Financial Skills: Finance for Senior Managers

Course Overview

Specifically for senior managers with a non-financial background, this course provides an introduction to strategic financial issues including how to assess the financial health of your business, company valuation and acquisition and growth.

This course offers an introduction to financial terms and concepts to enable directors and senior executives to evaluate the financial position of their business/business unit and make financially sound strategic decisions.

Audience

Suitable for senior managers and non-financial directors with a basic knowledge of finance who need to develop their understanding in order to play a more active role in financial planning and financial strategies. This course is notsuitable for financial directors or those with an in-depth knowledge of financial planning.

Skills Gained

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

• Understand the terminology used by finance directors or accountants allowing you to contribute more effectively to financial discussions at board and senior managerial level.
• Have the knowledge and skills to evaluate and monitor the financial health of a business and spot warning signs through the use of accepted financial ratios and reports.
• Develop project appraisal skills using discounted cash flow techniques. Appreciate the role of finance in creating shareholder value.
• Learn to understand and compile financial statements in accordance with accounting principles and standards.
• Distinguish between management accounts and the statutory financial reports of a company.
• Read, analyse and draw conclusions from financial information

Course Outline

Introduction

• Understanding your role and how it fits with the finance function (and the finance director)
• The difference between management accounts and the statutory financial reports of a company
• Where finance fits into, and affects your role

Understanding and Presenting Financial Statements

• Analysing and presenting financial information
• Interpreting and analysing financial statements

Evaluating the Financial Health of your Business

• Spotting the warning signs - monitoring cash flow
• Company appraisal through financial analysis
• Appraising a project: discounted cash flows
• Measuring risk and return

Sources of Finance

• The various sources of finance available to a company and their relative advantages and disadvantages
• Evaluating investment options

The Financial Impact of Acquisitions and Growth

• Vertical acquisition and the impact on company accounts
• Cash flow impact
• Investment
• Goodwill - both positive and negative

Methods of Companies' Valuation

• Asset value
• Return on investment
• Capitalisation of investment

Applying Financial Analysis for Shareholder Value

• EVA - Economic Value Added
• Profit versus cost of capital and risk on equity

The Use of Financial Budgets - Strategic Costing

• The impact that activity based costing, marginal costing and full costing have on profit

Financial Skills: Finance for Senior Managers / FND1