Course description
2024 Finance for Non-Finance Directors - In-House and In Person (2 Day)
Chartered Management Institute Recognised Training Centre for Director Training Courses. This 2-day Finance for Non-Finance Directors training course is a CMI Recognised Training Course. The course can be spread across two separate non-consecutive days.
This course is assessed as “Excellent” by its Director delegates.
The Course Certificate Evidences 12 CPD Hours.
Company law requires all Board Directors to understand their own accounts and holds the Directors collectively responsible for the validity of the annual financial accounts. The law demands a good knowledge of finance from all directors. Business success also requires strong financial capabilities, which this Finance for Non-Finance Directors course will give you
This Finance course will enable you to read, analyse and interpret any set of Financial Statements, including the Balance Sheet, the Profit & Loss Account and the Cash Flow statements. You will become familiar with techniques such as NPV, Net Present Value and DCF, Discounted Cashflow techniques, Net Asset Value, P/E Ratios, ROCE, ROI, Gearing, Current Ratio, Quick Ratio, Stock Days, Debtor Days and Creditor Days Enterprise Value and EBITDA. You will recognise and understand the impact of the Fundamental Accounting Concepts and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, on any Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Account.
Costing methods based upon break even analysis and contribution analysis will be contrasted with overhead cost allocation approaches to identify their relative strengths and weaknesses. It will provide a good understanding of budgeting, including zero based budgeting, cash management and forecasting. You will be able to manage the relationship between ROCE, ROI and Gearing. The theoretical knowledge will be reinforced by very practical hands on case studies.
Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
- Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently,
- Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent,
- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
This objective is easily achieved and significantly enhanced by the detailed discussions and extensive case studies, especially on day 2 of the training course. The theoretical knowledge will be reinforced by the hands-on case studies.
Formal Certificates of Professional Development will be issued to all directors.. These certificates will be accepted as evidence for CPD purposes by most professional institutes and associations.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Who Should Attend This Training Course
All Directors would benefit from attending this course, from newly appointed directors right up to the Chief Executive and the Chair. This is because most people have absorbed their financial knowledge piecemeal from those colleagues with financial skills that they have encountered. This means their knowledge is patchy and incomplete. This course will provide a solid and complete financial knowledge base.
These are some of the executives who would benefit from this course: Chief Executive Officers, Board Chairs, IT Directors, Logistics Directors, Operations Directors, HR Directors, Technical Directors, Commercial Directors, Sales Directors, Marketing Directors, Company Secretaries, General Managers, all Non-Executive Directors, all Trustees, all Investors, all Board Consultants and Advisors, all Department Heads, and any other Senior Executives interested in improving their financial skills and knowledge for the benefit of their organisation and their personal career development.
To ensure that the executives attending this training course will get the maximum possible benefit from their time and that the discussions will be at their most effective; the delegate numbers will be limited to a maximum of 8.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
Formal Certificates of Professional Development will be issued to all attendees. These certificates will be accepted as evidence for CPD purposes by most professional institutes and associations.
Training Course Content
Accounting and the Law
- Accounting principles, policies & GAAP accounting
- Terminology & Jargon
- The different legal structures under which organisations can operate and their advantages and disadvantages
- The two different sets of accounting standards (rules) available and how to choose between them at a senior level
The Three Key Financial Statements
- Balance Sheets: Assets; Liabilities; Net current assets, capital employed and how to interpret the information
- Profit & Loss Account, Types of profit, and the layout & use of the profit & loss account
- Cash Flow Statements: Importance of cash flow and Impact of credit and credit control, Problems affecting cash flow, Dealing with Debtors and Creditors
Using Key Ratios to Analyse Accounts and to Support Investment Decisions
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- Return on Capital Employed (ROCE)
- Current Ratios and Quick Ratios
- Debtor Days and Creditor Days
- Stock days and Stock Turn
- Investment decisions and Return on Investment (ROI)
- Gearing and its impact upon risk and returns; is the level of borrowing too risky?
- Liquidity, could the company hit cash flow problems?
- Profitability, how well is the company doing?
Working Capital Management and Cash Flows
- Converting operating profits into cash flow
- Cash forecasts
- Cash Management and Liquidity
Revenue and Capital Expenditure
- Capital Expenditure and Revenue Expenditure
- Phasing of capital spend and its implications for budget holders
Depreciation and Amortisation of Assets and liabilities
- What is Depreciation
- What is Amortisation
- Goodwill; its purpose, calculation and impact
Costing and the Impact of Costing Assumptions on Business Decisions
- Cost types & behaviours and their Impact on decisions
- Break-even and Contribution Analysis
- How costs are determined
- Direct and Indirect Costs: Fixed, Mixed and Variable costs
- Activity Based Costing (ABC) and Activity Based Management (ABM)
- Standard Costing, Marginal Costing, Absorption Costing and Activity Based Costing (ABC)
- How frequently used cost allocation methods and calculated profitability by product can cause incorrect key strategic decision making
- Predicting and maximising profits
- How the chosen cost structure can affect the planning and decision making process
Basic Company Valuations
- EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation) and PE ratio valuations
- What is your company worth?
- What are other companies worth?
- Goodwill; its purpose, calculation and impact on profit
DAY 2
Summary Financial Overview
- Accounting laws and standards
- UK and EU Financial Reporting Standards, key differences and which is best for you
- Fundamental Accounting Concepts
- Financial Statements Structure, Meaning and Terminology; assumes a level of basic knowledge such as would be gained from our 1 day Finance for Non-Finance Managers course
Forecasts, Cash and Budgets
- The purpose of forecasts for the business
- Budget objectives and cascading budget objectives
- Budgetary Control as a management tool
- Historic v Zero Based budgeting methods
- Working Capital Cycle
Consolidated Accounts
- Their purpose and definition
- Goodwill evaluation and its stated value in the accounts
- Amortisation of intangibles and their impact upon dividends
- Definition and Management of ROCE (Return on Capital Employed), Gearing and ROI (Return on Investment)
- Maximising EBITDA, Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation
Company Acquisitions and Disposals
- The valuation of target company acquisitions
- The treatment of company acquisitions and disposals
- The impact and timing of acquisitions upon finances
- Financial pitfalls relating to acquisitions
- The impact of acquisitions upon your market value
- Looking through Window Dressing of accounts
Overview of Net Present Value, Discounted Cash Flow and Project Evaluation
Strategic Report Overview – requirements and applicability
Case Studies of Real Accounts -Nominated by the Delegates
- Delegates’ own accounts downloaded from Companies House
- Or the accounts of another company of interest, nominated by the delegate, e.g. a competitor or a potential acquisition target
Operational Financial Management Aspects
- Recent Lease Accounting Changes and their major impact upon the Balance Sheet and EBITDA
- Recent Changes to the recognition of Profits and Sales
- Pension Issues
- Forecasting and Sales Funnel Management
- Financing of Acquisitions
- The Balanced Scorecard
Share Price and Share Valuation
- The importance of Share Price/Valuation
- Maximising Shareholder Value
- Acquisitions as a tool to create shareholder value and move the Share Price upwards
- Management of the Share Price/Valuation
- Share Buybacks versus Dividends
Case Studies of Real Accounts - Nominated by the Delegates
- Delegates’ own accounts downloaded from Companies House
- Or the accounts of another company of interest, nominated by the delegate, e.g. a competitor or a potential acquisition target
Other Financial Factors and their Influence on Decision Making
- The interaction of the different forms of taxation and business planning
- Accounting policies as significant drivers of operational business decisions
Why choose Professional Directors Association
Professional Directors Association has trained over 40,000 delegates in 10,000 client organizations
99% of our Director Delegates have rated our courses as Excellent and the other 1% as good
Professional Directors Association has been training Directors for 25 years
Reviews
Average rating 5
Very good course with a huge amount covered and great insights.
Perfect way to learn about a rather difficult topic, good explanations and examples.
Expenses
From £3090 per day for an In-House In Person course.
I had no idea how exciting this subject could be.