Finance For Non-Financial Managers

More and more it seems to be all about cost, cost & cost. As Maintenance & Engineering Professionals, we need to be on top of our game to have any chance of success when it comes to competing for scarce resources and budgets. Practically and without jargon, this course provides a rigorous overview of the role of finance in business. Perhaps more importantly, you will get a unique insight into how accountants think!!

It is difficult to make your case without understanding some basic financial and accounting principles. Delivered by an accomplished financial trainer who specializes in helping non-financial executives learn how to use the discipline to make smart decisions, this one-day programme is specifically designed to make participants comfortable with the language of finance and give them the confidence to engage in discussion with their financial colleagues

Objectives: 

Managers will be confident in their ability to:

• Understand the role of finance in business and how financial statements are the “scorecards of business.”
• Confidently engage with financial colleagues on decision making and allocation of resources.
• Understand and contribute to budgeting and cost control processes.
• Communicate financial information to their team and explain the importance of Budget targets.
• Use financial information, concepts and techniques to make better decisions

Course Contents:

• Understanding how Accountants think – accruals and other key concepts.
• Understanding the Profit and Loss account and the Balance Sheet.
• Connecting the financial statements to real business activities/decisions.
• How the Financial Statements act as the scorecards in business and measure the three shared goals of all businesses?
• How managers can improve performance in all three areas
• Understanding Overheads. (Direct and indirect expenses)
• How finance shows why asset utilisation & labour efficiency matter
• What the financial statements don’t tell you
• The difference between Profit and Cash and the need for Cash Forecasting.
• Using key ratios to spell out business performance.
• The importance and limitations of budgeting in business.
• Types of budgets and costs allocation/appropriation methods.
• Managing Budget Deviations.
• The “big terms” – Capex Vs COGS Vs. OPEX and fixed v. variable costs.
• Capital Expenditure and the impact of Depreciation.
• Preparing Capital Expenditure Applications.
• Sunk Costs, Incremental Costs etc.
• Measuring return on capital investment.

Participant Profile

The target audience is for Maintenance and Engineering Managers, Team Leaders, Supervisors and Engineers. It is expected that participants will have no background at all in Accounting/Finance. Delegates from a range of industries including pharmaceutical, food, electronics, oil & gas, utilities, health care and public sector will benefit.

Trainer Profile

• Economist and trainer specialising in finance and business modelling.
• Adviser in business rescue and restructuring interventions.
• Veteran in the ups and downs of owning and managing businesses.
• Developer and owner of ProfitScout Software, Ireland’s leading professional application for developing financial models and projections.
• Co-founder of FaBEducation.com.

This course is also available as an on-site customised course

Course Cost: Available on request

Duration: 1 day

Date: TBC

Location: Dublin

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