Accounting, Decision Making
& Financial Communication

Understanding the fundamentals of Accounting and Finance is essential for making and communicating decisions. This Anderson training course will provide a comprehensive illustration of how accounting information is collected, recorded, how it is analyzed and presented both internally and externally, to support effective management, control, and decision making. This is important because key personnel in an organization use accounting information which is often said the ‘language of business’; hence it is essential to understand and to be able to use this language. This training course will also introduce delegates to the systems and structures of financial and management accounting and their value in ensuring the success of the business.

By attending this Anderson training course, delegates will be able to:

• Understand income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement
• Interpret cost behavior and its impact on product costing
• Understand the process of budgeting
• Master cost allocation to departments, products, and services
• Design a performance measurement system

This Anderson training course is suitable for a wide range of professionals who wish to achieve career progress by expanding their financial knowledge. However, it will be most suitable for operational and middle Managers who wish to better understand and make use of financial information in their management roles, for example:

• Members of the operational management team
• Managers who have responsibility for divisional performance
• Managers who have responsibility for support functions
• Consultants who provide advice on systems and operations
• Senior staff members of any department

• The importance of accounting information
• The role of the Finance Function
• The accounting equation and financial accounting systems
• Recording facts and applying judgement
• Preparing the Income Statement and Balance Sheet
• Accounting principles and accounting standards

• The format and contents of the Income Statement
• The format and contents of the Balance Sheet
• The effect of depreciation and impairment on profit
• Identifying and valuing inventory
• Preparing the Cash flow Statement
• The importance of cash flow in business

• Collecting and analyzing costs
• The structure of direct and indirect costs
• Dealing with overheads – absorption costing or ABC?
• Cost-Volume-Profit and break even analysis
• Decision making – make or buy
• Decision making – the effect of limiting factors

• Corporate planning and corporate objectives implemented through budgeting
• The budgeting process and timescale
• Sales budget forecasting techniques
• Cascading the budgets across the whole business
• Preparing functional budgets and the cash budget
• Budgeting principles, methodologies and applications

• Monthly management reporting
• Setting and using standards
• Identifying and calculating variances
• Operating and planning variances – who is responsible?
• Measuring responsibility centre performance, ROI, RI, and EVA
• Non-financial performance – the Balanced Scorecard

Anderson Certificate of Completion will be provided to delegates who attend and complete the course