Accounting, financial analysis, and management control
Accounting, financial analysis and management control tests the CGNC framework, the diagnostic reading of financial statements, and the budgeting and measurement toolkit used in public and private entities.
Accounting framework
The Code général de normalisation comptable (loi 9-88, applied from 1992) structures the plan comptable in classes 1–8 and prescribes the états de synthèse: bilan, compte de produits et charges, état des soldes de gestion, tableau de financement (TAFIRE) and état des informations complémentaires. Valuation is at historical cost, corrected by amortissements and provisions. The bilan is presented by increasing liquidity (assets) and increasing exigibility (liabilities).
Financial analysis
FR (fonds de roulement) = ressources stables − actifs immobilisés; BFR = stocks + créances d'exploitation − dettes d'exploitation; trésorerie nette = FR − BFR. Ratios: liquidité générale = actif circulant / passif circulant; autonomie financière = capitaux propres / total passif; marge nette = résultat net / chiffre d'affaires.
Management control
Budgets, centres de responsabilité, coûts standards and variance analysis (prix/quantité), tableaux de bord, comptabilité analytique, ABC. In public bodies the same logic underpins performance projects and indicators.
Worked example
CA 12,000,000; résultat net 720,000; total bilan 9,000,000; capitaux propres 4,500,000. Marge nette = 6%; rotation de l'actif = 12/9 = 1.33; levier = 9/4.5 = 2; ROE = 720,000/4,500,000 = 16% = 6% × 1.33 × 2. The DuPont decomposition shows leverage contributes as much as margin.
Traps
Reporting a charge overrun as a favourable variance (the sign convention flips for costs); treating a positive FR as cash; forgetting the CGNC liquidity ordering; confusing résultat d'exploitation with résultat net.