Fundamentals of Finance, Accounting and Budgeting

Financial management has a key role in any business, irrespective of the size of the company. It is a crucial part of organisational management and cannot be considered as a separate task to be left to finance team. Financial management comprises of planning, organising, controlling, and monitoring financial means in order to achieve organisational objectives. This course presents the underlying framework and fundamental of Finance, Accounting and Budgeting in the context of how accounting fits into the overall budgeting process of the organization.

Important Features

The important features of the Fundamentals of Finance, Accounting and Budgeting training course are:

• Understanding basics of Finance and Accounting
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Producing financial statements and analysis techniques
• Preparing efficient and effective budget
• Analyzing Financial indicators and using it in planning

Learning Objectives

• Explain basic accounting concepts, terminology, principles, processes and procedures that govern how the financial statements are prepared. and the relevance to a business department.
• Identify the basic principles used in safeguarding assets and ensuring the accuracy of accounting records.
• Understand the difference between accrual and cash basis accounting.
• Know the importance of accounting in running businesses.
• Understand the accounting cycle.
• Explain the components of an annual report.
• Understand how financial information, primarily that provided by the financial statements, can be used to analyze business operations and make economic decisions.
• Effectively prepare balance sheets and income statements.
• Analyze a set of financial statements to evaluate the business’ financial health.
• Differentiate the financing options available to a business and situations where each might be used.
• Explain how to prepare a budget and effectively manage the budgeting process.
• How to implement advanced planning and control techniques into your budgeting process
• Know how to integrate the budgeting process with the development of the company’s long-term strategic vision.
• Successfully build an integrated planning, budgeting and reporting process
• Know how to provide a decision support structure that provides timely and useful information to decision makers.
• Apply management tools to the budgeting process that contribute to strategic goals.
• Develop ways to increase profitability and performance through streamlined planning and reporting.

Target Audience

Fundamentals of Finance, Accounting and Budgeting training is designed for wide range of professionals include:

• All professionals with financial responsibility
• Managers seeking to develop their understanding of the accounting methods.
• All professionals with planning and budgeting responsibility
• Anyone with direct planning and budgeting responsibility
• Professionals responsible for management reporting
• Corporate governance directors and compliance officials
• Board level members who wish to develop their understanding of Budgeting &Planning
• Professionals who are working with financial organizations

Training Methodology

This highly practical and results-oriented program is based on adult learning concept. This seminar will comprise a range of learning activities, including tutor presentations, with question-and-answer opportunities, demonstration and practice of analytical techniques, group exercises and discussions, using case studies and market information sources. Whilst the theoretical background to financial management will be explained and justified, the main emphasis will be on putting these into a real-world context by providing a practical ‘toolkit’ of financial techniques.

Course Contents

Day 1 - Company objectives & Fundamental of Finance & Accounting

• Key Topics:
  • Measuring company performance
  • Introduction to finance: Terminology
  • Purpose of financial analysis and reporting
  • The finance role in running businesses.
  • Accounting terminology
  • Accounting as an Information System
  • The Accounting Equation- what does it mean?
  • Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
  • Understand the nature, purpose and role of accounting.
  • The accounting environment
  • Walking through an Annual Report
  • The Role of External Auditor
  • Users of accounting and financial information
  • Fundamental Accounting Concepts Cash versus Profit
  • Profit and profitability
  • Distinguish between accounting and finance.

Day 2 - Financial Statements - Understanding and Analysis

• Key Topics:
  • Understanding the Financial Statement
    • Balance sheet
    • Profit and loss account (income statement)
    • Cash flow statement
  • Why are ratios useful?
  • Horizontal and trend analysis
  • Vertical analysis: common size statements
  • Building blocks analysis and reading through the numbers:
    • Liquidity ratios: ability to settle short-term dues.
    • Solvency ratios: ability to settle long-term dues.
    • Activity ratios: the ability to manage assets efficiently.
    • Profitability ratios
  • Limitations of financial ratio analysis

Day 3 - Management Accounting

• Key Topics:

Decision-Making Technique

• Cost behavior: fixed, variable, semi-fixed cost
• Understanding Cost behaviour and types of costs
• Plan for Cost Reduction and Profit Improvement
• Costing Approaches – Full Absorption, Marginal, ABC
• Cost volume profit analysis (CVP)
• Break-even Analysis
• Contribution Margin

Working Capital Management

• Definition of working capital and working capital management
• Working capital management strategies for current assets
• Balancing profitability and liquidity
• Working capital management strategies for current liabilities
• A trade-off between profitability and certainty

Day 4 - Budgeting and the Strategic Management Framework

• Key Topics:
  • What is the budget?
  • The objectives of budgeting
  • Types of Budgets
  • The budget process.
  • The Role of Budgeting
  • How to identify problems and limitation of budgetary control?
  • Approaches to Budget Development
  • Using budgets to manage organizational performance.
  • Finance and budgeting teams- role in supporting strategic planning.
  • Capital budgeting techniques & Cash Flow
  • Using Activity-based Budgeting
  • Developing the Cash Budget
  • Case study

Day 5 - Advanced Capital Budgeting Evaluation Techniques

• Key Topics:
  • Business risk and cost of capital
  • Classifying investment projects
  • Analyzing investment and operating cash flows
  • The time value of money concept
  • The required rate of return
  • Net Present Value (NPV)
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
  • Multiple internal rates of return
  • Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR)
  • Profitability Index (PI)
  • Payback period and discounted payback period
  • Capital rationing.
  • Comparing and evaluating techniques