Financial Skills: Company Accounts Introduction

Course Overview

This intensive course introduces delegates to the contents of financial statements, their meaning and uses. It is the first in the series of three company accounts courses and as such provides a solid grounding of knowledge, essential before delegates can progress to analysing the information in company accounts. It is a highly practical course and delegates will prepare simple financial statements themselves to reinforce their learning.

Audience

Anyone who wants to gain a basic understanding of company accounts and who has had very little or no previous experience.

Skills Gained

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

• Understand the technical 'jargon' of company accounts.
• Read and understand a set of company accounts.
• Assess the effects of business activity on the balance sheet.

Course Outline

The Financial Model

• Understand the basic business model
• What do we mean by capital?
• What is capital gearing?
• How capital is invested in the business
• • What every businessman wants to know: How am I doing?
  • What am I worth? Have I got the cash to afford it?
• How the financial statements provide the answers
• Key accounting concepts

The Profit and Loss Account

• Information contained in the profit and loss account
• Understand what we can learn from the profit and loss account
• Formats

Balance Sheet

• The information contained in the balance sheet
• Historic cost and going concern principles
• Understand the types of capital employed in businesses
• How capital is used in the business to finance assets
• Recognise the categories of fixed and current assets
• How liabilities are categorised
• Understand the impact of depreciation on the balance sheet and on the business
• Get to grips with the terminology
• Understand what the balance sheet can tell us

Cashflow Forecasts

• The importance of cash to a business
• What the cashflow forecast tells us
• Learn how to prepare a cashflow forecast

Financial Skills: Company Accounts Introduction / ICA