Finance for Non Financial Managers

Overview

Course duration: 2 days.

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 organisation.

Is it right for me?

Suitable for managers who want to gain a clear understanding of the fundamentals of business finance and the financial implications of decisions they make.

If you've already attended this course and are looking to progress to a more strategic course then you may wish to consider Advanced Finance for Senior Managers and Directors.

What will I learn?

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Understand how your day-to-day decisions impact profit and cashflow.
• De-mystify 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

What will it cover?

The Nature and Purpose of Accounting

• A simple model of an organisation’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
• Optimising working capital for your organisation 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

Further courses to consider

Interpreting Company Accounts

Testimonial

Robert Allen, European Technical Support Manager

Kingston Technology Europe Ltd

I found the sections on jargon and PTL sheets particularly helpful. This programme has given me a better understanding of financial reviews.