Leading and Managing People, Projects and Performance

Finance for Non Financial Managers

The Nature and Purpose of Accounting

  • A simple model of an organisation’s accounting framework
  • Why do accountants have so much influence in business?
  • Who uses the accounts and what do they use them for?
  • What are the rules that accountants follow?
  • Where can I find out about my organisation’s/my competitors’ financial position

Profit and Loss and Balance Sheets

  • Their structure
  • Their terminolgy
  • What they tell us
  • Why they need to be reviewed together
  • Using financial information as a management tool

Managing Finance

  • Understanding working capital : What it is? How can we monitor it?
  • Why too much working capital is bad for you and too little may be disastrous
  • Optimising working capital for your organisation
  • The distinction between profit and cash flow
  • Why discrepancies between them occur
  • Undertaking a cash flow forecast (case study)
  • Considering sources of funding

Understanding Budgets

  • Putting together a robust budget
  • Assessing variances and flexing the budget
  • Apportioning overheads
  • The effects of depreciation
  • Differentiating between capital and revenue expenditure
  • Choosing between alternative capital projects when money is restricted
  • Working out and presenting the break even point

Personal Development

  • Formulating an action plan