Finance For Non-Financial Executives

COURSE OVERVIEW

For managers without a financial background, understanding finance can be a real challenge. Despite this, you will regularly be faced with situations where this knowledge is taken for granted.

This comprehensive full-day course is designed to help all non-financial managers appreciate the key concepts of finance and how you can use this understanding to not only improve your own performance but the business as a whole. It will demystify the subject of finance and leave you with a clear understanding of the most common financial terminology used in business – enabling you to communicate with your colleagues and business contacts more effectively.

You will also gain the crucial skill of being able to read and interpret the financial information and reports that you are regularly presented with. Ultimately, this newfound appreciation of finance and what it means to your business will allow you to be more successful and influential in your managerial role.

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

• How to understand and interpret your organisation’s financial statements
• How to identify and make use of the financial information most relevant to your job role
• The language and terminology to use when communicating with colleagues in financial roles
• The difference between profit and cash flow and how you can manage and improve them both
• The role you can play in setting budgets and developing your organisation’s financial strategy
• How to meet the needs of your shareholders, directors, managers, and creditors

COURSE OUTLINE

Day 1

• The basic principles of finance
• Understanding and using financial statements
• Meeting the information needs of shareholders, directors and managers, and creditors

Day 2

• Understanding the relationships between the various values in the financial statements
• Understanding what the financial statements don’t tell you
• Recognising the difference between profit and cash flow

Day 3

• Managing and improving cash flow
• Identifying the key cash flow drivers
• How an organisation adds value

Day 4

• Managing and improving profit
• Understanding the behaviour of costs
• Applying break even analysis
• Strategies to improve margins and contributions

Day 5

• Increasing shareholder value
• Understanding the relationship between risk and return
• Using non-financial key performance indicators
• How to combine financial and non-financial measures to achieve success
• The non-financial manager’s role in developing a financial strategy and setting the budget