Ignorance about finance is no longer an excuse. Directors and senior managers can no longer rely with blind faith on the Finance Director or auditors. A director is expected to familiarise her/himself with the financial impact of business decisions and be sufficiently knowledgeable about finance to carry out their duties.
We provide executives with a comprehensive one to one coaching programme on this topic to assist them better understand finance related discussions.
Any in company finance programme needs to take cognisance of the participants’ needs to ensure that the pitch is right.In addition, such programmes are enriched when the organisation’s own issues are addressed. This can take the form of the actual statutory accounts and/or the management accounts actually being analysed and discussed.Competitors’ financials can also be looked at.
Participation from the finance function is imperative.
The programmes are highly practical with numerous case study work. Case studies can be written to look at the organisation and/or competitors. Pre course activities can also be designed and some activities will be suggested post the programme to strengthen the ongoing learning and development.
The following is a list of topics/items that could be addressed:
- The role of finance in business
- Financial strategy
- How to get the best out of the finance function
- Governance and legal issues
- Basic concepts, e.g depreciation & accruals
- Terminology explained
- Difference between profits and cash
- Basic profit & loss/income statement, balance sheet/statement of financial position, and cash flow construction.
- Walking through a full set of statutory accounts.
- Assessing financial health. What is a good business?
- How professionals assess businesses i.e. debt rating agencies & credit agencies.
- Typical financial ratios.
- Working capital. Issues and management
- Cash conversion
- Cash Flow: Calculation, analysis and forecasts
Business uses: Debt capacity, EBITDA(R), cash burn, free cash flow - Creative accounting: Getting behind the figures
- Sources of finance
- Management accounting issues
- Financial reporting
- Key Performance Indicators
- The Board’s dashboard
- Break even analysis
- Budgetary management
- Cost of capital
- Project appraisal techniques, Payback, NPV, IRR
- Company valuations
- The Stock Market’s approach
- Company failures
- Spotting the early signs of distress
- Insolvency issues
- Restructures and workouts
- Reading the Financial Times
- Accessing other sources of financial references.
Why not have a look at this youtube clip,”Financial Analysis made easy”
How about a little taster? Simply answer “True” or “False”.
- The cash position in the Balance Sheet is the best measurement of overall liquidity.
- A company cannot borrow to pay dividends.
- A company cannot borrow more than its equity capital.
- Depreciation is effectively a way of saving to replace fixed/tangible assets.
- Working Capital is best measured by the amount of cash in the Balance Sheet.