The seminar covers 6 main areas:
1. The language of business – understanding the jargon of accountants
2. The ‘Balance sheet’ – a snapshot of your financial health
3. The ‘Income Statement’ – your measure of financial performance over time.
4. Key financial measurement tools, ratios and indicators – to assess your performance
5. Managing finance – an essential skill for every manager
6. Financial decision – a vital part of operational management
The approach taken in the seminar will be practical as well as conceptual, qualitative as well as quantitative, and strategic as well as well as tactical. The intention is that you’ll be able to apply conceptual principles to practical situations at whatever level of management involved. The seminar will incorporate various solved examples and case studies with step-by-step guidelines at appropriate intervals so that you get an opportunity to integrate practice and theory with ample chance to discuss various issues aired during the seminar. We want you to be able to apply your new knowledge from Day 1 back at work!
You’ll gain essential knowledge that will benefit you and your organisation for ever, and:
Be able to understand any financial statement and zero-in on the most important numbers
Be able to discuss day-to-day financial issues confidently with those inside and outside your organisation
Be able to present your plans and ideas in sound financial terms for greater impact at all levels of management – and gain faster acceptance
Be able to read between the lines and avoid getting misled by “the numbers”
Be able to recognise when numbers look questionable and should be examined more closely – rather than blindly accepting them
Be able to identify early-on critical indicators that can mean future trouble
Be able to measure, at a glance, the financial strengths and weaknesses of your operational area of responsibility
Be able to undertake genuine financial analysis instead of just going through the motions
Be able to be assertive in dealing with financial facts and figures
Be able to forecast future revenue and expense with greater accuracy
Be able to plan more robust budgets
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This seminar is designed for non-financial managers in every functional area of responsibilities in all industries. It is also very suitable for executives who handle financial matters, administrative assistants, secretaries, executive secretaries or other administrative professionals working with managers.
Topic 1: The language of business
Financial accounting, cost accounting, management accounting, treasury management – and all that!
The basic building blocks of an organisation’s accounting system: a simple model of its accounting framework.
12 essential terms you absolutely need to know.
What financial statements are and what they’re supposed to tell us.
6 serious limitations of financial statements – and how to defend your reported position.
The sources of reliable, well-prepared financial data.
How understanding the rules of GAAP will avoid a common source of confusion between managers and accountants.
2 powerful financial concepts you’ll use throughout your career.
‘Profit’ and ‘loss’ – what do they really mean?
‘Cash’ versus ‘accruals’ – an essential distinction.
How to identify ‘fixed’ versus ‘variable’ costs.
The difference between direct and ‘indirect’ cashflows.
When and why to capitalise expenditure and the impact it has on your reported profit.
8 characteristics of a well-prepared financial statement.
So …. why do accountants wield so much influence in business?
Topic 2: The ‘Balance sheet’ – a snapshot of your financial health
The relationship between account balances and balancing accounts.
Deciphering the components of the balance sheet: assets, liabilities and equity – and the impact of GAAP on its structure.
What the balance sheet – all by itself – tells you about your business – and what it leaves out.
How valuing assets can be tricky.
4 ways of valuing a business – and deciding the ‘real’ value of its stock (shares).
Topic 3: The ‘Income statement’ - your measure of performance over time
What goes into the income statement – the 3 important profits.
The concept of ‘top’, ‘middle’ and ‘bottom’ lines.
Important things the income statement – all by itself – can tell you.
Ways the income statement can misrepresent – and mislead.
The dangers in accepting reported revenues and expenses at face value – and the art of “reading between the lines”.
Topic 4: Key financial measurement tools, ratios and indicators – to assess your performance
Why the balance sheet and income statement are analysed together – the dynamic interaction of two orientations.
The hows and whys of the ‘common-sized’ statement – the questions it answers, and what is left out.
Using the ‘horizontal’ statement – for variance analysis.
The dynamic impact of an integrated ‘common-sized’ and ‘horizontal’ report – a way to assess your performance 360°.
4 useful ‘earnings’ ratios – and what they tell about you and your competitors.
2 key tests for cash flows health.
The hows and whys of trend analysis – using the past to predict the future.
Topic 5: Managing finance – an essential skill for every manager
An overview of an organisation’s cash flows – different types of cash flow in one model.
The ‘Cash flows forecast’ – 6 stages and 2 approaches. Don’t make a purchase without one!
Cash management tools used to cope with insufficient cash resources – 4 ways to increase your cash without using external sources.
What goes into ‘working capital’ and how it ‘flexes’ during the normal course of business.
The most serious limitation of working capital – a step-by-step guide to ‘managing out’ the problem.
How to calculate the duration of your cash conversion cycle – and what it tells you.
How extending days in accounts payable can be dangerous.
How days in accounts payable can upset the delicate balance of your cash conversion cycle.
Extended sales payment terms – the hidden costs.
4 ways of speeding up sales payments without pain to your customer – advantages and disadvantages.
Inventory turns – danger signals of trouble up ahead?
Topic 6: Financial decisions – a vital part of operational management
6 concepts of budgets all managers need to know.
7 rules for setting up a robust budget.
6 techniques for calculating the break-even point – numbers and visually.
The ‘margin-of-safety’ – what it tells you.
Flexing budgets to report meaningful performance variances.
5 ways of identifying which budget variances warrant investigation.
8 characteristics of a well-prepared budget statement – make sure that your performance is accurately reported.