5 Planning Tools And Techniques

[Carmen Kalua]

Thispublication highlights the impact of technology when applying certain aspects of the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). It focuses on specific considerations for planning an audit in accordance with ISA 300, Planning an Audit of Financial Statements, that may be relevant when using automated tools and techniques.

Apply the Tools & Techniques approach to all aspects of modern estate planning to help clients plan every aspect of an estate, including tax, investment, insurance, and estate administration decisions.

Tools and Techniques of Estate Planning covers all aspects of estate planning, from behavioral and ethical issues to estate and gift tax planning, to planning for nontraditional couples and the risk of health issues for aging clients. With topics that are applicable for both large and small estates, this title enables estate planners to:

This book features easy-to-understand, real-world examples from expert authors on which techniques are best suited for a wide variety of circumstances, and equally important advice on how to avoid future problems.

As with all of the resources in the highly acclaimed Leimberg Library, every area covered in this book is accompanied by the tools, techniques, practice tips, and examples you can use to help your clients successfully navigate the complex course of estate planning and confidently meet their needs.

The late Stephan R. Leimberg was CEO of Leimberg and LeClair, Inc., an estate and financial planning software company, CEO of LISI, Leimberg Information Services, Inc., an email newsletter service, and President of Leimberg Associates, Inc., a publishing and software company. He was an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Taxation Program of Villanova University School of Law and former adjunct at Temple University School of Law. He holds a B.A. from Temple University, and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law. Leimberg was the Editor of the American Society of Financial Service Professionals audio publication, Keeping Current.

Leimberg was co-creator of many software packages for the financial services professional, including Estate and Financial Planning NumberCruncher (estate planning), DeCoupleCruncher (estate planning), Financial Analyzer II (financial calculations), Estate Planning Quickview (Estate Planning Flow Charts), Life Settlement NumberCruncher (life settlement buy-hold analysis), Planning Ahead for a Secure Retirement (PowerPoint Client Seminar) and Toward a Zero Estate Tax (PowerPoint Client Estate Planning Seminar).

Leimberg was named Edward N. Polisher Lecturer of the Dickinson School of Law and 2004 recipient of the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner award.

Prior to joining Huntington, Ed was in similar roles at Key Private Bank and U.S. Bank and prior to working in the wealth management industry, was in private law practice focused on the areas of wealth preservation, business and trust planning, probate, tax litigation and ERISA retirement plans.

An accomplished presenter and speaker at state and national conferences such as the Heckerling Estate Planning Institute, Notre Dame Estate Planning Institute, and the Southern Federal Tax Institute, he has taught thousands of attorneys, accountants and financial planners in various continuing education courses on estate, tax and asset protection planning. Ed also co-taught a capstone course on estate planning as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati Law School.

L. Paul Hood, Jr. received his J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1986 and Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1988. Paul is a frequent speaker, is widely quoted and his articles have appeared in a number of publications, including BNA Tax Management Memorandum, BNA Estates, Gifts & Trusts Journal, CCH Journal of Practical Estate Planning, Estate Planning, Valuation Strategies, Digest of Federal Tax Articles, Loyola Law Review, Louisiana Bar Journal, Tax Ideas, The Value Examiner and Charitable Gift Planning News. He has spoken at programs sponsored by a number of law schools, including Duke University, Georgetown University, New York University, Tulane University, Loyola (N.O.) University, and Louisiana State University, as well as many other professional organizations, including AICPA and NACVA. From 1996-2004, Paul served on the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals, a three-member board that has jurisdiction over all State of Louisiana tax matters.

Project management tools and techniques make planning and managing projects easier and more effective. They can be applied to any project regardless of the field or industry. When used in tandem with project management software, they help save time and reduce costs.

Gantt charts are one of the most important project management tools due to their versatility. Gantt charts can be used throughout the various phases of your projects to help with project planning, project scheduling and project tracking.

The WBS is a graphic representation of every task in the project. At the top is the final product with a line that goes down the page to a box (or boxes) that represent the larger tasks that lead to that completed project. Each of these boxes is then attached with lines that go under it to smaller tasks.

Work breakdown structure diagrams are a very popular project management tool, typically used in project management techniques such as the critical path method (CPM) or the Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT).

Project network diagrams are graphical representations of a project. They look like a series of arrows that connect to boxes and they show how activities interact in a project. The boxes are called nodes and they represent an activity in the project, while the arrows show the relationship among the activities.

The purpose of the network diagram in terms of project management techniques is that it helps project managers track each project element. It also makes it easier to share and communicate with others on the project team. Network diagrams are used in various project management techniques that require a graphical representation of task sequences, such as PERT or the critical path method

Project management software takes kanban to the next level. ProjectManager has a board view that syncs with all its other project views, allowing teams to work however they want. All updates are reflected throughout the tool and teams love how they can manage their backlog and plan sprints. Managers get the transparency they want to see potential blocks and reallocate resources quickly to keep production moving ahead smoothly.

The project board helps team members visualize what they must get done today, seeing their tasks in the wider context of the others. This limits the amount of work in progress (WIP) and balances the workflow to avoid overburdening the team. Because the cards on the board can be prioritized, workflow is improved. Once one task is done, the card moves to the next column and the team member starts on the card on top of their to-do column.

There are many different types of risks of which project managers must be aware. Common risks include strategic, operational, financial, technical and external risks. Remember, not all risks are bad. Some can be taken advantage of and positively impact the project.

Teams need to get paid and timesheets are a tool that helps accomplish that. As in any employment, timesheets are a way to track the number of hours a person has worked over the course of a specific time, usually a week or biweekly.

Project reports are simply documentation that detail either an overview or details of a project. There are many different types of project reports, each serving a different purpose, but all give a project manager data on the progress and performance of their project.

One of the more common project reports is the status report, which is usually weekly or monthly. There are also progress reports and workload reports that are crucial to resource management. There are even reports that look at risk, cost-benefit analysis and project variance.

Agile is a way to approach projects in an iterative fashion with short durations of work. These periods are called sprints. Agile sprints begin with planning, which is typically done using task lists and kanban boards. A product owner requests the work and the development team decides on what work will be done during the sprint.

The development team has the final say in terms of what work will be accomplished during the sprint, while the product owner defines the criteria by which the work will be considered done and approved.

In this process, a scrum master is an expert on the scrum framework and determines the length of the sprint. There are artifacts that provide information to the scrum team including backlog, burndown charts and user stories.

So, how does PERT work? It manages probabilities by using network diagrams and simple statistical methods. PERT breaks down tasks into detailed activities, by using the WBS discussed above, then adds these to a PERT diagram to identify those activities that are interdependent. From that data, you create an illustrative map of the network of activities and their interdependencies.

On the map, a node represents an event and the activities are represented by arrows drawn from one event to another based on its order. From this, the earliest time (TE) and the latest time (TL) for each activity are figured out, as well as the slack time for each activity.

Critical Path Method (CPM) is a cornerstone of project management techniques. CPM involves the use of network diagrams, WBS and Gantt charts. CPM consists in using these tools to create a project timeline and identify the critical path, which is the longest sequence of activities in the project. The activities in the critical path are known as critical tasks and have the highest priority in terms of project schedules. Now you know what tasks are critical to the project and which have float or can be delayed without lengthening the project timeline. With this information, you can determine the shortest time needed to complete the project.

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