Finance & Accounting for
Non-Financial Professionals

Financial information provides an essential basis for all business managers to undertake their roles effectively and confidently. Financial information originates from the organization’s accounting system, and represents a comprehensive view of events that have already occurred, but it also provides an ideal database for forecasting future events, for preparing budgets, for setting targets, and maintaining control of operations. It can also be used to measure comparative performance and profitability. This Anderson training course is designed to provide managers with the skills to understand, interpret, and utilize financial information, and to apply this in planning, controlling, and making decisions which are informed, logical, and which add value to their organization.

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

• Understand how financial statements are prepared, and what they mean
• Analyse and interpret annual financial statements
• Know how cost analysis helps us with control, resource allocation, and pricing
• Appreciate the importance of budgets, and how they are prepared
• Be aware of how our company is financed, and what is the annual cost
• Use a variety of techniques to evaluate new investment proposals
• Recognize and manage financial risks, using a range of techniques

This Anderson training course is designed for those non-financial staff who wish to gain a better understanding of how finance supports all of the operations and activities of their business. For example this would include managers and supervisors in:

• Sales and marketing
• Logistics and supply
• Human resource
• Production and engineering
• Risk management and internal audit

A wide range of valuable topics will be covered, mainly by practical workshops and activities, fully supported and guided by the trainer, including the following:

• Bookkeeping case study to record transactions and prepare financial reports
• Case study to prepare a business plan and apply for funding
• Practical exercise on locating information in annual financial reports (AFR)
• Exercises on analysing an AFR using common-sizing and ratio analysis
• Preparing a total cost build-up for manufactured products
• Exercises on using break-even (CVP) analysis for decision making
• Case studies on budget preparation
• Investment appraisals using ARR, Payback, NPV and IRR
• Exercises on forecasting currency exchange rates using IRP and PPP
• Exercises on developing effective currency and interest rate hedges