Finance For Non-Finance Professionals

There is a greater need to understand financial information, particularly the balance sheet, profit and loss account and cash flow statement as companies strive to enhance their shareholder value. Decisions made without properly understanding the financial implications may lead to reduced profits (or even losses) and a reduction in shareholder value.

By raising financial awareness, participants are better able to manage businesses’ revenues, costs, profits and cash. Participants will also be able to use their new financial knowledge to make more effective decisions. 

This workshop will provide basic financial principles and cover generic financial management tools necessary for decision making. 

Learning is achieved via practical examples which reinforce the theory; case studies and short exercises; and topic-related internationally acclaimed videos which successfully simplify the financial topic for the non-financial person.

Participants will also go through a highly interactive board game, (ProfitPlus™) which allows participants to experience how transactions affect the balance sheet and profit and loss account over 2 trading years. Participants also prepare year end financial statements. 

The ProfitPlus board game is many participants’ favourite part of the workshop when we conduct  in-house workshops for our clients.

This programme will also feature a number of panel discussions and fireside chats with experienced practitioners from banking and financial institutions, as well as successful SME business owners and CFOs with SME experience. 

Course Objectives:

To raise the level of financial awareness of participants and enable them to use the financial information provided to make better short-term or long-term decisions in managing their businesses.

Course Agenda:

• Financial statements
• Understand the main components of a typical set of financial statements or annual report
• Appreciate the key underlying accounting concepts used in the preparation of financial statements
• Business Analysis
• Know how to interpret financial statements and analyse businesses using the 7-step approach
• Perform a SWOT analysis using financial statements
• Cash Operating Cycle
• Understand the cash operating cycle and what affects a company’s cash flow
• Manage the cash operating cycle 
• Costing
• Know the different categories of costs which exist and their implication on costing
• Understand costing concepts, and apply them in making business decisions
• Budgeting, Forex and Taxation
• Have an appreciation of budgeting and the effects of foreign exchange movements and taxation on financial decisions
• Investment Appraisal Tools
• Understand the payback period, net present value and internal rate of return methods of project appraisal in decision-making
• Understand briefly the concepts of shareholder value, gearing and weighted average cost of capital
• Profit versus Cash
• Understand the difference between the impact on profit and cash of 15 typical transactions which companies undertake
• Be clear on why cash is king!
• Warning Signals
• Uncover and appreciate what some of the clear warning signals are in financial statements
• Sustainability
• Understand what is sustainability & sustainability reporting
• Be aware why practising sustainability is important

Course Programme:

• Day 1 
• Introduction
• Financial statements
• ProfitPlus™ Board Game -  Round 1
• Business analysis
• Day 2 
• Cash operating cycle
• Costing
• Budgeting
• Foreign exchange implications
• Taxation
• Sustainability
• Day 3 
• Investment appraisal tools
• Business analysis case study of the lessons from Amcol
• ProfitPlus™ Board Game - Round 2
• Profit versus Cash 
• Warning signals