Introduction

This course offers an in-depth overview of the accounting and finance world. Part 1 emphasized the internal workings of the finance/control function as it communicates with external and internal constituencies to provide information for decision making under uncertainty. Part 2 emphasizes the capital markets impact on corporate finance, risk, and governance.

No preparation is necessary except to bring an open mind and a budget document or other financial documents of interest.

By combining techniques with analysis, problems and examples with real case studies, and supporting theories the course provides delegates with key finance terminology and practice. This course not only presents the key financial tools generally used, but also explains the broader context of how and where they are applied to obtain meaningful answers. It provides a conceptual backdrop both for the financial/economic dimensions of strategic business management and for understanding the nature of financial statements, analyzing data, planning and controlling.

The course is targeted at providing a university-quality ‘MBA’ overview of finance/accounting, planning/control, risk management, and corporate governance. Participants are expected to be high-potential learners seeking the next level of learning. Additional bibliographies, readings, and spreadsheets will be provided as takeaways.

Objectives

This course will help you learn how to:

• Specify the exact nature and scope of corporate financial reporting

• Identify and criticize specific concepts, rules, and procedures are in place for corporate financial reporting

• Understand multiple interpretations of financial statements via IFRS, FAS, SEC, etc

• Integrate risk management and corporate governance

• Understand the content of and relationships between financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows)

• Understand how to use financial statements to evaluate the financial performance of an organization

• Understand discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques and their application to financial decision making

• Understand the budgeting process, including performance evaluation

• Understand cost behavior and its impact on management decisions

• Learn how to communicate and to question financial information effectively

Target Audience

This program is designed for:

• Finance managers and financial analysts
• Accountants and senior accountants
• Corporate finance professionals
• Planning and budgeting specialists
• Risk management professionals
• Internal auditors and compliance officers
• Business managers involved in financial decision-making
• Investment and valuation professionals
• Professionals seeking an MBA-level understanding of finance and accounting

Course Outline 

Day 1: Introduction to Financial Thinking & Accounting Basics

• Nature and scope of accounting and finance
• Financial reporting and decision-making under uncertainty
• Cash vs accrual accounting
• Users of financial information
• Introduction to financial statements

Day 2: Income Statement Analysis

• Revenue recognition and cost structure
• Direct, indirect, fixed, and variable costs
• Depreciation, amortization, and depletion
• Profit vs cash flow differences
• Profit analysis and interpretation

Day 3: Balance Sheet & Working Capital

• Structure of the balance sheet
• Assets, liabilities, and equity
• Working capital management
• Inventory, receivables, payables
• Capital employed and liquidity analysis

Day 4: Cash Flow Statement & Financial Linkages

• Operating, investing, and financing cash flows
• Relationship between financial statements
• Cash flow vs profit analysis
• Cash budgeting and forecasting
• Financial projection models

Day 5: Budgeting & Performance Management

• Master budget concept
• Operating and financial budgets
• Flexible vs static budgets
• Variance analysis techniques
• Cost behavior and CVP analysis

Day 6: Costing & Managerial Accounting

• Cost terminology and classifications
• Relevant vs irrelevant costs
• Contribution margin and breakeven analysis
• Cost-volume-profit relationships
• Managerial decision-making tools

Day 7: Corporate Finance Fundamentals

• Finance and working capital structure
• Capital structure and sources of finance
• Cost of equity and cost of debt
• Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
• Financial leverage analysis

Day 8: Investment Appraisal & Valuation

• Time value of money concepts
• NPV, IRR, PI, MIRR techniques
• Capital budgeting process
• Cash flow estimation
• Investment decision-making tools

Day 9: Risk Management & Financial Risk

• Types of financial and operational risks
• Risk identification and assessment
• Risk appetite and uncertainty analysis
• ERM / FRM frameworks
• Strategic and operational risk management

Day 10: Corporate Governance & Strategic Finance

• Corporate governance principles
• Shareholder vs stakeholder models
• Board structure and independence
• Agency theory
• Emerging governance trends and compliance