Cut the jargon, get some sense on the finances, make informed decisions. 

These three phrases summarise the key learning outcomes of this program.  Firstly, it aims to make sense of financial jargon, picking out key terms – and then, of course, showing you the application and relevance in an applied context. It also aims to link financial performance to business operations and make sense of how numbers are presented in Income statements, other “P&L” summaries, cash flow statements and balance sheets. The key learning outcome is understanding the relationship between them and what really matters when it comes to performance analysis and decision making. 

We also explore how and why management accounts as well as financial accounts are prepared, and how you can make informed, value-added financial decisions that speak the language of the finance-people and business leaders. Have you ever wondered how businesses are valued? Understand that, and you will see why financial information presents the clues and information that matter to shareholders and directors.

Module 1 – Financial Accounts – an overview of the accounting information relevant to finance and financial analysis. Why it is useful and where it falls short.  We review the structure and content of the P&L and see how it builds with an Excel-based downloadable exercise. 

Module 2 – Ratios and Key Terms – his section shows how, given a P&L and Balance Sheet, you can start to analyse a business from different perspectives: Profitability, Liquidity, Efficiency, Returns and Credit.   The Excel case study also continues.

Module 3 – Return on Capital Employed – One of the key aspects of analysis is Invested Capital – how much has been invested, where is it invested and what are the returns.  This section takes a very practical look at the idea of capital invested in Operating and Fixed assets and compares how different businesses might give differing results, and why.

Module 4 – Cash and Cash Flows – going back to our Accounts case, this section focuses on cash flows rather than P&L and Balance Sheet.  How do they compare? Where are the differences? Of course, a fully debriefed Excel case is part of the learning.

Module 5 – The Time Value of Money – This short section on the Time Value of Money will set you up for investment appraisal – but it’s very widely applicable outside that scope too.

Module 6 – Management Accounts – We now get into Management accounts – what they are and why they are used – and it leads us into the realms of budgeting and cost behaviour (the key to a good budget)

Module 7 – Management Accounting and Investment Appraisal – Now we now how to create a robust budget, the question is now whether a project – based on projected revenues and costs – is worthwhile. But ‘worthwhile’ isn’t clear cut, and this section looks at the appraisal techniques to help with decision making: to invest or not to invest…?

Module 8 – Business Valuation – We’ve now looked an investment appraisal, and given that a company is just a portfolio of investment decisions playing out, we naturally lead on to how to VALUE an entire business rather than evaluate a single project.  Discounted cash flows holds the key, but there are simpler shortcut methods.

Module 9 – A Balanced Scorecard and summing up – Now the journey through the world of finance is almost complete, this final chapter reviews the entire program from a high level to recap and join it all together, and look at a more balanced approach to ‘scoring’ a business.  We look at a real life case where we started the course: Tesco plc.

Videos – 51 videos each of 10-15 minutes long to allow flexible learning in YOUR timeframe

Exercises – 14 downloadable Excel exercises

Solutions – solution files plus video debrief from your experienced tutor

Learning management – access to a dashboard, summarising your progress and providing learning access

Certificate of Completion – CCT is an accredited learning provider for the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment.  Upon completion you can request a completion certificate for your learning / CPD records 

Email access – to your tutor

This program is for non-finance mangers and so no prior finance knowledge is required.  However, you must have a passion and desire to want to better yourself and get noticed for your financial acumen!

The videos stream realtime, so you will be required access to a good data network or broadband / Wifi network.  Videos compatible on Android and iOS Excel 2010 onwards for Exercises compatibility.