What the Non-Financial Manager Needs to Know About Financial and Managerial Accounting

Enjoy this complete introduction for managers, directors and administrators attended by more than 3,000 business leaders.

This seminar has been designed to transform the non-financial manager into a more effective team member who can propose, analyze and evaluate financial decisions in the context of the main financial goals of the organization

It does so by providing clear examples of the content, concepts and terminology of financial systems and what drives each line of the P&L and Balance Sheet.

The program explains the managerial trade-offs and key decisions which impact organizational results

Featuring our highest-rated instructor to help make your financial learning practical and enjoyable and helps overcome the trepidation often felt by managers who have had little exposure to financials.

What You Will Learn

• What to look for in a corporate report and how to analyze that information to put it to your advantage
• How to talk to financial people in your language – and their language
• How to evaluate both short- and long-term operating decisions using financial data
• How control systems should work and how they actually do work
• How to make capital budgeting and investment decisions
• How to clarify who is responsible for what parts of an organization’s financial strategy – in order to know who to approach with your concerns
• When to be skeptical of product/service costing methods so you can better evaluate results
• How to support your business decisions with financial back-up
• How to prepare operating budgets, cost budgets and capital budgets

Course content details

What The Non-Financial Manager Needs To Know About Financial and Managerial Accounting

DAY ONE

Introduction to the Financial Reporting System

• Purpose and scope of course
• The financial reporting system
• The basic financial statements
• Balance sheet
• Income statement
• Statement of retained earnings
• Statement of changes in financial position
• Accounting on a cash and an accrual basis
• Reconciling earnings flows and cash flows
• The basic accounting system

Reading Corporate Annual Reports

• Concepts, models and terminology
• How to read a balance sheet
• How to read the footnotes
• How to read the income statement
• How to read the statement of changes in financial position

DAY TWO

Understanding Key Elements of Financial Statements

• Inventory
• Fixed assets
• Effects of alternative accounting methods

Financial Statement Analysis

• Understanding and using financial ratios for improved decision-making
• Liquidity ratios
• Profitability ratios

Business Unit Planning and Budgeting

• The operating budget
• The cash budget
• Performing evaluations

DAY THREE

The Financial Information System

• The behaviour of costs
• Cost analysis
• Absorption versus direct costing
• Budget and actual costs
• Benefit/cost analysis
• Exercises in relevant costs

Capital Budgeting and Investment Decisions

• Decision models and criteria
• Cost of capital
• The capital budget
• Post-implementation evaluation
• Exercises in capital budgeting