Profit Improvement and Financial Skills

Course overview

This 4 hour intensive course will boost your confidence when dealing with business finance and highlight areas where profitability can be improved.

If you need to get quickly up-to-speed with finance in your business then this short course is for you.

Benefits

• Exceptional value at £49/€69 a module
• Buy now for your team and invite them to participate at any time of your choosing
• Distilled financial and profit knowledge and best practice
• Available instantly to be taken on-line or printed off at your convenience
• Doubles as a reference source of how company finances work and how to help profitability
• Model answers to confirm your understanding of the subject
• Certificate of completion for your training records
• Ideal for training new members of the team
• Great for those requiring a quick refresher

Who should take this course

• New starters to the organisation who need to understand finance
• Commercial and contract assistants and executives
• Commercial and contract managers
• Sales and marketing managers and also those from other non-finance functions who want to understand how business finance and reporting works.

Take a guided tour

To find out how our unique Learning Management System delivers our on-line training programmes, and how easy to use and interactive they are, click HERE

Certificate of excellence

Participants are invited to undertake a final assessment in the form of an online multiple-choice paper. A pass rate of 80% and above is required to ensure that a high level of competency has been achieved within the subject area, where upon you will receive a ‘Certificate of Excellence’.

Enrol or try free

Course modules

1. Balance sheets

• What is a balance sheet?
• What do balance sheets reveal?
• Interpreting balance sheet profiles
• Balance sheets: structure and contents – UK
• Interpreting the balance sheet
• Balance sheets: structure and contents – US
• Consolidated balance sheet
• Balance sheet of a telecommunication company plc

2. Profit and loss accounts

• What is a profit and loss account?
• What do profit and loss accounts reveal about a business?
• Profit and loss accounts in published or statutory accounts
• US revenue or income statement (P & L account) structure and contents

3. Cash flow statements

• If there are profits there must be cash
• Cash flow statements
• What can cash flow statements tell us?
• Published cash flow statements
• Definitions
• Compiling and interpreting a cash flow statement
• Interpreting cash flow statements
• Consolidated cash flow statement

4. Turning round loss-making companies

• The steps to recovery
• A new chief executive
• The main causes of the loss
• Sales and marketing
• Production and delivery
• Head office
• Research and development
• Rationalisation
• Financial recovery

5. How to boost profits this year: Budgets and budgeting control

• Basic issues
• Budget assumptions
• Co-ordination
• Sales budget
• Overhead costs
• Capital expenditure
• The cash budget
• Monthly budget phasing
• Effective monthly reporting
• Financial year forecasts
• Monthly report summary

6. How to boost profits this year: Cash management

• Debtor management
• Prompt invoicing
• Creditworthiness
• Credit limits
• Eliminating excuses
• Prompt-payment discount
• Requesting payment
• Telephone follow-up
• Further action
• Stock and work-in-progress management
• Creditor payment
• Overhead costs
• Adequate finance
• Using ‘paper’
• Sale and leaseback of freehold properties
• Asset leasing and hire purchase
• Debt factoring
• Fixed-term loans
• Bank overdraft
• Monitoring cash flow
• Bank contact

7. Profit management

• Variable cost
• Fixed costs
• Marginal profit
• Break-even point
• Product and service profitability
• Customer profitability
• Marginal-pricing danger.

8. Financial analysis for decision-making

• Technique
• Evaluation
• Pay-back period
• Discounted pay-back period
• Percentage internal rate of return
• Net present value
• Essential replacements and legislation requirements
• Sensitivity analysis
• The management role
• Decision audit
• Investment risks and rewards
• Application
• Commercial factors

9. How to achieve dramatic growth in profits

• Business developments
• Vision statement
• Quantum lead approach
• Taking stock
• Strategic options
• Organisation structure
• Business-development projects
• Strategic workshops