By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Define the four key financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, and changes in owner equity, as well as critical financial terms such as profit, margins, and leverage
• Interpret the financial health and condition of a company, division, or responsibility center and use financial information for management and evaluation
• Prepare an operating budget and relate it to the organization's strategic objectives
• Apply capital budgeting techniques to evaluate long-term decisions in projects and capital expenditures
• Use cost behavior concepts to calculate breakeven point and enhance short-term decision making

Managers, supervisors and staff from any function including finance who need to improve their understanding and usage of financial information.

• The Key Financial Statements
  • Understanding the accounting cycle
  • The five main accounts in financial statements
  • Income statement: A tool for performance measurement
    • Accrual basis versus cash basis
  • Balance sheet: A tool for financial position
    • The balanced status
  • Statement of owners’ equity
  • Statement of cash flows: Why cash is king
  • Wrapping-up: The cycle of financial statements
  • External and internal auditors’ responsibilities
• Analysis of Financial Statements
  • Why ratios are useful
  • Horizontal and trend analysis
  • Vertical analysis: Common size statements
  • Building blocks analysis and reading through the numbers:
    • Liquidity ratios: Ability to settle short-term dues
    • Solvency ratios: Ability to settle long-term dues
    • Activity ratios: Ability to manage assets efficiently
    • Profitability ratios
    • Limitations of financial ratio analysis
  • Working capital management
    • Definition of working capital and working capital management
    • Various working capital management strategies
• Operating Budget Process and Techniques
  • The meaning of an operating budget
  • Steps to budget development
  • Master budget components
    • Sales forecasting
  • Approaches to budgeting
    • Incremental budgeting
    • Zero-based budgeting
  • Budgetary control and correction

Capital Budgeting: The Investing Decisions

• Examples of exercises involving capital budgeting exercise
• Time value of money: Aprerequisite for investing decisions
• Required rate of return for investments (RRRI)
• Examples of cash outflows for capital projects
• Examples of cash inflows for projects
• Net Present Value (NPV) calculation
• Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

Cost Behavior Concepts and Breakeven Analysis

• Defining fixed costs
• Defining variable costs
• Contribution margin
• Computing breakeven point
• Sensitivity analysis: changing assumptions

• Presentation & Slides
• Audio Visual Aids
• Interactive Discussion
• Participatory Exercise
• Action Learning
• Class Activities
• Case Studies
• Workshops
• Simulation