needed to work on Canadian tax audits of large, complex corporations.
Summary
Break down your tasks into phases and steps, logically sequence them, budget your resources, and schedule everything in advance. Follow a proven system. Stick to your areas of expertise. Get help. Work with a competent team inside your organization and hire the necessary professional advisors, consultants, and coaches from outside your organization. Block off specific time periods each day of the week when you can focus on the most important activities. Establish a consistent, effective routine. Monitor your results and take quick corrective action as needed. Get your task completed and celebrate your success. Document what worked and what did not. Apply what you learned again and again for bigger and better results.
Some Key Documents for Planning, Budgeting, and Scheduling
- Diary or journal record of the daily activities in a Word document. (Alternatively, an Excel document can be used.)
- Planning, budgeting, and scheduling Excel document for the major categories or phases of the project and the steps or elements to be completed; budgeted time; allocated and scheduled budgeted time by month; actual time by month; additional information to track and explain the actual time and compared it to budgeted time
- Detailed lists of procedures applicable to each step or element in the project.
Exhibit 1
Summary of Planning, Budgeting, and Scheduling Tools and Techniques Used
[For details of this information, please see Peter D’s Planning and Productivity Course at https://peter-s-school-c9bb.thinkific.com .]
Exhibit 2
Further Details for the Set-Up of the Planning, Budgeting, and Scheduling Document
[For details of this information, please see Peter D’s Planning and Productivity Course at https://peter-s-school-c9bb.thinkific.com .]
Results
Over the ten-year period, we identified errors in tax base amounts of hundreds of millions of dollars, which resulted in current and future additional tax revenues of about $50 million for the Canadian tax authorities. Also, many of these audits were completed on an accelerated basis, with less elapsed time than normal.
Other Examples
I used similar planning, budgeting, and scheduling techniques as one of the coordinators of a large tax audit project encompassing 1,500 taxpayers and dozens of auditors. Hundreds of millions of dollars of tax credits were disallowed and current and future tax revenues were increased by about $80 million.
When I studied in university and for professional certification programs, I also used detailed planning, budgeting, and scheduling of my work in advance. Sticking to the plans, budget, and schedule improved my results.
Recap / Summary
(Repeated from above.)
Break down your tasks into phases and steps, logically sequence them, budget your resources, and schedule everything in advance. Follow a proven system. Stick to your areas of expertise. Get help. Work with a competent team inside your organization and hire the necessary professional advisors, consultants, and coaches from outside your organization. Block off specific time periods each day of the week when you can focus on the most important activities. Establish a consistent, effective routine. Monitor your results and take quick corrective action as needed. Get your task completed and celebrate your success. Document what worked and what did not. Apply what you learned again and again for bigger and better results.
Conclusions
Both analytical, problem-solving skills are needed, as well as emotional strength and maturity, to get your projects done. You clearly need expertise, accountability, and support. This requires a coordinated, organized effort from you and your internal team and the outside advisors that you work with. With a proven planning, budgeting, and scheduling system and helpful coaching, you too will be more organized in your work, keeping track of the progress, and knowing when you are off track. This will make you more likely to succeed.
Next Steps
For further information on the course, visit: https://peterdhelp.com .
To purchase the course, visit: https://peter-s-school-c9bb.thinkific.com .
Coming Soon
Coming soon is a blog series 23 Steps To Success With Your Goals… And Why These Steps Matter.
This blog series is based on the course Peter D’s Planning and Productivity Course.
