Finance for Non-Financial Managers

Learn from a course designed to improve the financial and commercial knowledge of managers to help them meet financial objectives

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A two-day course

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Finance for non finance managers course - Day 1

Session 1 – Fundamentals of Financial Reporting

Course overview and objectives – to provide the technical skill and knowledge for non-financial staff to make appropriate financial decisions
The key components of accounts – income, expenses, assets, liabilities and equity
An introduction to the primary financial reporting statements and the key financial performance indicators:

Net income – measures of profit
Balance sheet – capital employed and leverage

Fundamental financial management accounting concepts – accruals v cash-based accounting

Exercise – case study to identify the key measures of strong financial performance

Session 2 – Understanding Profit and Loss/Net Income

The financial reporting period and the importance of cut-off
Reporting revenue and key principles for revenue recognition
The difference between assets and expenses and borderline issues such as R&D
Expense categories – direct and overheads
Non-recurring exceptional items

Exercise – profit and loss appraisal exercise including calculation of gross and net margins and EBITDA

Session 3 – Cash Flow Vs. Profit and Loss

What is meant by ‘cash’? Plus the importance of positive operating cash flows
Accruals compared with cash accounting with examples including credit sales, purchases, accruals and prepayments
Other non-cash items such as provisions and depreciation

Exercise – Converting cash profit to accruals profit

Session 4 – An Introduction to the Balance Sheet

The purpose of the balance sheet – creditor protection and the impact on reporting assets and liabilities
Non-current assets and depreciation (amortisation)
The net current position – working capital and the assessment of liquidity
Management of working capital – the key issues to remember such as inventory holding periods
Financial leverage and the concept of ‘cost of capital’

Exercise – appraisal of a simple balance sheet – net current position, return on capital and gearing

Final Comments

An introduction to financial project appraisal techniques such as Net Present Values (NPV), Discounted Cash Flows (DCF) and Internal Rates of Return (IRR)
The role and use of Key Performance Indicators (including financial KPIs) and their use in business decision-making

Finance for non finance managers course - Day 2

Session 5 – Management of Working Capital

Introduction and overview – what is meant by the working capital cycle?
Managing inventory – stock holding periods and the concept of effective inventory reordering
Management of receivables – the impact of slow or non-payment
Management of supplier payment terms (as part of overall working capital management)

Exercise – case study including the calculation of the stock holding period, debtor and creditor days and the overall working capital obligation of the business.

Session 6 – Risk Management

Identifying and reacting to key business risks
Currency risk and financial management issues of foreign currency cash flows
Interest rate risk and the importance of considering the impact of delayed payment terms
Credit risk – how this should be reflected in the contract pricing

Exercise – appraisal of different customer types: which is the best for the business overall (this could include issues such as allocation of scarce resources)

Session 7 – Project Appraisal Techniques

An introduction to common appraisal techniques, including:

Net present value and discounted cash flows (the time value of money impact)
Return on investment, internal rates of return
Payback periods

Additional considerations such as foreign currency cash flows and inflation

Exercise – case study involving basic project appraisal

Session 8 – We Complete our Finance for Managers Course With Concluding Thoughts

Some other issues to consider:

Long-term contracts and service agreements – how revenue, costs and profits are reported
Leasing agreements – the impact of capital and operating leases on commercial performance
Provisions and contingencies – when to recognise a liability

Synoptic exercise – review of an example draft contract or commercial agreement with a typical customer or client

This finance for non finance managers training will allow for short breaks of about 15 minutes in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Our finance for non finance managers course is delivered by a Chartered Accountant who qualified in 1987 with the six-partner firm, Gilberts. Following the completion of an accountancy foundation course, in the same year, he joined Binder Hamlyn to work in their Business Development Group.

In 1990, he joined a major training company to work as a trainer on their financial and managerial accounting exam courses. During the next four years, he taught auditing, financial reporting and taxation for the ACA, ACCA, CIMA and AAT exams, he also taught the ACA multi-disciplinary case study. He mainly taught full-time courses organised for Deloitte, PWC and EY; he was also personally responsible for the ACA final-level auditing paper.

In 1993, they became the director of post-examination CPD training for accountants. He was also responsible for financial training programmes for non-accountants, especially solicitors. Around this time, he also started training in International Accounting Standards, initially for Ernst & Young’s non-UK-based professional staff in Europe.

Since 1998, he has been training on a freelance basis, concentrating on financial training for both accountants and non-accountants, including this finance for non finance manager course. He also specialises in training on IFRS and US accounting standards and has presented on both subjects throughout Europe for the past 20 years. Our trainer has considerable experience in presenting training on the following topics:

Accounting for financial instruments and insurance contracts
IFRS reporting issues for energy and pharmaceutical businesses
Completion accounts and the role of financial standards in corporate finance transactions

Accounting for business combinations – mergers, acquisitions and all joint and special purpose arrangements.

Our finance for non financial managers course is designed to improve the ability of commercial managers. It will help you make appropriate commercial decisions that will benefit the business you work for and help that business meet its financial and non-financial goals.
This course will allow attendees to communicate more effectively with those who work in the accounts and finance teams within their organisation.
Our finance for non finance managers training will also increase the attendee's commercial and financial knowledge on fundamentals of finance and accounting. This finance course for non finance managers is the gold standard for better understanding the needs of your customers and clients.

Our finance for non finance managers course is highly practical and will use current real-life examples and illustrations so that it never becomes a dry, academic exercise.
This course tutor is an accountant with over 20 years of experience explaining corporate financial accounting for business managers and financial terms to non-accountants. Even the most technical aspects of the topics covered will be explained in a way which is clear and understandable.
We encourage attendees to ask questions, however specific. These will be answered and explained during this finance for non finance managers training.

Our finance for non financial managers training course covers all the essential information needed to allow participants to perform more effectively in a commercial environment. The content will take you through all the key stages in business financial management from recording information, reporting financial information to management, understanding financial statements (P&L, cash flows etc.) to project appraisal techniques and risk management.

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