Straightforward and no-nonsense, this course enables you to get straight to the heart of financial issues, demystifies financial information and gives you confidence and control when making financial decisions.
This two-day overview course has won praise for the straightforward way in which it untangles the web of mystery that surrounds financial and management accounting in the eyes of many non-financial managers. By so doing it enables them to understand and manage the impact of their decisions on business results, interact more productively with their finance-based colleagues and exert greater influence on decision making in their organization.
Suitable for managers who want to gain a clear understanding of the fundamentals of business finance and the financial implications of decisions they make.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Understand how your day-to-day decisions impact profit and cashflow.
- Demystify the rules of capital expenditure vs operational expenditure helping you to justify investments to your senior managers and finance team
- Review financial information relating to:
- your business (helping you to set targets for improvement)
- your subsidiaries (helping you to manage and set targets for your team)
- existing customers (are they still viable?) and potential customers (are they a credit risk?)
- competitors (what can we learn from benchmarking their results?)
- Manage the budgeting process to:
- ensure business strategy is implemented
- negotiate funding for improvement or efficiency initiatives
- win in the negotiation over funds allocated to your budget, ensuring it’s achievable
- manage financial performance, understanding variances and taking action to achieve your budget and objectives
- Simply assess the viability of entering new markets or developing new products
The Nature and Purpose of Accounting
- A simple model of an organization’s accounting framework
- Who uses the accounts and what do they use them for?
- Where can I find out about my organisation’s/my competitors’ financial position
Profit and Loss Accounts, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements
- Their structure and terminology, what they tell us and why they need to be reviewed together to gain a full understanding of business performance
- Using financial information as a management tool
- Understanding how operational income and costs are accounted for and the implications for how you manage costs in your department
Managing Finance
- Understanding working capital: What it is? How can we manage it?
- Why too much working capital is bad for you and too little may be disastrous
- Optimizing working capital for your organization and the implications for negotiating with customers and suppliers
- The distinction between profit and cash flow
- Considering sources of funding
Understanding Management Accounting Including Budgeting
- Putting together a robust budget
- Negotiating budget funding
- Assessing variances and reforecasting the budget
- Evaluating feasibility of operational projects via break-even analysis
- The effects of depreciation
Personal Development
- Formulating an action plan
