overview

Key Learning Objectives

• Gain a thorough understanding of the wide range of financial terms and concepts
• Apply the financial concepts and policies behind management decision processes
• Recognise the impact of effective working capital management on company cash flow
• Control business operations through effective budget management and be able to assess and control the impact of day-to-day business activities on a company’s profitability
• Communicate effectively with financial executives and top management and be able to interpret and analyse financial statements

About the Course

This course will provide you with the fundamental building blocks to enable you to read and interpret the financial data relating to your organisation.

We will examine how a business is structured and will look at some of the key ratios that highlight the financial performance of a business. We will also examine how budgeting and forecasting are used to manage the day-to-day running of the business.

Attendees are encouraged to obtain copies of the Statutory Accounts of their own companies, and those of their competitors, and to undertake the analysis on these accounts as they work through these series of modules. Attendees should also consider any management information (monthly reports, quarterly briefings, etc.) that they see and what operational decisions they should be taking as a result of the knowledge gained from this workshop.

Target Audience

This course is suitable for managers who wish to understand the finances of their business/department/business unit and have little or no formal financial training.

It will be useful for first-time budget holders and managers as well as more senior members of staff such as department managers, business unit managers and regional managers and anyone else who needs to gain a firmer grasp on the financial implications of their day-to-day operational decisions.

Benefits of Attending

“Accounting is the process of identifying, measuring and communicating financial information to permit the informed judgements and decisions by users of that information”. While it is up to the Finance Team to ‘identify, measure and communicate’ financial information, managers in the business can only make ‘informed judgements and decisions’ if they understand that information. This workshop aims to ‘lift the lid’ on the world of finance and to improve the ‘financial fluency’ of attendees.

On completing this online course, delegates will understand:

1.  How a company is financially structured
2.  How a company trades and accounts for those trades
3.  How a company is funded
4.  The primary financial statements – the Profit & Loss Account, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement – and how those statements interact
5. Key financial ratios and how to can use them to interpret financial information
6. The types of costs in a business – how they behave and how they are treated financially
7. How assets are valued
8. Techniques for investment decision making and how to build
   a business case
9. Budgeting and forecasting and how this can be used to exercise greater control over the business
10. How to think ‘commercially’ as well as ‘operationally