Finance for Non-Finance Professionals

Introduction

Executives and business professionals need to understand the financial factors critical to business success. This interactive Finance for Non-Finance Professionals training course will show how finance works in today’s fast-moving business environment. For any business the key elements of profitability, liquidity and financial structure are critical for continuing success and competitiveness. So, these three elements are comprehensively explored and developed at all levels of business activity.

You will learn about the accounting processes of recording and reporting business transactions, and how these are summarized as periodic financial reports in accordance with statutory requirements. You will also learn how these financial reports are analyzed by a variety of user groups.

This Finance for Non-Finance managers training course also has an inward focus and will explain why management accounting is essential to business survival, and success. It will show how budgeting can control costs and improve profitability. It will explain and develop tools and techniques for evaluating proposed new investment projects. This training course will enable you to understand the business from both a financial and strategic perspective, and how business decisions will impact on corporate profitability.

Highlights of this Finance for Non-Finance Professionals Training Course:

• The strategic and operational role of the finance function
• The principles of accounting and financial reporting
• How to understand and analyze financial reports?
• How management accounting helps to maintain control and improve efficiency?
• How we can ensure that investment returns meet the stockholders expectations?

Objectives

Having completed this Finance for Non-Finance Professionals training course, you should be able to:

• Explain the nature and role of financial statements and their interpretation
• Use the language of accounting and finance to communicate effectively with financial professionals
• Review the financial performance and financial position of an organization using the appropriate financial ratios and break-even analysis techniques
• Use budgetary control to compare actual against planned performance and to identify corrective actions
• Evaluate investment projects using DCF and other appraisal methods

Training Methodology

This interactive Finance for Non-Finance managers training course will comprise a range of learning activities, including tutor presentations, with question and answer opportunities, demonstration and practice of analytical techniques, group exercises and discussions, using case studies and current company and market information sources. Whilst the theoretical background to financial management will be explained and justified, the main emphasis will be on putting these into a real world context by providing a practical ‘toolkit’ of financial techniques.

Organisational Impact

The organisation will gain from sending employees to this training course:

• Greater awareness of the role of accounting and finance
• Ability to understand the structure of accounting systems, and financial reports
• Ability to make more effective and better informed contributions to financial discussions
• Ability to use tools and techniques for financial control and financial management
• Greater understanding of the key drivers which ensure sustainable growth and competitiveness
• Awareness of how business risks can be identified, analysed, and managed

Personal Impact

Participants will be able to further develop their personal management skills by being:

• More knowledgeable about accounting and finance systems, and the meaning of financial statements & reports
• Better informed financially, to enable improved executive decision-making
• Better able to contribute to financial discussion, and communicate in financial language
• Better able to contribute to the effective financial management of their organisation
• Able to evaluate alternative courses of action and identify the most effective choices with regard to the future improvement of their organisation
• Able to liaise more effectively with departments on financial matters