Financial Analysis (Financial Acumen & Budgeting)

Section One

• The practice of financial/economic analysis
• The value-creating company
• Corporate value and shareholder value
• A dynamic perspective of business
• The agency problem and corporate governance
• What information and data to use?
• The nature of financial statements
• The context of financial analysis and decision-making

Section Two

• Ratio analysis and business performance
• Management’s point of view
• Owners’ point of view
• Lenders’ point of view
• Ratios as a system – pyramids of ratios
• Integration of financial performance analysis
• Economic value added (EVA)
• Predicting financial distress

Section Three

• Introduction to budgeting: definition, types, and structure of budgets.
• Accounting ledgers: sales, purchases and nominal ledgers.
• Cash recording and bank reconciliations: the importance of bank reconciliations.
• Profit, cash, and expenses: the difference between cash and profit; paying and accounting for expenses.
• Financial planning and budgetary controls: why budget and how to set and manage budgets effectively.
• Variance analysis: establishing adverse and favorable variances.
• Evaluation and review of budgets.
• Common budgetary problems and pitfalls.
• Management and financial accounts: differences and why they are both important.
• Financial statements: profit and loss account, balance sheet, notes and accounting policies.

Section Four

• The interrelationship of financial projections
• Operating Budgets
• Standard costing and variance analysis
• Cash forecasts and cash budgets
• Sensitivity analysis
• Dynamics and growth of the business system
• Operating leverage
• Financial growth plans
• Financial modeling

Section Five

Key Features of Financial Acumen

• Investigate the key elements of the three primary financial statements – the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows.
• Understand how to review metrics related to the income statement — revenue growth, profitability and expense management– to glean insight into areas of opportunity.
• Learn why management of the balance sheet metrics is critical to overall financial performance.
• Discover how the statement of cash flow metrics provides powerful insights into client’s ability to fund your solutions.
• Courseware includes examples, industry-specific guidance and practical insight to test your knowledge.